Obituary: Prof. Sir Richard "Dick" Southwood

Earth Info is very sad to have learnt that Prof. Sir Richard "Dick" Southwood died on Wednesday 26 October, 2005.

Prof. Southwood was the one of the fathers of modern ecology and an important mentor to many ecologists.

Prof. Southwood founded and chaired the Division of Life Sciences at Imperial College London. At Imperial's Silwood Park field station he was responsible for fostering a golden period in British ecology and entomology, and this led to him moving to Oxford University in 1979.

In addition to fulfilling the requirements of their thesis examiners, many of Prof. Southwood's PhD students were encouraged to become an expert in their own order of insects. This helped his students to widen their scientific horizons, and to ensure that the world benefitted from a new generation of top-class entomologists.

A former Vice-President of the Royal Society from 1982-1984 and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Prof. Southwood was responsible for attracting both Lord Robert May and Bill Hamilton to Oxford University's Zoology Department.

Prof. Southwood was also the person the government turned to for emergency scientific advice, in the form of the Southwood Working Party, at the outbreak of Mad Cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in the UK. His Working Party was horrified to discover that heavily infected cows were still going into the human food chain. As a result, they immediately recommended that all diseased cattle carcasses should be burnt, and that cattle feed containing ruminants (thought to be the source of infection) should be banned.

In addition to producing his own important work on insects and ecological methods, Prof. Southwood encouraged the scientists under him to become more inter-disciplinary. This led to an excellent atmosphere for both academic research and co-operation. It also resulted in Richard Dawkins popularising Bill Hamilton's work on kin selection, and to the physicist Lord Robert May refining his own ideas on chaos theory in relation to biological systems.

Very kindly, Prof. Southwood once told me in the lift at work (where he talked to almost everybody) that he considered me to be his academic grandson, as two of my Phd supervisors had completed their PhDs under him. Today, I feel that all ecologists have lost the equivalent of a wise and supportive grandfather.

Correction: Many thanks to Prof. Paul Harvey for correcting two factual errors in my original posting. The detailed obituary he co-authored with Prof. John Krebs for the Times newspaper can be read here.

Beavers, Reindeer + Lynx to make a come back in the UK?

The Wilderness Foundation has proposed that 800,000 hectares of Britain should be managed as wilderness reserves.

Such a scheme could help to revitalise rural communities, where farming is likely to become uneconomic over the next 20 years, and allow the re-introduction of species that used to live in Britain, such as beaver, reindeer, lynx, auroch + elk, but which have been eliminated by a combination of hunting, land clearance and intensive agriculture.

This idea has already been supported by major wildlife groups such as the WWF and the RSPCA, and major land owners such as the National Trust and the Forestry Commission.

Proposals have also been presented to the UK Treasury and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

So far, locations which might be suitable for "re-wilding" have been identified in Snowdonia, the Scottish Highlands and the Fens of East Anglia. A further 10 islands, moors and mountain areas have also been be identified as being suitable for native herbivores. Although the possibility of introducing more controversial large predators such as wolves and brown bears seems to have been sidelined, at least for the time being.

The existing proposals build on experiences in South Africa, where people have been encouraged to co-habit with wildlife using a variety of buffer zones, and in Holland, where reclaimed land at Oostvandersplassen has been set aside for re-introduced wildlife.

As the economic case for change gets stronger, the loss of European agricultural subsidies accelerates and the improvements in the quality of national life associated with habitat restoration become clearer perhaps this is an idea who's day has finally come.

... in a separate development six European beavers have just been released on 500 acre estate in the English county of Gloucestershire.

Carbon Rations and Domestic Tradeable Quotas

Green MEP, Caroline Lucas, has called for the introduction of domestic carbon emission rations.

Sometimes called Domestic Tradeable Quotas, personal carbon rations have the potential to assist the process of contraction and convergence in global greenhouse gas emissions.

They would do this by allowing every citizen to emit their fair share of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and forcing those who wish to emit more to pay for the privilege.

Within a limited market, carbon rations would initially be shared out equally. Unused rations would then be sold to others via an open market. Such a system of rationing should help to guarantee minimum living standards and be fairer than leaving access to carbon emissions to those who can afford escalating fossil fuel prices. It should also help to redistribute wealth, especially to those in the developed and developing world who have not contributed to the emission of the greenhouse gases and/or who have cut their historic emissions.

