Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The value of a random sampling design for annual monitoring of national populations of larger British terrestrial mammals

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Wildlife Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Making use of an extensive network of volunteer birdwatchers, this study illustrates how a large-scale monitoring scheme originally designed for common breeding birds can be adapted to also provide robust monitoring data for medium- to large-sized, easily detectable terrestrial mammals. Compared with bird monitoring, the monitoring of common and widespread terrestrial mammals is rarely carried out using a well-designed sampling design and is largely restricted to sites selected by the observer or biased towards particular habitats of interest, making it difficult to know whether trends are representative of the populations of interest. In response to the scarcity of reliable mammal monitoring data in the UK, the principal national bird monitoring scheme, the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), was expanded to collect information on mammals. The focus was on larger, easily detectable species, although observers have the opportunity to record any mammal species. Here, we present population trends at national and regional scales for nine species of common mammal over the first 18 years of BBS mammal monitoring and examine these in relation to our current knowledge on these species. We further discuss the potential of these data for addressing important questions of conservation and management concern which may be difficult to explore with existing data.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aebischer NJ, Baker SE, Johnson PJ, Macdonald DW, Reynolds JC (2003) Hunting and fox numbers in the United Kingdom. Nature 423:400

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baker PJ, Harris S, Webbon CC (2002) Ecology: effect of British hunting ban on fox numbers. Nature 419:34

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baker SE, Macdonald DW (2000) Foxes and foxhunting on farms in Wiltshire: a case study. J Rural Stud 16:185–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battersby J (2005) UK mammals: species status and population trends. JNCC/Tracking Mammals Partnership, Peterborough

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell DJ, Webb NJ (1991) Effects of climate on reproduction in the European wild rabbit (Oryctolugus cuniculus). J Zool 224:639–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bibby C, Burgess N, Hill D, Mustoe S (2000) Bird census techniques, 2nd edn. Academic, London, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • ter Braak C, Van Strien A, Meijer R, Verstrael T (1994) Analysis of monitoring data with many missing values: which method? Bird Numbers 1992. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of IBCC and EOAC Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands., Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen & SOVON, Beek-Ubbergen

  • Bryce J (1997) Changes in the distributions of red and grey squirrels in Scotland. Mammal Rev 27:171–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns L, Edwards V, Marsh J, Soulsby L, Winter M (2000) Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales. Stationery Office, London, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Collar N, Crosby M, Stattersfield A (1994) Birds to watch 2: the world list of threatened birds. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Côté SD, Rooney TP, Tremblay J-P, Dussault C, Waller DM (2004) Ecological impacts of deer overabundance. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 35:113–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davey P, Aebischer N, Reynolds JC (2010) Participation of the National Gamebag Census in the Mammal Census Network. Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Research Report. GWCT, Fordingbridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies ZG, Wilson RJ, Brereton TM, Thomas CD (2005) The re-expansion and improving status of the silver-spotted skipper butterfly (Hesperia comma) in Britain: a metapopulation success story. Biol Conserv 124:189–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denyer JL, Hartley SE, John EA (2010) Both bottom-up and top-down processes contribute to plant diversity maintenance in an edaphically heterogeneous ecosystem. J Ecol 98:498–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolman P, Fuller R, Gill R, Hooton D, Tabor R (2010) Escalating ecological impacts of deer in lowland woodland. Br Wildlife 21:242–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Fewster RM, Buckland ST, Siriwardena GM, Baillie SR, Wilson JD (2000) Analysis of population trends for farmland birds using generalized additive models. Ecology 81:1970–1984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller RJ, Gill RMA (2001) Ecological impacts of increasing numbers of deer in British woodland. Forestry 74:193–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill R (1992) A review of damage by mammals in north temperate forests. 2. Small mammals. Forestry 65:281–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill JA, Norris K, Sutherland WJ (2001) The effects of disturbance on habitat use by black-tailed godwits Limosa limosa. J Appl Ecol 38:846–856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell J (1996) The effects of food availability and winter weather on the dynamics of a grey squirrel population in southern England. J Appl Ecol 33:325–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell J, Clark MJ, Lurz PWW, Shirley MDF, Rushton SP (2002) Conserving red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris): mapping and forecasting habitat suitability using a geographic information systems approach. Biol Conserv 105:53–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell J, Wauters LA, Lurz PWW, Tosi G (2004) Alien species and interspecific competition: effects of introduced eastern grey squirrels on red squirrel population dynamics. J Anim Ecol 73:26–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris S, Morris P, Wray S, Yalden D (1995) A review of British mammals: population estimates and conservation status of British mammals other than cetaceans. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchings MR, Harris S (1996) The current status of the brown hare (Lepus europeaus) in Britain. JNCC, Peterborough

    Google Scholar 

  • Joys A, Noble DG, Baillie SR (2003) Evaluation of species coverage and precision using the BBS indexing method. BTO Research Report No. 317, British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford

  • Kenward RE, Hodder KH, Rose RJ, Walls CA, Parish T, Holm JL, Morris PA, Walls SS, Doyle FI (1998) Comparative demography of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) and grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in deciduous and conifer woodland. J Zool 244:7–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leader-Williams N, Oldfield TEE, Smith RJ, Walpole MJ (2002) Science, conservation and fox-hunting. Nature 419:878

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald D, Burnham D (2010) The state of Britain's mammals: a focus on invasive species. Mammals Trust UK and WildCRU. UK, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald DW, Tattersall F (2001) Britain's mammals: the challenge for conservation. People's Trust for Endangered Species, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald DW, Tattersall F (2003) The State of Britain's mammals 2003. Mammals Trust UK and WildCRU, London

