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In memoriam: Rob Strachan

Rob Strachan, amongst the country’s foremost naturalists, died on Saturday, 17^th May. Since 2005 Rob had been Biodiversity Technical Specialist at Natural Resources Wales, but for the decade previously he was a central member of the WildCRU team. Growing out of discussions between David Macdonald and Alastair Driver (of the Environment Agency), and motivated as much by mink as by water voles, the WildCRU’s riparian project took a leap forward in 1995 when Rob joined us to lead survey work throughout the Upper Thames waterways. For the next ten years he was a joyous friend and colleague, and unquestionably the best naturalist among us, and we are amongst the many reeling at his loss. His meticulous field diaries, illustrated with his own charming sketches, brought the best of 19th century natural history into the arena of 21st century science. Generations of our graduate students were inspired by Rob, and the mink and water vole work culminated in an influential synthesis of the evidence (The Mink and Water Vole, Analyses for Conservation, 1999). Next, in 1999, Rob became the backbone of our Chichester Plain project, an innovative landscape-scale approach to integrate the needs of farming and biodiversity across more than 30 farms in the Sussex coastal plain – this led to the publication of Restoring Water Voles  (Strachan & Holmes-Ling 2003). This project was also at the forefront of integrating the efforts not only of farmers and researchers, but also the relevant statutory bodies and NGOs. This combination of landscape scale and the blending of science, policy and diverse stakeholders was new at the time, and its potency is illustrated by the fact that it is now commonplace.

Rob’s accumulated practical experience led, in 1998, to the publication of the first Water Vole Conservation Handbook, of which the 2011 edition remains a corner stone for water vole conservation (Strachan et al., 2011). Rob’s links with us continued, with a chapter (in which Rob joined Tom Moorhouse, Xavier Lambin and David Macdonald) on the role of science in conservation, as illustrated by water voles, going to press next month. That book chapter is based on the almost unique case of water voles for which, within less than three decades, a problem was suspected, identified, understood and the science put in place to remedy it; Rob Strachan was at the heart of that achievement, and his early passing is a tragedy.

A selected list of Rob’s publications

Strachan, R., Moorhouse, T. P., and Gelling, M., Water Vole Conservation Handbook, Third Edition. WildCRU, University of Oxford. (1st Edition, 1998; 2nd Edition 2006). third edition 2011: WildCRU, University of Oxford.

Dutton, A., Edward-Jones, G., Strachan, R., and Macdonald, D. W., Ecological and social challenges to biodiversity conservation on farmland: reconnecting habitats on a landscape scale. Mammal Review, 2008. 38(2-3): p. 205-219.

Mathews, F., Moro, D., Strachan, R., Gelling, M., and Buller, N., Health surveillance in wildlife reintroductions. Biological Conservation, 2006. 131(2): p. 338-347.

Macdonald, D.W., King, C. M., and Strachan, R., Introduced species and the line between biodiversity conservation and naturalistic eugenics, in Key Topics in Conservation biology, D.W. Macdonald and K. Service, Editors. 2006, Blackwell Publishing: Oxford. p. 187-206.

Bonesi, L., R. Strachan, and Macdonald, D. W., Why are there fewer signs of mink in England? Considering multiple hypotheses. Biological Conservation, 2006. 130(2): p. 268-277.

Strachan, R., Strachan, C., and Jefferies, D. J., Water vole conservation., in The water vole and mink survey of Britain 1996-1998 with a history of long term changes in the status of both species and their causes., D.J. Jefferies, Editor. 2003, The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Ledbury. p. 200-207.

Strachan, R., Strachan, C., and Jefferies, D. J., Water voles in Britain 1996-2002: a comprehensive review of their distribution using all available sources., in The water vole and mink survey of Britain 1996-1998 with a history of long term changes in the status of both species and their causes., D.J. Jefferies, Editor. 2003, The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Ledbury. p. 80-84.

Strachan, R., Moorhouse, T. P., and Macdonald, D. W., Enhancing habitat for riparian mammals on agricultural land., in Conservation and Conflict: Mammals and Farming in Britain, F.H. Tattersall and W.J. Manley, Editors. 2003, Linnean Society Occasional Publication, Westbury Publishing: Yorkshire. p. 52-63.

Strachan, R., and Holmes-Ling, P., Farming and Wildlife: A practical guide to monitoring and enhancing biodiversity of watercourses, ditches and wetlands. 2003, Wildlife Conservation and Research Unit, Oxford.

