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The Mammal Monitoring Project

The Mammal Monitoring Project began in April 2000. As well as integrating and co-ordinating ongoing mammal studies in Wytham Woods, the programme's long-term objectives extend beyond the site’s 1000 acres. We are developing, calibrating and validating easy-to-use, yet accurate mammal monitoring techniques that could be used by volunteers nationwide. This ties in with a recent WildCRU report to central government outlining potential ways to structure and manage such a national programme. In the UK, the ecological importance of monitoring mammals is reflected in national and international legal obligations to do so. Monitoring long-term trends in a species' status may reveal which factors are responsible for the changes observed, such as habitat loss/degradation, inter-specific competition, pollution, disease dynamics, and climate change.

Why is this project important?

This WildCRU project contributes to the new national ‘Mammal Tracking Partnership’, which was formed in April 2003 to address the lack of a coordinated system of monitoring mammal populations in the UK. Some species are endangered or problematic and effective conservation or control measures rely upon accurate records of species’ distribution and abundance. A number of government departments (e.g. English Nature, DEFRA, JNCC) and a host of NGOs (e.g. Mammals Trust UK, Mammal Society, Wildlife Trusts, British Deer Society), are working together within the Mammal Tracking Partnership to establish distribution and abundance data for all British mammal species, with a view to developing the most effective policies for conservation and management.

 

What are we doing?

The mammal communities in Wytham have been monitored by professional scientists and students since the 1940s and we have extensive data on the population trends there. However, multi-species monitoring is a demanding task, and this project relies upon the commitment, time and effort of keen volunteers to get the work done. Teams of volunteers are recruited by the Earthwatch Institute and assist the project for 6-10 days. To date over 400 Earthwatch volunteers have helped with the study. By comparing the results of more sophisticated methods used by experienced scientists with those from surveys by volunteers we are able to establish which techniques are most reliable and appropriate for volunteers to use. The project has been very fortunate to benefit from collaboration with the Ley Community drugs and alcohol rehabilitation centre near Oxford. Volunteers from the community tend to make exceptionally good naturalists, despite often having had no previous experience of the countryside. Results are very encouraging; we have found that people from all walks of life, of all ages and with all levels of previous involvement with field ecology, from novice to expert, have something to offer to conservation in the UK.



Volunteers preparing equipment for a survey

How is this project making a difference?

Deliverables

As well as providing local data on mammal communities from Wytham Woods, the Mammal Monitoring Project is contributing expertise in the training of volunteers and the development of straightforward methods that can be taught quickly and effectively, while at the same time yielding reliable accurate results. At the same time, volunteers benefit by learning about the interactions and complexities of mammal communities, as well as gaining hands-on experience of working with wild mammals, including magical badger watching experiences, learning how to handle mice and voles, surveying for bats and tracking deer.

Cascade effects

This project recognises that education, understanding and public participation are the best ways to ensure the conservation of our British mammal communities into the 21st Century. Each year WildCRU invites public participation in its annual badger census in Wytham Woods, providing up to 400 people with the chance to see badgers close-up; we also arrange badger watches specifically for schools and wildlife societies. We try to make nature interesting and accessible to a wide variety of interest groups by undertaking talks and day visits to the woods for children, senior citizens, local and national societies, wildlife trusts etc. We aim to inform the public about important conservation issues, and in addition to scientific output we produce popular articles for the local and national press, magazines (e.g. BBC Wildlife), radio and television.

How can you help?

We are indebted to the Earthwatch Institute, the Mammals Trust UK and the Ernest Cook Trust for generous financial support. You could help us to continue and expand this flagship project in three main ways. We need to raise the salary of a full time Scientific Officer, an important and demanding role currently undertaken on a voluntary or part-time basis by WildCRU staff. We urgently need an additional quad-bike and trailer to make our fieldwork more efficient. In addition we require more equipment for teaching and training, such as hand-held GPS modules for surveying, a portable data-projector for giving presentations, bat detectors and contributions towards the maintenance and replacement of our humane traps. ng individuals with theatre skills and experience who are willing to contribute their time to training the group.


Volunteers weighing small mammals in Wytham

YOU CAN HELP THIS PROJECT
Target to be raised
£41,000

You can find out about the budget for this project by contacting us. See our contact details.

If you are interested in finding out more about the science involved in this project, we would be happy to send you further information.

WildCRU is part of the University of Oxford, a tax- exempt charity. To maximise tax benefits to both donors and WildCRU, please see Donations.

Principal funders
The Earthwatch Institute
Mammals Trust UK
Ernest Cook Trust

Partners
The Mammal Tracking Partnership

Text by Sandra Baker