    Google Scholar 

  • McCullagh P, Nelder J (1989) Generalized linear models. Chapman & Hall, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Newey S, Willebrand T, Haydon DT, Dahl F, Aebischer NJ, Smith AA, Thirgood SJ (2007) Do mountain hare populations cycle? Oikos 116:1547–1557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newson SE, Johnston A, Renwick AR, Baillie SR, Fuller RJ (2012) Modelling large-scale relationships between changes in woodland deer and bird populations. J Appl Ecol 49:278–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newson SE, Leech DI, Hewson CM, Crick HQP, Grice PV (2010) Potential impact of grey squirrels Sciurus carolinensis on woodland bird populations in England. J Ornithol 151:211–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newson SE, Ockendon N, Joys A, Noble DG, Baillie SR (2009) Comparison of habitat-specific trends in the abundance of breeding birds in the UK. Bird Study 56:233–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noble DG, Aebischer NJ, Newson SE, Ewald JA, Dadam D (2012) A comparison of trends and geographical variation in mammal abundance in the Breeding Bird Survey and the National Gamebag Census. JNCC Report, No. 468, JNCC, Peterborough

  • Nyenhuis H (1999) Distribution and density of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus P.) tested after the influence of land use in North West-Germany. Allg Forst und Jagdzeitung 170:28–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Olofsson J, de Mazancourt C, Crawley MJ (2008) Spatial heterogeneity and plant species richness at different spatial scales under rabbit grazing. Oecologia 156:825–834

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pakeman RJ, Hulme PD, Torvell L, Fisher JM (2003) Rehabilitation of degraded dry heather [Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull] moorland by controlled sheep grazing. Biol Conserv 114:389–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pepin D (1987) Dynamics of a heavily exploited population of brown hare in a large scale farming area. J Appl Ecol 24:725–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poole DW, Cowan DP, Smith GC (2003) Developing a census method based on sight counts to estimate rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) numbers. Wildl Res 30:487–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichlin T, Klansek E, Hacklander K (2006) Diet selection by hares (Lepus europaeus) in arable land and its implications for habitat management. Eur J Wildl Res 52:109–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JC, O'Mahony D, Aebischer NJ (2006) Implications of `cyclical' population dynamics for the conservation of Irish hares (Lepus timidus hibernicus). J Zool 270:408–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Risely K, Massimino D, Johnston A, Newson SE, Eaton MA, Musgrove AJ, Noble DG, Procter D, Baillie SR (2012) The Breeding Bird Survey 2011. BTO Research Report 624. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute (2008) SAS/STAT user's guide, version 9.2. North Carolina, Cary

  • Sim IMW, Cross AV, Lamacraft DL, Pain DJ (2001) Correlates of common buzzard Buteo buteo density and breeding success in the West Midlands. Bird Study 48:317–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RK, Jennings NV, Robinson A, Harris S (2004) Conservation of European hares Lepus europaeus in Britain: is increasing habitat heterogeneity in farmland the answer? J Appl Ecol 41:1092–1102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland W (2006) Ecological census techniques: a handbook, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland W, Newton I, Green R (2004) Bird ecology and conservation: a handbook of techniques (techniques in ecology and conservation). Oxford University Press, London, UK

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tapper S, Parsons N (1984) The changing status of the Brown Hare (Lepus capensis L.) in Britain. Mammal Rev 14:57–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tapper S, Barnes R (1986) Influence of farmland practice on the ecology of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus). J Appl Ecol 23:39–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tapper S (1996) Distribution and level of take of native mountain hares Lepus timidus. JNCC, Peterborough

    Google Scholar 

  • Tapper S (1999) A question of balance: game animals and their role in the British countryside. Game Conservancy Trust, Fordingbridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Temple RK, Clark SAJ, Harris S (2000) Changes in the British hare population between 1993 and 1999. People's Trust for Endangered Species, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Tompkins DM, White AR, Boots M (2003) Ecological replacement of native red squirrels by invasive greys driven by disease. Ecol Lett 6:189–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wäber K, Spencer J, Dolman PM (2013) Achieving landscape-scale deer management for biodiversity conservation: the need to consider sources and sinks. J Wildl Manag 77:726–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward AI (2005) Expanding range of wild and feral deer in Great Britain. Mammal Rev 35:165–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White PCL, Newton-Cross GA, Moberly RL, Smart JCR, Baker PJ, Harris S (2003) The current and future management of wild mammals hunted with dogs in England and Wales. J Environ Manag 67:187–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White PJ, Norman RA, Trout RC, Gould EA, Hudson PJ (2001) The emergence of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus: will a non-pathogenic strain protect the UK? Philos Trans R Soc B-Biol Sci 356:1087–1095

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the BTO members and volunteers who have contributed to the BBS. The BBS is a Partnership between the BTO, JNCC (on behalf of NRW, NE, CNCC and SNH) and RSPB. We thank Derek Yalden for commenting on an earlier draft, and Kate Risely, the BBS National Organiser, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the BBS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, UK

    Lucy J. Wright, Stuart E. Newson & David G. Noble

Authors
  1. Lucy J. Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stuart E. Newson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David G. Noble
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stuart E. Newson.

Additional information

Communicated by C. Gortázar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wright, L.J., Newson, S.E. & Noble, D.G. The value of a random sampling design for annual monitoring of national populations of larger British terrestrial mammals. Eur J Wildl Res 60, 213–221 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0768-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0768-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation