Natural Resources Wales

Flood hydrology sits at the interface of science, public protection, infrastructure planning, and regulation. It is a broad and interdisciplinary field; in a recent UK survey of users of hydrology only 45 % self-identified as a hydrologist. To ensure society is prepared for increasing hydrological risks, effective communication within this diverse community is essential. Without clear pathways for translation pathway between policy priorities, emerging research and operational needs, critical planning and policy decisions risk being made on outdated assumptions. However, operational decisions are not always able to draw upon the latest research into process understanding or modelling approaches due to multiple barriers. These barriers include uneven access to data and tools, capacity constraints, differences in incentives across sectors and the limited time for relationship building and knowledge translation across different expertise. Here, we present insights from around 60 participants at a “science into practice” workshop hosted at the British Hydrological Society Symposium (University of Oxford, September 2024). The workshop was designed as a sector-spanning exercise between researchers, consultants, regulators, and practioners working on flood hydrology across the UK. Across sectors, participants converged on six priority themes: (1) working together, (2) funding and responsibilities, (3) skills and training, (4) data, (5) methods, and (6) accreditation and usability. We reflect on how these themes provided insights into the challenges and opportunities for science communication, knowledge translation and collaboration, and why such activities are often undervalued despite their critical role for improving flood-risk decisions. We conclude with practical recommendations for improving “science into practice” pathways in flood hydrology with more inclusive cross-sector communication aligned with the goals of the co-developed 25-year UK Flood Hydrology Roadmap. These lessons learned are transferable to other areas of environmental risk where effective communication and collaboration are crucial for delivering societal and environmental benefits.

Climate change reduces snow and ice input to mountain meltwaters, which provide as much as 60% of the world’s annual freshwater flow. Water resource models in these environments are often flawed in their implementation of glacier and snowmelt, affecting model outputs and how stakeholders plan water resource management needs. Therefore, addressing these limitations is key to improving water security. A water resource model is applied to the Rofental catchment in the Austrian Alps using a model-coupling approach to incorporate glacier and snowmelt processes, as well as new routing mechanics to better simulate flow in these catchments. This modelling is supported by new observations of glacial thickness, extent and meltwater runoff, and enhanced with the use of isotope tracers to distinguish dominant flow paths. Preliminary results point to more conservative water routing and better glacial water representation within the catchment. Ultimately, this approach serves to constrain uncertainty and deliver a clearer picture of the dominant hydrological processes in mountain catchments, and how changes in these may impact mountain water resources in the future.

The localization accuracy of targets in space is not only affected by sensor distance and angle measurement accuracy, airborne platform position accuracy, but also by atmospheric refraction. The paper establishes a target motion model, analyzes the influence mechanism of atmospheric refraction on target positioning, uses an improved Kalman filtering algorithm to predict the state of the target, adjusts and updates the state estimation based on the measurement values, and finally achieves the positioning error under atmospheric refraction conditions.

ABSTRACT Capsule The sixth national survey of breeding Hen Harriers in 2023 revealed a near-significant 20% increase in the UK and Isle of Man population since 2016, with variation between and within constituent countries. Aims To estimate the size of the breeding Hen Harrier population in the UK and Isle of Man, constituent countries, Scottish regions and the UK Special Protection Area (SPA) network for breeding Hen Harriers in 2023, and calculate population changes since 2016. Methods Surveys were conducted in all 10-km squares likely to be occupied by breeding birds in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man, using standard methods. In Scotland, a stratified random selection of 10-km squares within the known breeding range was surveyed alongside squares selected by volunteers. Surveys were conducted in the UK in 2023 and Isle of Man in 2022. Results The UK and Isle of Man population was estimated at 691 territorial pairs (95% confidence limits, 593–802), a near-significant 20% increase since 2016. Populations increased by differing degrees in all countries and the Isle of Man, except in Northern Ireland where they declined. Scotland held 77% of the population with 529 (95% confidence limits, 431–640) pairs, with only tens of pairs in the other surveyed areas. Overall abundance within SPAs scarcely changed since 2016, but Scottish and Northern Irish SPAs held fewer pairs (−28% and −18%). As in 2016, most Hen Harriers were found on heather-dominated moorland. In Scotland, abundance declines on grouse-shooting moors continued between 2016 and 2023 (−23%), following a significant 67% decline between 2010 and 2016. Conclusion The 2023 survey showed a near-significant 20% increase in the UK and Isle of Man breeding Hen Harrier population since 2016. There was a substantial increase in England and moderate increases in Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, but a continuing decline in Northern Ireland. Breeding numbers within much of the SPA network in Scotland and Northern Ireland were below citation levels, with a more encouraging picture in England and particularly in Wales.

