Day 05 of @RhodoRangers here!

I nearly forgot to tweet - apologies

The topic today - How to square a circle?

Also known as Integrated Stakeholder Management and how you might eliminate 1 invasive species from 1 county!

Buckle up because I don't know where this will go!

1/n We have 3 loose goals as aforementioned;

- Physical removal of Rhododendron
- Increase in public awareness of status and impacts
- Push for increased collaboration and integrated management at a county and national level!

2/n

https://twitter.com/RhodoRangers/status/1645156917700968450?t=HuXhpIYzeBm1YgdddM-vAw&s=19

Day 04 of @RhodoRangers takeover

I was meant to talk about 2 topics today but will only be talking about Site Restoration post clearance as I counted days wrong and can dedicate another day to site wide county activity!

So you've started clearing your site - what's next?

1/n Personally I favour hands off intervention but we can't always do this!

As you can see below, removal of rhododendron leaves a mark!

Some studies show diversity in some places is still impacted 30 years after clearance 😲

Have a look at this; hutton.ac.uk/news/native-pl…

2/n

Day 03

@RhodoRangers here again

It's time to talk rhodo removal, how to, tips & tricks and more

⚠️WARNING⚠️
This is not a qualified list and we make no claims for Health and Safety - be careful out there & read rules/regulations/instructions
⚠️

Now that's out of the way

1/n ⚠️
Seriously on the Be Safe part though!
⚠️

Whats the easiest way to remove rhododendron?
A natural herbivore would be of course

Only one animal seems to eat Rhododendron, the Takin from Asia

Though I wonder what would wild boar do to areas of infestation 🤔

2/n

Thursday's topic: Wolves (and lynx) in Europe.

Terrors of the forest? Or necessary keystone species?

As with everything in ecology, nothing is simple! Today I (@AdamFSmith) will look at some myths, science, and interesting facts about these species. Claws out, let's go! 🐺

1/n Firstly, this is my immediate research area. Over the last 3 years I have been involved in numerous studies involving wolves and lynx, however the "speed of science" means few are published right now!

It is extremely complex, so over Twitter you'll have to bare with me!

2/n

Hi everyone, Kez here, I'm really excited to chat with you all this week about my research & life as an Irish Ornithologist. I’ve been working in ornithology/ conservation for over nine years, first with @WWT, then PhD @QUBEcology & now working as a consultant ornithologist. 1/n I’ve been ringing birds all across Ireland since 2014, & my main focus for ringing is raptors, waders & waterfowl, working with @nirsg and @brentgoosechase. My first love will always be the Light-bellied Brent Goose, but this week I plan to talk about my PhD research. 2/n

#NewProfilePic

A HUGE thank you to @DuhallowBlueDot and @BlueDotWaters for a GREAtT week

Make sure to follow their accounts to stay up to date!

Next up is @alethionaut, curating from May 15th! Kez is an ornithologist, bird ringer, President of @CopelandBirdOb and the @_BTO Regional Rep for Co. Down. Kez completed her PhD researching the Common kestrel in Ireland from Queen’s University Belfast!

1/n @DuhallowBlueDot and @BlueDotWaters here to wrap up our week on @IrelandsEnviro 2/n It’s been an information heavy week, but thanks for sticking with us and following our threads.

ℹ️ ℹ️ ℹ️

We really hope you enjoyed, maybe learned something and were inspired to get involved! 🔵

1/n @DuhallowBlueDot here, on this glorious Saturday evening to speak about some actions farmers can take to help #BlueDot waters

👨‍🌾🔵 2/n We spoke about many ways that farmers can help #BlueDot waters on Thursday through maintaining farmland habitats that protect water quality.

🦋🦆🦢🐟🦅🦉🌳
Check out Thursday’s thread:

https://twitter.com/IrelandsEnviro/status/1656725752266489878?s=20

1/n Hi All, @BlueDotWaters here again!👉🔵😄
Hopefully by now we’ve given you a good taste of what #BlueDots are, why they’re worth protecting, what pressures are affecting them and what the various sectors can do to address them.
BUT....... 2/n What else is going on and how can you and others get involved?🫵
Well it so happens that @WatersProgramme has been working with #communities👥 since 2016 to facilitate engagement with our wonderful water resources and aquatic environment.👉🏞️

1/n Hi all @BlueDotWaters here again!
Today we will discuss Forestry Pressures
1/n Forestry is the third most important pressure on #BlueDotWaters
The most common pressures arising from forestry are:
1. Excessive sediment (or soil) inputs
2. Nutrient enrichment
3. Acidification. 2/n Most sediment inputs from forestry occur during forest operations.
These include:
· road construction
· thinning
· clear-felling

#IrishCaveBones Day7(final thread from @RuthFCarden ): 1/n Apologies people, a delayed start to my final thread here today on @IrelandsEnviro - a friend called over for a catch up and coffee. So with some blueberries to hand, let's get into this. I must say it's been great fun & 2/n very much enjoyable for me to have had this chance to share our wonderful research on #IrishCaveBones with you all, and to find that you all find it as fascinating and exciting as I/we do! Thank you all for following along this week, your RTs, comments and interest.

