David Alexander
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david-alexander.bsky.social
David Alexander
@david-alexander.bsky.social
Love National Parks, Protected Landscapes and Maps

My views are my own
I got this book from the Library at Cranfield. It's beautiful, insightful and enjoyable. Published in 1986, it's nearly as old as I am!
October 31, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Nice panel at my local conservation area in Rotherham. Small outcrop of limestone near a SSSi - Anston Stones. Not many Meadows left around here.
September 14, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by David Alexander
In June 2024, 80,000 of us marched peacefully to #RestoreNatureNow with hardly a mention in the media. Were we supposed to have thrown stones and fought the police to be noticed?

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Bottles thrown at police as 100 officers clash with ‘unite the kingdom’ marchers – UK politics live
Met police estimate 110,000 people attended rally, with smaller number of counter-protesters ‘penned in’
www.theguardian.com
September 13, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I missed this too! Must remember next year.
Apparently yesterday was ##CloudAppreciationDay- a bit late, but a few from this morning
#BredonHill ##Cotswolds
September 13, 2025 at 5:16 PM
"Megaberg" currently slightly larger than the size of the Peak District National Park. Hard to comprehend the scale.
September 8, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Useful guide for tonight's eclipse... Hopefully it's not too cloudy ☁️
Want to know how to watch tonight’s eclipse?

I made a reel telling you all you’ll need to know ahead of the Moon rise tonight.

www.instagram.com/reel/DOOqF6D...

Wonderful image by my good friend Kirk Paton
September 7, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Nice graph 📉
A new World Bank report cites data from a forthcoming study: it shows the biomass of wild terrestrial mammals as being 2% of all mammals on earth.
A widely quoted 2018 study had shown that proportion as 4% (see next post).
The rest is us & our livestock.
openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/c...
September 7, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Nice map 🗺️
#geodata #mapping #datavis

Precipitation (rain and snow) vs temperature in Germany

by @milos-makes-maps.bsky.social over on the birdsite
September 7, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Our new Landscape Observatory website went live today. Please check it out www.landscapeobservatory.org.uk
Landscape Observatory – AI mapping research to adapt landscape to climate change
www.landscapeobservatory.org.uk
September 3, 2025 at 7:07 PM
It was excellent to attend and speak at the #landscapesconference 2025. Highlight was the Ministerial address, talking about our new Landscape Observatory 🤯
July 10, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Celebrating a single successful hen harrier nest in the Peak District risks creating a false impression of conservation success en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivo...
Survivorship bias - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
June 11, 2025 at 8:10 PM
@bbcspringwatch.bsky.social great to see dry stone walls on Springwatch this evening. Since the 1950s we've seen a gradual decline all over the white peak. Gradual feature loss, resulting in shifting baselines.
Using computer vision and #MapReader software, we analysed the loss of field boundaries across the #PeakDistrict Since the 1950s, the White Peak has seen a 12% reduction-551 km lost from an original 4,814 km. A stark reminder of landscape change 📊🌿 storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5c89... #maps #GIS
Mapping the Past Against the Present
Past Landscapes, Present Discoveries: A Data Science Approach to Rediscovering Field Systems from Historic Ordnance Survey Maps
storymaps.arcgis.com
June 2, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by David Alexander
A HISTORIC MILESTONE: For the first time, solar power generated more electricity globally than nuclear, making it the world’s 4th largest power source.

In just 5 years, solar output nearly tripled—from 79 TWh (Apr 2020) to 233 TWh (Apr 2025). The energy transition is speeding up.

@ember-energy.org
June 2, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Most interpretation panels I come across these days are old. This is a fantastic one near my house, explaining a little known fact... the stone used to construct the Houses of Parliament, originates from Rotherham!
May 20, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Just attended a fascinating workshop on DV. Got me thinking about the 40,000+ images in our #LandscapesUnlocked archive at the Peak District. Huge potential for AI-driven insight into people, place, and landscape change. www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/learning-abo...
May 20, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by David Alexander
I know it's Friday & sunny, but mark your calendars for next Wed lunchtime to hear @catsporter.bsky.social talk about WEATHER and the early Irish Ordnance Survey.
May 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by David Alexander
Shocking stats in today's FT: "England faces driest year this century."

April rainfall more than 50% below average across most of the country…
May 17, 2025 at 7:35 AM
We need to rethink how we monitor biodiversity at scale

Traditional methods alone can’t keep pace with the urgent need for high-resolution, landscape-scale monitoring of protected areas & landscapes

New methods with @vdplasthijs.bsky.social

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Monitoring protected areas by integrating machine learning, remote sensing and citizen science
Protected areas are central to addressing the world's biodiversity crisis, but rapid and high-resolution monitoring is required to assess their effectiveness for conservation. Two data sources, remot...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 15, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by David Alexander
🌲 Planting trees helps woodland birds—but how and where we plant matters. 🐦
doi.org/10.1007/s109...

We modelled how different woodland creation strategies affect 10 woodland bird species in England’s agricultural landscapes. @watts-km.bsky.social @tomfinch.bsky.social
Combining occupancy and dispersal models to predict the conservation benefits of land-use change - Landscape Ecology
Context Economic incentives for habitat creation in productive agricultural land are an important tool for halting biodiversity loss. Given inevitable funding constraints, assessing the cost-effective...
doi.org
April 25, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Reposted by David Alexander
Beautiful Barn Owl in flight photo from Daryl Peters: 'I never tire of watching these magnificent, graceful, silent and ethereal raptors, even with the fallout of the early morning pre-dawn starts to see them at their best.'
April 26, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by David Alexander
Fun climate fact of the day. Last time there was this much CO2 in the atmosphere there were no humans on Earth.
April 22, 2025 at 2:23 PM
The Turks Head. St Agnes, Isles of Scilly. What a pub 👌
April 21, 2025 at 11:35 AM
A few Easter treats for myself...
April 19, 2025 at 5:07 PM