Most of the technology needed to establish and administer a carbon ration scheme is already be available. An electronic carbon credit card could keep track of purchases for fuel, air travel and consumer electronics. Whilst a personal identity card, linked to contact/billing details, could assist with the sending of targetted advice related to the reduction of personal emissions.

Earth Info is due to attend a UKERC-sponsored workshop on DTQs in November and will keep you posted with developments related to this issue.

Bird flu panic ignores and exaggerates risks

BirdLife International have warned that hasty responses to Avian Influenza based on incomplete or unsound data could do great damage to birds and other biodiversity, while actually raising the risk to people and to the economically important poultry industry.

BirdLife International’s Partners throughout Europe, such as the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK ), are working or preparing to work with their governments to monitor migratory wild bird populations and to provide scientific data and expert guidance.

Recent outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Europe have occurred along migratory flyways (including the Danube delta, a great gathering place for migratory waterbird) during the autumn migration. There is no concrete evidence that migratory birds have helped transmit the disease between countries or regions, but the possibility cannot be ruled out.

The spread of H5N1 within and beyond South-east Asia appears attributable to movements of infected poultry. The patterns of spread are not consistent with the timing and direction of movements of wild birds. It is likely that H5N1 originated in domestic poultry through mutation of low pathogenic sub-types and was subsequently passed from poultry to wild birds.

Transmission is promoted in domestic flocks due to the density of birds and the consequent close contact with faecal and other secretions through which the virus can be transmitted. Husbandry methods in SE Asia where domestic flocks are often allowed to mix freely with wild birds, especially waterfowl will have facilitated the transmission to migratory waterbirds, leading to several reported instances of die-offs.

There is no evidence that H5N1 infection in humans have been acquired from wild birds. Human infections have occurred in people who have been closely associated with poultry. The risk to human health from wild birds is extremely low and can be minimised by avoiding contact with sick or dead birds. However, there is a possibility that this virus could develop into one that might be transmitted from human to human. If this happens, then it is most likely to happen in SE Asia, from where it could then spread rapidly around the world.

BirdLife International strongly opposes any suggestion that wild birds should be culled as a way of controlling the spread of the disease, on grounds of practicality and effectiveness, as well as conservation. Any such attempts could spread the virus more widely, as survivors disperse to new places, and healthy birds become stressed and more prone to infection. The World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation and OIE (the World Organisation for Animal Health) agree that control of avian influenza in wild birds by culling is not feasible, and should not be attempted.

Similarly, attempts to drain wetlands, to keep waterbirds away are also likely to be counterproductive as well as disastrous for the environment, the conservation of threatened species, and for vital ecosystem services such as flood control and water cleansing. Birds will seek alternative staging places and waterbirds forced to fly further and endure more crowded conditions along their migration route will be more prone to infection. Some Asian and Middle Eastern governments are reported to be already formulating proposals for draining wetlands.

The most efficient control techniques involve improved biosecurity, to reduce contact between poultry and wild birds or infected water sources. Further measures include stricter controls or even bans on movements of domestic poultry, and on wild bird markets. Countries should also ban imports of wild-caught birds from infected areas. Such measures should be introduced worldwide.

BirdLife International therefore welcomes the recommendations by the European Commission that surveillance and biosecurity measures at poultry farms in the European Union should be strengthened, and that the Member States and experts have been advised to increase resources and efforts to monitor migratory bird species.

“We would like to offer our expertise in the Member States through our Partners and invite the EU state administrations to contact our Partners in country for help especially with the wild bird monitoring programmes,” said Dr Clairie Papazoglou, BirdLife International’s Head of EU Policy,.

BirdLife International’s Director of Science, Dr Leon Bennun, stressed the importance of informed and balanced judgement in responses to the threat of avian influenza, and in the public dissemination of information about it.

“It is important that discussions of the issues relating to avian influenza should differentiate between the real problems caused by the spread of the disease within bird populations, especially within the poultry industry, and the theoretical risks of a human pandemic.”

For additional information see the following update pages from:

Birdlife International e.g. There are 144 varieties of Avian Flu, most of which are benign to humans.

World Health Organisation

Food + Agriculture Organisation