Monitoring matters

Bat roosting boxes

MIKE READ One of the aims of the Trust’s Wilder 2030 strategy is for 30% of land and sea to become wilder, with nature recovering, by the end of the decade. To do this, the Trust will be linking up existing nature reserves, rewilding areas and, in some cases, looking to invest in new nature reserves with the help of you - our supporters. When the Trust acquires land, the ecology team are involved from the very start of that process. Senior Ecologist Sarah Jackson explains how the Trust goes about choosing, monitoring and improving land for wildlife.

Making a plan

Once an area has been identifi ed as a site for a new nature reserve, or an extension to an existing one, the fi rst port of call is the local biological records centre: Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre (HBIC) on the mainland and the Isle of Wight Local Records Centre on the Island. Here, they keep all the records of species (that’s nearly eight million records) and habitats collected from surveys and volunteer recorders. The ecology team combine studying historic records with a site visit to check the status of the habitats and identify what wildlife is present. The team may also need to confi rm whether the area has any conservation designations (local, national or international) and priority species or habitats recorded. Some species records would highlight a need for specifi c management. For example, if there are bat roosts on the site, any work on trees would need a survey beforehand and a plan in place to make sure bat roosts are not damaged. Appropriate licences would be applied for, and mitigation or compensation measures delivered. Once the team know which species are on the site and have a good idea of its condition, known as the baseline, the Trust will draw up management plans for the site. These aim to improve existing habitats or enable low quality and man-made areas to revert to a more natural state which will be be er for wildlife.

baseline, the Trust will draw

Duke of Burgundy butter y

GRAHAM HOGGARTH Brown long-eared bat emerging

Surveys

The habitat type and species present will determine which surveys are needed. Both individual species surveys and comprehensive surveys of the habitat may be used. The ecology team at the Trust includes seven ecologists with two trainees from spring to autumn. The team has also built excellent links with dedicated naturalists in the two counties over the years, who carry out surveys that require a lot of specialist knowledge, particularly botanical or invertebrate surveys. Members of the team hold licences to survey great-crested newts, dormice, bats, southern damselfl y and white-clawed crayfi sh. Reserves offi cers draw up site management plans for the nature reserves and work with the ecology team annually to determine which surveys need to take place. Sometimes initial

management will involve large-scale changes, where surveys are carried out before and a er works, to monitor the eff ect the management is having on wildlife. For example, at Copythorne Common Nature Reserve, there was extensive tree felling and thinning carried out to restore open habitats that had been lost. Using fi xed point photography and reptile surveys, it was possible to show that reptiles such as slow worms had spread into the newly cleared areas. This data helps people understand that, while work like tree felling can look damaging, the aim is to enhance the habitats, and this work enables the Trust to demonstrate an increase in biodiversity.

Next steps

As with a lot of the Trust’s work, Covid-19 aff ected the ecology team. In 2020 survey windows for breeding birds and greatcrested newts had to be missed. Certain mammals can contract the illness, so extra PPE is needed. For some species, such as bats, contact surveys are on hold. Last spring, the Trust was delighted to purchase Deacon Hill Nature Reserve, thanks to the generosity of supporters and gi s in Wills. Baseline surveys for the nature reserve were delayed, but this year it has been possible to start gathering data. Initial surveys include monitoring bu erfl y populations, searching for Duke of Burgundy bu erfl ies, breeding bird surveys and cowslip counts. These surveys will be done annually for the fi rst fi ve years, informing early management during the period of most rapid change; as the site establishes, surveys become less frequent. Technology is always changing, and the ecology team keeps pace with new developments such as infrared cameras to study bat roosts and tablets for quick and effi cient fi eld recording. Each year the recently graduated trainees bring new knowledge and techniques with them, which helps the whole team to develop and grow.

To fi nd out more about how the ecology team can help with surveys and habitat management advice see

www.arcadian.consulting

You’ll need a licence for that

Dormice

The Trust takes part in the National Dormouse Monitoring Scheme run by PTES. This involves checking around 50 boxes for dormice each month including at Shutts Copse Nature Reserve and Chappetts Copse Nature Reserve where these surveys have happened regularly for over 10 years, although there are records for Shutts Copse back to 1992. Not only does this survey give a snapshot of how populations are doing nationally, but it also helps the Trust tell if coppicing work locally is bene ting wildlife. It takes two to three years to get your dormouse license, learning how to handle and record this sensitive species.

Great-crested newt

Natural England has guidelines that tell ecologists how to survey for these newts, involving six site visits looking

DAVID KILBEY for both eggs and adults. Surveys are done at night, where passers-by can be in for a surprise as a head-torchwearing ecologist pops up from the wearing ecologist pops up from the vegetation around a pond! Great-crested vegetation around a pond! Great-crested newts are fussy creatures, their presence newts are fussy creatures, their presence requires clear water with plenty of requires clear water with plenty of invertebrates and good connectivity invertebrates and good connectivity between habitats on land. It takes a year between habitats on land. It takes a year or two to gain your licence, and any or two to gain your licence, and any signi cant management work on ponds signi cant management work on ponds with known great-crested newts must with known great-crested newts must have a separate licence. have a separate licence.

White-clawed cray sh

The white-clawed cray sh is the only species of cray sh native to the UK and has su ered a dramatic decline across England since the 1970s. By 2010 this species was restricted to two locations in Hampshire – the headwaters of the River Itchen, and a tributary of the River Test. This was as a result of the introduction of the non-native signal cray sh, and the disease cray sh plague which it carries. Since 2008 the Trust has been conducting cray sh surveys to

ANDY KIRKLAND monitor the status of these remaining populations. This involves enhancing the habitat for our native cray sh where possible, and most importantly providing advice to ensure that signal cray sh and cray sh plague are not accidentally transferred to these areas. In 2012 the Trust begun to work in collaboration with the Bristol Zoological Society, to extend the range of the native cray sh on the River Itchen through the release of juvenile cray sh (of Itchen origin) born in captivity at Bristol Zoo Gardens. The Trust aims to establish new cray sh ‘ark sites’, which are undisturbed and isolated away from rivers that support signal cray sh. The Trust would be delighted to hear from anyone who thinks they may know of sites that meets this description at: feedback@ hiwwt.org.uk.