#IrishCaveBones Day6: 1/n It's me again, @RuthFCarden, I have my mug of tea (Lyons gold blend and I'm not sorry!), let's bring ye into my world of animal bones in a bit more detail... ye have seen all the incredible knowledge we have gained about Ireland & it's past animals in 2/n previous threads this week. But all this knowledge and more, stems from the actual #IrishCaveBones themselves and their correct identification. Now, some of ye when I say bones, might picture whole, intact bones, like these below ...

#IrishCaveBones Day5: 1/n So let's continue on our time travelling & jump forward in time to c.14,000 years BP & then continue from there. We do have a gap of knowledge between c.17,000 to c.14,000 years simply due to lack funding for radiocarbon dating of bones & other analysis. 2/n @RuthFCarden here again, tonight I have a mug of mint tea to join me on this thread. We do hope to get some of that time gap addressed, if we can, between now & end @IrishResearch grant Sept. '24. Tonight let's focus on what happened and a particular human-animal relationship

#IrishCaveBones 1/n May the (Day) 4(th) be with you all! (sorry couldn't help StarWars ref with the day that's in it!). Now, I'm (@RuthFCarden) going to grab mug of tea & I suggest you grab your choice beverage, I don't know how long this will be - a lot of info & Qs to ask. @RuthFCarden 2/n Now, let's get into tonight's thread, all about Ireland's animals - origins, what does the word native mean and to whom and how we use it, what we mean by naturalised species, (re)introductions and so on, but we need to start back in time first of all...

#IrishCaveBones Day 3 🧵 1/n @RuthFCarden back again (with coffee in hand). A few of you have asked how did the animal bones get into the caves in Ireland? This is a great question but there are no simple answers, rather likely a mixture of different ways..... 2/n We saw how tight some passages are in Castlepook cave yesterday, so how did XXL sized Wooly mammoth bones, like the humerus front leg bone in photo, end up inside, deep underground?

#IrishCaveBones 1/n Day 2: @RuthFCarden here again. Hope ye grab a mug or choice beverage, let's see how long I go with tonight's thread. Tangents are probably a given as it's all so interesting. Open to questions throughout, I'll do my best to answer them once finished. 2/n We need to go back to the start of cave exploration in Ireland, the originals so to speak, to put into context what was done and how it effects our current/future cave excavation research. There are over 300 caves in Ireland, majority of them are found in limestone rock.

Day1: Intro 🧵
Thanks to @IrelandsEnviro for inviting me on to chat to ye all about our research & work on #IrishCaveBones, cave research, past ecosystems & humans/animals in Ireland during past c.50,000 years! so we start-some background first, why we started and who we are. 1/n 2/n Back in 2006/7, I was researching the origins of red deer in Ireland, along with some others. I approached @NMIreland Natural History Division to access animal bones that had been excavated from Irish caves in late 1800s to mid 1900s, seeking red deer bones if present.

#NewProfilePic

A massive thank you to @CorncrakeLife for the great week of crex conservation!

From May 01st, we have none other than @RuthFCarden taking over the account! Ruth is a (palaeo)zoologist, zooarchaeologist and Quaternary faunal specialist working in Ireland on commercial and academic projects for the past 20+ years.

Ruth is a part time Research Scientist with the School of Archaeology, UCD on the Irish Cave Bones Project.

1/Friday we made it! We saw briefly/incompletely how #pollen #beetles preserved in #peat can shed light on long term #ecological change. There are other 'proxies' + the #peatland #archaeological record, esp rich in 🇮🇪, a remarkable 'archive' of past people/environments/climate 2/#Peat is remarkable for so many reasons, long regarded as of little 'use', now known to be an #ecosystem 'superstar' (TBD further tomorrow!) key for preservation of #Palaeoenvironmental + #Archaeological record. Photo: woody fen peat in auger @Calum_Sweeney_ @EcomuseumsLive

1/ An evening thread! Yesterday #Pollen next its beetles #Palaeoentomology - preserved in #peat fragments of bugs (wing cases, head capsules etc) are difficult to ID but provide key evidence of #Palaeoenvironments - #Prehistoric #woodland, #Biodiversity changes+extinctions! 2/Dr Eileen Reilly (photo 1, r) passed away too young. Her #Palaeoentomological work was groundbreaking. Demonstrated presence of beetles in #prehistory now extinct/rare in 🇮🇪 many associated with wood/trees (Saproxylic), 'Urwald relict' group (see table!)

1/Hi all! This afternoon we look (selectively) at what pollen records, tell us about long term changes, from the end of the last Glaciation. How has climate, humans+related processes shaped the 🇮🇪 vegetation over thousands of years? (Nick Miller, From Cogan's Shed, 2004) 2/Difficult to summarise 1000s yrs in tweets! Image by Gill Plunkett @QUBelfast does good jobNB. highly generalised, much spatial variation across country; Key points: development of woodland as climate warms start of #Holocene hazel dominant, oak, elm, later alder, how dense?