The British Ecological Society has announced the winners of its annual photography competition, Capturing Ecology. Taken by international ecologists and students, the winning images will be exhibited at the society’s joint annual meeting in Ghent in December. This year’s overall winner is Christopher Beirne, from the University of Exeter and Crees Foundation, with his image of an ocelot taking advantage of human-made nature trails to stalk its prey in Peru. “The photograph was taken in an area of land, which was completely cleared for agriculture 30-50 years ago. Documenting the wildlife that has returned as the forest has recovered was not only a real privilege, it has also changed my perspective on the value of degraded land in tropical areas”. (Photo by Christopher Beirne/University of Exeter and Crees Foundation/British Ecological Society)





Overall runner-up: Toucan, Mark Tatchell. (Photo by Mark Tatchell/British Ecological Society)





Overall student winner: Leejiah Dorward. Flap-necked chameleon in Tanzania. (Photo by Leejiah Dorward/University of Oxford/British Ecological Society)





Up close and personal category winner: Roberto García Roa. Anolis lizard changing skin. (Photo by Roberto García Roa/University of Valencia/British Ecological Society)





Dynamic ecosystems category winner: Zoe Davies. A brown bear catching sockeye salmon in Alaska. (Photo by Zoe Davies/University of Kent/British Ecological Society)





Dynamic ecosystems student winner: Leejiah Dorward. A savanna vine snake struggles with a speckle fronted weaver in Tanzania. (Photo by Leejiah Dorward/British Ecological Society)





Individuals and populations category winner: Nilanjan Chatterjee. A tiger with her cub. (Photo by Nilanjan Chatterjee/Wildlife Institute of India/British Ecological Society)





Individuals and populations student winner: Leejiah Dorward. A long-tailed sylph shakes off rain drops after a tropical shower in Colombia. (Photo by Leejiah Dorward/University of Oxford/British Ecological Society)





Ecology and society category: Leejiah Dorward. A nycterid bat triggers a camera trap. (Photo by Leejiah Dorward/University of Oxford/British Ecological Society)





Ecology and society student winner: Adam Rees. Female leatherback turtle gets into trouble. (Photo by Adam Rees/Plymouth University/British Ecological Society)





Ecology in action category winner: Dominic Cram. Meerkat morning weights. (Photo by Dominic Cram/University of Cambridge/British Ecological Society)





Ecology in action student winner: Nick Harvey. A sedated white rhino in South Africa. (Photo by Nick Harvey/University of Manchester and Chester Zoo/British Ecological Society)





The art of ecology category winner: Jesamine Bartlett. A crack in a Swedish lake stretches the entire width of the lake. (Photo by Photograph: Jesamine Bartlett/University of Birmingham and British Antarctic Survey/British Ecological Society)





The art of ecology student winner: Sanne Govaert. A butterfly in a used transparent container. (Photo by Sanne Govaert/Ghent University/British Ecological Society)