We present a genome assembly from an individual female Vipera berus (common adder; Chordata; Lepidosauria; Squamata; Viperidae). The haplotype-resolved assembly contains two haplotypes with total lengths of 1,695.0 megabases and 1,476.7 megabases, respectively. Most of haplotype 1 (98.45%) is scaffolded into 19 chromosomal pseudomolecules, while haplotype 2 is assembled to scaffold level. Haplotype 1 achieves the Earth Biogenome Project reference standard of 6.C.Q52. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 17.35 kilobases in length.

The decomposition of large woody material is an important process in forest carbon cycling and nutrient release. Cord-forming saprotrophic basidiomycete fungi create non-resource limited mycelial networks between decomposing branches, logs and tree stumps on the forest floor where colonisation of new resources is often associated with the replacement of incumbent decay communities. To date, antagonism experiments have mostly placed competing fungi in direct contact, while in nature cord-forming saprobes encounter colonised wood as mycelia in a network. Transcriptomic and peptide analyses were conducted on soil-based microcosms were foraging cord-forming Hypholoma fasciculare encountered a wood block colonised by Trametes versicolor. Protein turnover featured strongly for both species and genes putatively involved in secondary metabolite production were identified. H. fasciculare demonstrated an exploitative profile with increased transcription of genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism and RNA and ribosome processing. T. versicolor showed a shift in signalling, energy generation and amino acid metabolism. By identifying genes and proteins putatively involved in this fungal interaction, this work may help guide the discovery of bioactive molecules and mechanisms underpinning community succession.

Hydrodynamic controls of the transport of suspended particulate matter (SPM), particulate nutrients and faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) in the river-estuary transition zone (RETZ) of a shallow macrotidal estuary were studied on tidal and seasonal timescales. The RETZ was found to be a conduit for SPM rather than a zone of particle accumulation during spring tides, with complex size fractionation and biogeochemical exchanges of particulate nutrient/FIO compositions. The downstream RETZ was characterised by flood-dominant currents, but with ebb-dominant turbulence due to the suppression of flood tide turbulence by salinity stratification created by lateral convergence; this produced a net seaward mass transport of SPM. Without lateral convergence in the narrower upstream RETZ, flood-dominant currents and flood-dominant turbulence were experienced. Hence the RETZ exported SPM landwards from its upper end and seawards from its lower end — a process observed throughout the year during spring tides and low-to-mean river flows. During neap tides when SPM concentrations were reduced, the RETZ became a zone of minor particle accumulation as its lower end imported SPM landwards from the estuary and its upper end imported SPM seawards from the river. During a river flood event, net SPM flux was significantly increased and was seawards throughout the RETZ. SPM mass concentration and carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and FIO concentrations peaked due to local resuspension and advection of an ephemeral estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM). The ETM formed on the advancing flood tide due to entrainment of material from intertidal flats. Flocculation and settling occurred at high slack water. The ETM was reconstituted by entrainment on the ebb and was composed of larger flocs than on the flood. Particulate nutrients and FIOs were associated with flocs in the 10–200 μm range but not with smaller or larger flocs. SPM concentrations in the resuspension component and ETM exceeded microbial water quality standards, emphasising the need for monitoring practices that consider tidal dynamics. The results from this study showing periodic SPM export from, rather than prolonged accumulation in, the RETZ and the influence of particle size fractionation on biogeochemical fluxes in the RETZ, are likely to be transferable to many other embayment-type estuaries on macrotidal coasts.