Wildlife of Britain

The Ice Age Migration History of British Forests The forests of Britain are not simply a collection of native species.  They are the outcome of a dramatic ecological migration story spanning tens of thousands of years—one shaped by ice sheets, land bridges, rapid climate shifts, and repeated near-extinctions.  To understand why Britain’s native trees exist in their current form, you have to start not in a forest, but in a landscape of ice and tundra. During the last Ice Age, most of Britain was unrecognisable. Forests did not dominate the landscape; they were almost entirely absent from large areas.  What exists today as woodland is the result of one of the fastest large-scale recolonisation events in European natural history. Britain under ice: a tree-less world During the Last Glacial Maximum (around 26,000–19,000 years ago), much of northern Britain was covered by ice sheets.  Even areas not glaciated directly were: • periglacial tundra • exposed, frozen soils • s...

The Amazon Rainforest Could Be Gone Within a Century. Here's Why That Should Matter to Everyone. Imagine a world where the largest rainforest on Earth exists only in history books. If the Amazon were to continue disappearing at roughly today's long-term rate, simple projections suggest it could be largely depleted within the next century.  While scientists don't expect deforestation to continue in a perfectly straight line—and many hope conservation efforts will slow or reverse the trend—the possibility that such an irreplaceable ecosystem could be devastated within the lifetime of children born today is a possible reality, and a sobering thought. Less than 100 years is not a distant future. It is a single human lifetime. A commonly cited figure is about 4 million hectares per year (roughly 40,000 km²) are lost. To put that into perspective: • That's about 11,000 hectares every day • Around 460 hectares every hour • Nearly 8 hectares every minute The annual rate varies...

There are several 'false widow' species in the UK. The one most people are generally referring to is the noble false widow (Steatoda nobilis). It has been in the UK for well over 140 years. It was first recorded in Britain in the 1870s (often cited as 1879), probably arriving accidentally on cargo ships carrying fruit from Madeira or the Canary Islands. For many decades it was largely confined to the south coast of England. Since the 1980s, it has spread rapidly across southern England and, more recently, into Wales, the Midlands, northern England, and parts of Scotland.  Scientists think this expansion has been helped by milder winters, urban environments, and transport of goods. It's also worth noting that not all false widows are newcomers. The UK has six species commonly called false widows, and some, such as the cupboard spider (Steatoda grossa) and rabbit hutch spider (Steatoda bipunctata), have been established in Britain for a very long time, with some being native....

Few sights in the natural world are as familiar as a beetle crawling across a leaf before suddenly unfolding a pair of delicate wings and disappearing into the air. To many observers, this transformation seems almost magical. One moment the insect appears heavily armoured, protected by a tough shell; the next, it is flying with remarkable agility.  This apparent contradiction has fascinated naturalists for centuries and continues to intrigue wildlife enthusiasts today. For those exploring Britain's woodlands, meadows, gardens and wetlands, beetles are impossible to ignore. They represent one of the largest and most diverse groups of animals on Earth, occupying almost every terrestrial habitat imaginable. Their extraordinary success is due to a combination of evolutionary innovations, but perhaps none is more distinctive than the elytra—the hardened forewings that shield their delicate flight wings. At first glance, these rigid covers might seem like they should make flight more dif...