A beautifully observed image of a bearded dragon basking under the hot Australian sun has been named the winner in the British Ecological Society’s annual photography competition, Capturing Ecology.
The winning images, taken by ecologists, photographers and students, highlight and celebrate the diversity of ecology from around the world.
Highlights from this year's prize include an amazing image of an invasive crayfish, and a fight between and wasp and a spider.
The British Ecological Society (BES) is the oldest ecological society in the world. The BES promotes the study of ecology through its six academic journals, events, grants, education initiatives and policy work.
Individuals and Populations (Animals) Student winner – The Glass Ceiling
A signal crayfish photographed at an abandoned trout farm in western Poland. This invasive species has been breeding at the site for several years, threatening local populations of native crayfish by carrying crayfish plague and outcompeting them for food and habitat. Photo by Filip Jarzynski
Ecologists in Action winner – Aerials
A drone image of a group of scientists searching for critically endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) in Andros, The Bahamas. Photo by Tim Jackson-Bué
Networks in Nature Student winner – Fisheye perspective
The photo shows a male Arctic Tern (right) providing a Sand eel to an incubating female (left), photographed at the RSPB reserve on the Skerries Islands, Anglesey, United Kingdom. This season, the tern's main food source has been Sand eels, but now they are switching to fish from the Clupeidae family. Photo by Filip Jarzynski
Overall Runner-Up – Lanterns
During a walk through a high-altitude forest in Ecuador, photographer Danni Thompson came across a beautiful flowering shrub (Abutilon megapotamicum). Here on the branch, we can see flowers of all ages. Photo by Danni Thompson
People and Nature category – A Soul
Simon, a critically endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) sits in his cage after being rescued from poachers in the Republic of Guinea. The Chimpanzee Conservation Center is the only organisation in the world that releases western chimpanzees back into the wild. Photo by Roberto García-Roa
Regenerative Agriculture winner – Fruit Trees for Future Forests
This picture shows an impromptu harvest of some rambutan fruits to accompany lunch in a social forestry area in Sumatra. Village communities in Indonesia are enhancing the cover of multi-purpose tree species in cleared areas to improve ecosystem health and function whilst also providing nutritional and economic benefits to local people. Photo by Lindsay Banin
Individuals and Populations (Plants and Fungi) winner – Early morning thaw
In the heart of Copenhagen, Denmark, a fungus (Flammulina sp.) slowly begins to thaw after a crisp November night. Photo by Jenn Rose
Networks in Nature winner – Hunter becomes hunted
The frenetic combat between a spider wasp (pompilid) and a spider in the tropical rainforests of Peru has suddenly stopped, as captured in this image. The wasp needs to confirm if its sting has paralysed its dangerous prey before taking it to her nest. Wasps of the family Pompilidae are called spider wasps because females are sophisticated hunters of spiders, which they use as a living pantry to feed their offspring. Photo by Roberto García-Roa
Ecologists in Action Student Winner – A final survey
A researcher surveys a reef flat in the central Red Sea, with nearly 100 per cent bleaching. As the central Red Sea experienced record temperatures in 2023, a severe bleaching event unfolded, leading to the death of the majority of shallow corals like those shown in this photo. Photo by Viktor Peinemann
Regenerative Agriculture Student winner – Hay Meadow in the Swiss Alps
A biodiverse meadow is a beautiful sight, but the UK has lost 97 per cent of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s. Overgrazing and excessive fertilisation have degraded the ecosystem. In Guarda, Switzerland, this meadow is cut only once a year to harvest hay, giving the plants time to flower and spread their seeds. Photo by Juliet Turner
Overall Winner – The Dragon and the Sun
This photo was captured on a sunny summer day in Canberra, Australia. Bearded dragons (Pogona barbata) love to bask under the Sun in their eucalypt woodland habitat. Photo by Damien Esquerre
James Cutmore is the picture editor of BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked on the magazine and website for over a decade, telling compelling science stories through the use of striking imagery. He holds a degree in Fine Art, and has been nominated for the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards, being highly commended in 2020. His main areas of interest include photography that highlights positive technology and the natural world. For many years he was a judge for the Wellcome Trust's image competition, as well as judging for the Royal Photographic Society.
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