British Ecological Society photo contest winners - including stunning snap of UV scorpion
The winners of the British Ecological Society’s annual photography competition have been revealed, highlighted the stunning diversity in ecology
The winners of the British Ecological Society’s annual photography competition have been revealed, highlighted the stunning diversity in ecology.
An incredible photo of a Malagasy tree boa perched in a tree, taken by Roberto Garcia Roa, claimed the top prize, but an additional 15 photos were aware highly commended.
Mr Roa said: "Unfortunately, many areas of Madagascar are suffering huge anthropic pressures including poaching and fires, and big snakes are becoming increasingly difficult to see.
“During my visit to Madagascar, I had the pleasure of finding this outstanding snake and photographing it. To offer a dramatic scenario reflecting the conditions that these snakes are suffering, I used an external red light as a source of light and severe blurring to capture the environment."
Other stunning photos include a snap of a three-toed sloth making its way across a roa, as well as an image of a Southern white rhinoceros receiving tis annual horn trimming to help protect it from poachers.
The winning images will be exhibited at the Society's annual conference in Belfast next month.
1 of 14 A cow and a chimango contemplate together the breath-taking Beagle Channel in the southernmost mountains of the Andes
(Image:Pablo Javier Merlo, Nacional University of Córdoba)2 of 14 A birch forest in autumn
(Image:Mikhail Kapychka, MSU Kuleshova)3 of 14 Drones are used to capture the bigger picture of how climate change is altering northern ecosystems
(Image:Gergana Daskalova, University of Edinburgh)4 of 14 This image captures a male plumbeous water-redstart on the hunt for insect prey emerging from the water
(Image:NILANJAN CHATTERJEE)5 of 14 A flock of flamingos fly high over Lake Magadi in a heart shape
(Image:Peter Hudson)
6 of 14 A harlequin frog exhibits one of its less common morphs in the shade of the leaves of the Chocó understory
(Image:Khristian V. Valencia)7 of 14 A Malagasy tree boa perches in a tree
(Image:Roberto García Roa)8 of 14 A rhino gets its horn trimmed. This is done annually to help protect it from poaching
(Image:Molly Penny)
9 of 14 Leafcutter bee offspring in nests made from ovate leaf cuttings thoroughly arranged in multiple buffering layers by their mother bees
(Image:Felix Fornoff)10 of 14 A small spider found in Malaysia captures a comparatively huge ant
(Image:Roberto García Roa)11 of 14 This tiny mushroom, a Mycena spp., was growing inside a rotten tree trunk. Due to the microclimatic conditions inside the trunk, condensation had formed on the Mycena
(Image:Sanne Govaert)
12 of 14 A human silhouette is dwarfed by the size of a retrogressive thaw slump on Qikiqtaruk-Herschel Island in Canada. The shifts resulting from these slumps can echo through the whole ecosystem
(Image:Gergana Daskalova)13 of 14 A cloudy snake fixes its gaze on succulent prey
(Image:Khristian V. Valencia)14 of 14 A female three-toed sloth crawls across the road. Luckily on this occasion the driver of the truck had spotted her in good time
(Image:Andrew Whitworth)