Wider Countryside Multi-Species Schemes

The National Gamebag Census (NGC)

Run by The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT); Funded by the GWCT and the JNCC

The National Gamebag Census was set-up in 1961 by GWCT as a central repository of records from shooting estates across the UK, comprising numbers of game animals and predators killed annually. In 2003, the JNCC entered into a Partnership with GWCT to develop the surveillance potential of the NGC, which was recognised as having some valuable data, particularly for mustelids (e.g. stoat and weasel). The NGC was assessed for biases in the data collection and with some planned modifications has been accepted as an established scheme.

Methods: the GWCT operates the census via postal questionnaires, mailed to members annually. Each estate contributing data has a unique identifier, based on its region and county within that region, with location recorded in six-digit British National Grid format.

Site coverage: UK wide with annual averages of 636 estates contributing data for game species and 364 for predatory species. In comparison with other monitoring schemes, the sample sizes are large for species that are difficult to detect by conventional survey methods. Geographical coverage of the NGC is wide. Data can be extracted at country, regional or county scales, or mapped using British National Grid references.

Species coverage: rabbit, brown hare, mountain/Irish hare, grey squirrel, common rat, fox, stoat, weasel, mink, red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, muntjac.

Survey power: the statistical power of the NGC to detect temporal change was estimated using weasel bag data from south-east England. Notional declines over 25 years of 10%, 25% and 50% were assessed. The power to detect a 50% decline was over 98% from sample sizes of 40 estates or more. For a 25% decline, power exceeded 80% for sample sizes greater than 130. There was no power to detect a decline of 10% within the range of sample sizes considered (1-133).

Latest information: can be obtained from a series of reports

The BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey - Mammal Data

Run by BTO; Funded by BTO, JNCC and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

The Breeding Bird Survey is a national survey that monitors the populations of common and widespread bird species in the UK. BBS started in 1994 after two pilot years in 1992 and 1993. Between 1994 and 2000 the BBS ran alongside the Common Bird Census (CBC), until replacing it in 2001. In 1995, observers were also asked to record mammals (voluntarily). The BBS surveys over 2,000 randomly selected 1 km survey squares across the UK, from the Channel and Scilly Isles in the south to Shetland in the north.

Methods: stratified random sampling of 1 km² survey squares within BTO regions. Volunteers are asked to make two visits to their survey square each year, generally between early April and the end of June. Each visit involves walking a 2 km transect and recording all the birds heard and seen in three distance categories from the transect line. Volunteers also record habitat details on the first bird count visit, or if it is the first year a site has been surveyed, on a separate visit. On the two bird count visits, mammal species seen are also counted. Additional mammal species are also noted if:

Field signs are seen during the two visits (e.g. badger setts, droppings/scats, hair, etc.)
Dead animals are seen on the two bird count visits
Other species are seen or heard on additional visits to that square during that fieldwork season
Additional local knowledge suggests the species is present, e.g. from farmers or gamekeepers, etc.

Site coverage: UK wide. Mammal data have been collected annually from a mean of 1,791 1km BBS squares.

Species coverage: hedgehog, mole, rabbit, brown hare, mountain/Irish hare, grey squirrel, common rat, fox, stoat, weasel, badger, red deer, fallow deer, roe deer and muntjac.

Survey power: data are sufficient to produce population trends at UK and country levels for all listed species and at Government Office Regions and Environmental Zones for five species: rabbit, brown hare, grey squirrel, fox and roe deer. Power analyses indicated that changes of 25% or more could be detected for mole, rabbit, brown hare, grey squirrel, fox and roe deer. Changes of 50% or more could be detected for hedgehog, mountain hare, common rat, stoat, weasel, badger, red deer, fallow deer and muntjac.

Latest information: can be obtained from a series of reports available in pdf format

The National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP)

Run by the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT); Funded by the JNCC and BCT

The National Bat Monitoring Programme pilot was established in 1996 by BCT, with 5 years of funding from the then Department of the Environment (now Defra), with the aim of developing a volunteer network-based strategy to monitor bat population trends at a UK level. Since 2000 core funding for the programme has been provided by JNCC. Additional funding provided by (Natural England formally English Nature)and BCT.

Methods: the NBMP currently uses three methods to monitor bat populations, but is always investigating new surveillance methods in order to incorporate the more difficult and rarer species into the programme.

