Summary Assessment of soil organic matter content using laboratory analysis can be costly and time consuming, so limiting how often land managers assess this important property. This work demonstrates an ability to estimate topsoil organic matter content from field observations alone and provides a method by which rapid and cost‐effective assessments of soil organic matter status may be made. Models using environmental factors from the National Soil Inventory of Scotland ( NSIS ) dataset as inputs to a neural network model were used to predict loss on ignition ( LOI ). Two models, one for all soils and one for soils with small organic matter contents ( LOI < 20%), were developed. It was found that the model developed for all soils produced reasonable predictive results across the entire LOI range ( R 2 = 0.877), although it was not as effective at predicting small LOI values ( R 2 = 0.354) as the small organic matter content model ( R 2 = 0.674). Both models were tested with imagery and data from samples outwith the NSIS dataset to validate the approach. Predictive results were less accurate than when using NSIS data. A discussion of possible improvements to make the model useful for field observations of soils is given.

Topsoil

Loss on ignition

Limiting

10.1111/ejss.12199

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Citations (25)

The potential for modelling peatland habitat condition in Scotland using long-term MODIS data

The Science of The Total Environment (2018)

Rebekka Artz Sally Johnson Patricia Bruneau Andrea J. Britton Ruth J. Mitchell

Moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer

Land Cover

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.327

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Citations (17)

Genetic Evidence of Killer Whale Predation on White Sharks in Australia

Ecology and Evolution (2025)

Isabella Reeves Andrew R. Weeks Alison V. Towner Rachael Impey Jessica J. Fish

ABSTRACT Killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) have been documented to prey on white sharks ( Carcharodon carcharias ), in some cases causing localised shark displacement and triggering ecological cascades. Notably, a series of such predation events have been reported from South Africa over the last decade, with killer whales specifically targeting sharks' liver. However, observations of these interactions are rare, and knowledge of their frequency across the world's oceans remains limited. In October 2023, a 4.7 m (total length) white shark carcass washed ashore in southeastern Australia, coinciding with reports from citizen scientists of killer whales hunting a large, unidentified prey item in the area. Visual inspection of the carcass revealed that the liver, digestive, and reproductive organs were missing, and the presence of four distinctive bite wounds, one of which was characteristic of killer whale liver extraction as seen in South Africa. Genomic analyses performed on swabs taken from the bite wounds confirmed the presence of killer whale DNA in the major bite area, while the other bites were embedded with genetic material from the scavenging broadnose sevengill shark ( Notorynchus cepedianus ). These results provide confirmed evidence of killer whale predation on white sharks in Australia and the likely selective consumption of the liver, suggesting predations of this nature are more globally prevalent than currently assumed.

Carcharias

White (mutation)

Chondrichthyes

Marine mammal

10.1002/ece3.70786

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Automated Soil Physical Parameter Assessment Using Smartphone and Digital Camera Imagery

Journal of Imaging (2016)

Matt Aitkenhead Malcolm Coull Richard Gwatkin David Donnelly

Here we present work on using different types of soil profile imagery (topsoil profiles captured with a smartphone camera and full-profile images captured with a conventional digital camera) to estimate the structure, texture and drainage of the soil. The method is adapted from earlier work on developing smartphone apps for estimating topsoil organic matter content in Scotland and uses an existing visual soil structure assessment approach. Colour and image texture information was extracted from the imagery. This information was linked, using geolocation information derived from the smartphone GPS system or from field notes, with existing collections of topography, land cover, soil and climate data for Scotland. A neural network model was developed that was capable of estimating soil structure (on a five-point scale), soil texture (sand, silt, clay), bulk density, pH and drainage category using this information. The model is sufficiently accurate to provide estimates of these parameters from soils in the field. We discuss potential improvements to the approach and plans to integrate the model into a set of smartphone apps for estimating health and fertility indicators for Scottish soils.

Topsoil

Soil texture

Digital Soil Mapping

Pedotransfer function

10.3390/jimaging2040035

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Citations (27)

Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song

Royal Society Open Science (2019)

Clare Owen Luke Rendell Rochelle Constantine Michael J. Noad Jenny Allen

Cultural transmission of behaviour is important in a wide variety of vertebrate taxa from birds to humans. Vocal traditions and vocal learning provide a strong foundation for studying culture and its transmission in both humans and cetaceans. Male humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) perform complex, culturally transmitted song displays that can change both evolutionarily (through accumulations of small changes) or revolutionarily (where a population rapidly adopts a novel song). The degree of coordination and conformity underlying song revolutions makes their study of particular interest. Acoustic contact on migratory routes may provide a mechanism for cultural revolutions of song, yet these areas of contact remain uncertain. Here, we compared songs recorded from the Kermadec Islands, a recently discovered migratory stopover, to multiple South Pacific wintering grounds. Similarities in song themes from the Kermadec Islands and multiple wintering locations (from New Caledonia across to the Cook Islands) suggest a location allowing cultural transmission of song eastward across the South Pacific, active song learning (hybrid songs) and the potential for cultural convergence after acoustic isolation at the wintering grounds. As with the correlations in humans between genes, communication and migration, the migration patterns of humpback whales are written into their songs.

Humpback whale

10.1098/rsos.190337

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Citations (43)

New diagnostic descriptions and distribution information for Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) off Southern Australia and New Zealand

Marine Mammal Science (2018)

David Donnelly Paul Ensor Peter C. Gill Rohan H. Clarke Karen Evans

Parade

Marine mammal

Right whale

Blues

10.1111/mms.12478

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Citations (5)