Jack Bamber
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jackantbam.bsky.social
Jack Bamber
@jackantbam.bsky.social

Ecology, PhD Candidate Univeristy of Aberdeen.

Environmental science 80%
Geography 20%

Reposted by Jack A. Bamber

Bridging the implementation gap: From predator control to non-lethal impact-based intervention🌏

Through a co-designed experiment with practitioner & community engagement, this study evaluated the effects of diversionary feeding as a non-lethal strategy to reduce predation🧪

doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Reposted by Jack A. Bamber

Check out my BlueSky talk at #BOUatEOU on rewilding
Excited to share my research at #BOUatEOU on breeding failure of tawny owls (Strix aluco) in commercial plantations 🦉🌲
How do owls deal with changing food availability and the return of a new nest predator?
#ornithology #predation #prey-switching

Implimentation has been supported by co-production, engagement, and dissemination through honest advocacy by the research team. However, there has been pushback from supporters of lethal control, likely rooted in land use preferences over evidential support.

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Bridging the implementation gap: From predator control to non‐lethal impact‐based intervention
We argue that pushback against diversionary feeding did not reflect disagreement on the validity of the scientific evidence but rather was rooted in deep divides over land management and the relative....
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These positive results provide clear evidence that diversionary feeding is an effective tool to reduce the impact of predation on cappercaillie productivity.

Many land managers across the current cappercaillie range in Scotland are now deploying diversionary feeding for predator management.

Using detections from the camera traps, we were able to show that hens in sites with diversionary feeding had a significantly higher chance of having a brood. In turn, increasing chicks per hen (productivity) in September by 130%.

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Empirical evidence that diversionary feeding increases productivity in ground-nesting birds | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The recovery of predator populations may negatively impact other species of conservation concern, leading to conservation conflicts. Evidence-based solutions are needed to resolve such conflicts. Robu...
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To assess if the results of this artificial nest study translated to real cappercaillie broods, we trialled novel non-invasive monitoring via camera traps. We were able to identify if a hen had a brood and count how many chicks she had in her brood.

In our first experimental trial of diversionary feeding, we deployed artificial nests in a control and test design. We found that the presence of diversionary feeding reduced artificial nest predation by 83%. Mainly due to reduced pine marten predation.

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Evaluating diversionary feeding as a method to resolve conservation conflicts in a recovering ecosystem
Diversionary feeding is an easily employable method shown in this study to reduce predator impact (functional) without lethal (numerical) intervention.
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Check out my bluesky talk for #BOUatEOU.

We found that diversionary feeding is a suitable impact based tool to reduce conflicts between recovering predators (pine marten) and endangered ground nesting birds (cappercaillie) in Scottish Forests.

🧪🌍🦤🍁

Check out these amazing wildlife images! One of the runners up was a picture from my cappercaillie monitoring! 📸
A striking photograph of two male saiga antelope sparring on the banks of a steppe lake is the winner of the 2025 BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology image competition.
Learn more about all winning images: spklr.io/63321BGOvf

@bmc.springernature.com #PhotoCompetition

Reposted by Jack A. Bamber

A striking photograph of two male saiga antelope sparring on the banks of a steppe lake is the winner of the 2025 BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology image competition.
Learn more about all winning images: spklr.io/63321BGOvf

@bmc.springernature.com #PhotoCompetition
📝 Are you using multispecies occupancy models to investigate interactions in species occupancy (i.e. co-occurrence)? 🦁🦓

Check out our new paper for advice on the number of sites you need to reliably detect interactions under different scenarios ⬇️
Sample size considerations for species co‐occurrence models
Multispecies occupancy models are widely applied to infer interactions in the occurrence of different species, but convergence and estimation issues under realistic sample sizes are common. We conduc...
doi.org

Reposted by Jack A. Bamber

Interestingly, I have noticed a reticence to consider options other than population control when managing invasive species. We wrote about it here academic.oup.com/bioscience/a.... 🌐 #bioinvasions

Check our @theconversation.com article, alongside @chrissuthy.bsky.social and @lambin-ecology.bsky.social (special mention to @kennyafc.bsky.social). Where we breakdown the entire diversionary feeding project!
A surprisingly effective way to save the capercaillie: keep its predators well-fed – new research
Evidence suggests this alternative to culling the bird’s predators is effective.
theconversation.com

Reposted by Jack A. Bamber

Reposted by Jack A. Bamber

Check out Jack's new paper!

Diversionary feeding of predators (in this case a Pine Martin) increases the breeding success of Capercaillie, as fewer eggs get stolen

#SciArt