Strachan, R., and Holmes-Ling, P., Restoring Water Voles and other Biodiversity to the Wider Countryside. 2003, Wildlife Conservation and Research Unit, Oxford.

Strachan, C., Strachan, R., and Jefferies, D. J., The water vole and mink survey of England, Scotland and Wales 1996-1998., in The water vole and mink survey of Britain 1996-1998 with a history of long term changes in the status of both species and their causes., D.J. Jefferies, Editor. 2003, The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Ledbury. p. 22-79.

Jefferies, D. J., Strachan, R., and Strachan. C., Estimated numbers of three interacting riparian mammals in Britain using survey data., in The water vole and mink survey of Britain 1996-1998 with a history of long term changes in the status of both species and their causes., D.J. Jefferies, Editor. 2003, The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Ledbury. p. 188-199.

Jefferies, D. J., Strachan, R., and Strachan, C., The expansion and decline of the mink population in Britain., in The water vole and mink survey of Britain 1996-1998 with a history of long term changes in the status of both species and their causes., D.J. Jefferies, Editor. 2003, The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Ledbury. p. 145-164.

Jefferies, D. J., Strachan, R., and Strachan, C., An analysis of the histories of changing occupation of individual sites by water voles and mink and their interpretation., in The water vole and mink survey of Britain 1996-1998 with a history of long term changes in the status of both species and their causes., J. D.J., Editor. 2003, The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Ledbury. p. 85-104.

Yamaguchi, N., Strachan, R., and Macdonald, D. W., Practical considerations for the field study of American mink Mustela vison in lowland England. Mammal Study, 2002. 27: p. 127-133.

Strachan, C., Strachan, R., and Jefferies, D. J., Preliminary report on the changes in the water vole population of Britain as shown by the national Surveys of 1989-90 and 1996-98. 2000, Vincent Wildlife Trust: London.

Macdonald, D. W., Tattersall, F. H., Rushton, S. P., South, A. B., Rao, S., Maitland, P. and Strachan, R., Reintroducing the beaver (Castor fiber) to Scotland: a protocol for identifying and assessing suitable release sites. Animal Conservation, 2000. 3: p. 125-133.

Macdonald, D.W. and R. Strachan, The mink and the water vole: analyses for conservation. 1999, Oxford: WildCRU.

Macdonald, D. W., Barreto, G. R., Ferreras, P., Kirk, B., Rushton, B., Yamaguchi, N., and Strachan, R., The impact of American mink, Mustela vison, as predators of native species in British freshwater systems, in Advances in vertebrate pest management, D.P. Cowan and C.J. Feare, Editors. 1999, Filander Verlag: Fürth. p. 5-24.

Strachan, R., and Bonesi, L., Water vole survey of the River Teifi 1997-98, R.f.t.E.A.a. CCW, Editor. 1998.

Strachan, R., Water Vole Conservation Handbook. 1998, Oxford: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.

Strachan, C., Jefferies, D. J., Barreto, G. R., Macdonald, D. W. and Strachan, R.,The rapid impact of resident American mink on water voles: case studies in lowland England. in Proceedings of the Symposium of the Zoological Society of London. 1998.

Macdonald, D.W., Grogan, A., Perkins, S., Rushton, S., South, A., Strachan, R., and Tattersall, F., An investigation into the Ecological Feasinility of Re-introducing the European Beaver, Castor fiber, into the Norfolk Broads. 1998, WildCRU, Oxford.

Barreto, G. R., Rushton, S. P., Strachan, R. and Macdonald, D. W., The role of habitat and mink predation in determining the status and distribution of declining populations of water voles in England. Animal Conservation, 1998. 1: p. 129-137.

Barreto, G.R., Macdonald, D. W., and Strachan, R., The Tightrope Hypothesis: an explanation for plummeting water vole numbers in the Thames catchment, in United Kingdom floodplains, R.G. Bailey, P.V. José, and B.R. Sherwood, Editors. 1998, Westbury Academic & Scientific Publishing: Otley. p. 311-327.

Strachan, R., and Philcox, C., A desk study of the implications of water level management for the water vole. 1997.

Macdonald, D. W., Strachan, R., Grogan, A. and Philcox, C., Nature Conservation and Roads: Advice in relation to otters, in A report on the impact of roads and road construction on the otter in the United Kingdom. 1997, WildCRU.