Course: The Biology of Bugs, Brains, and Beasts

Climate change poses, arguably, the greatest modern threat to biodiversity of all. This is because most species exist within a “climate envelope”, or a region of the world where the …

Conservation aims to protect rare species and preserve biodiversity. To do this effectively, we need to understand the factors that pose threats to species and ecosystems. Sometimes these may apply …

Understanding the ecology of species is critical to informing our efforts for their preservation. Listen to Dr. Callum Macgregor discussing the many faces of conservation, from protecting single species to …

How do animals fit into nutrient cycling? We have already seen that microbes like bacteria and fungi can play a key role in influencing the flow of energy and matter …

Life on earth would not be possible without carbon. This is in part due to carbon’s ability to readily form bonds with other atoms, giving flexibility to the form and …

What plants need Plants are made up mostly of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, which they obtain from water and carbon dioxide. However, plants will take up a number of other …

To understand the processes which determine the biodiversity of an ecosystem, and the ways in which human activities affect them, we often need to find out how many species are …

What determines the diversity of an ecosystem; in other words, how many species are present within an area of habitat? Although this question sounds simple, it is actually very complicated …

Understanding how to generate important evidence concerning the role of biodiversity with Dr. Callum Macgregor. In this video we think about what is meant by the term “biodiversity”. We discuss …

Tracking tunnel experiment Aims: Tracking tunnels are a non-invasive tool that ecologists can use to investigate the presence of mammals in a habitat by identifying their footprints. Tunnels can be …

Can we understand how populations change? With a million species at risk of extinction globally understanding how populations are changing, and why, is vital to help us develop effective conservation …

How do organisms interact with each other? Given the biodiversity on our planet, the range of ways in which species interact with each other is vast. Interactions can be visible …

Understanding how organisms interact with members of the same species and others is key to implementing effective conservation strategies. In this video we consider why biologists want to study populations, …

Whether we are wanting to estimate populations, sample dung or measure plant growth, the first challenge we need to overcome is to design an effective sampling regime. In the video …

Rewilding is currently a hot topic in conservation in the UK. Rewilding seeks to return landscapes to a state where ecological processes function with little intervention from humans. The dream …