Field transect surveys. All UK resident bat species exclusively feed on a variety of insect prey. They navigate through the open countryside and detect their prey by emitting high frequency sounds, known as echolocation. These sounds can be made audible to the human ear using electronic bat detectors and in some cases the calls are very characteristic and the species can be easily identified. In the field surveys, trained volunteers are asked to visit randomly selected 1 km squares across the UK with a bat detector, and record when, where, how many times and which species they hear. For Daubenton’s, a species known to forage predominantly over water, 1 km transects are selected along water courses and torches as well as bat detectors are used for species identification.

Field surveys are more statistically robust than the other methods, because sites are randomly selected and because there has been some testing of the data that have been collected, using different types of detector to validate the results. They are also the most difficult of the three survey types and require a high degree of skill.

Hibernation survey. Bats hibernate during the winter months and skilled volunteers are asked to count bats in known hibernation sites across the UK on two occasions between December and February. This is a non-random survey and may not be representative of the total population, but the survey is easy to carry out and sample sizes are relatively high.

Colony survey. Bats (mainly groups of females) tend to form maternity colonies during the summer months in order to give birth and raise their young. Many of the known roost sites are in occupied buildings and volunteers are asked to count bats during evening emergence from these sites across the UK in May and June. The intention is to obtain a maximum count of adults in each colony before females give birth. It is not a random selection of sites and may present similar problems to those of the hibernation survey.

Site coverage: UK wide, with nearly 1,000 sites being covered annually across all surveys.

Species coverage: greater horseshoe bat, lesser horseshoe bat, Daubenton’s bat, Brandt’s bat, whiskered bat, Natterer’s bat, common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle, serotine, noctule and brown long-eared bat.

Survey power: power analysis of the survey results indicated that in the majority of surveys a minimum sample of 40 sites, with presence of the species in question, was required annually to detect declines of 25% over 25 years at a UK level. This sample size would also be required at each level of stratification, i.e. 40 sites in each country, GOR and Environmental Zone. At present, all surveys have sample sizes large enough to provide UK level Red and Amber Alert declines. The majority of surveys have large enough sample sizes to provide Red Alerts at the country level for England, but most surveys do not have the required samples sizes for Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. At present, sample sizes are generally too small to provide GOR and environmental zone analyses. This situation should improve as more years of data are added to the time series dataset.

Latest information: on the NBMP is provided in a series of reports

NBMP 2008 Annual Report		State of UK's Bats Summary 2006
NBMP 2007 Annual Report		State of UK's Bats Summary 2005
NBMP 2006 Annual Report

Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (WBBS)

Run by BTO: Funded by BTO and the Environment Agency (EA)

The Waterways Breeding Bird Survey commenced in 1998 as a pilot scheme designed to assess trends in bird populations in riparian habitats. As with the BBS, observers were asked to record other species, including mammals, on a voluntary basis.

Methods: the WBBS uses a random sampling design, allowing WBBS results to be treated as representative of waterways across the UK. For this, 2x2 km squares (tetrads) were initially selected at random from all 2x2 km squares that make up the National Grid, discarding squares with no waterway running through them. Waterways here includes rivers, canals, stretches that could be defined as both river and canal, and various ditches and drains of 6.5 metres wide or more. The WBBS method is derived from that of the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). During each visit, all mammals detected from the transect line (i.e. following the waterway) during the two bird counts are counted and recorded. Records included sightings of mammals and presence of species from dead animals, field signs e.g. tracks, scats, mole-hills, local knowledge of presence for that year from a gamekeeper or landowner or live animals seen on additional visits to the stretch during that season.

Site coverage: GB. Mammal data have been collected annually from a mean of 181 stretches of waterway.

Species coverage: Although WBBS is collecting information on a wide range of mammal species, the design of the survey is really only suitable for riparian species such as water vole, otter and mink.

Survey power: Preliminary analyses of WBBS data for 1998-2003 for the three riparian species, Water Vole, American Mink and Otter demonstrate that at the present levels of survey effort, there is sufficient power to detect a 48% change in presence of these species on WBBS stretches. Whilst this is quite low, a relatively small increase in surveyed stretches can result in a large increase in power to detect change in presence. For example, with 300 WBBS stretches, the power would allow an 33% decline in their presence on WBBS stretches to be detected, whilst with 700 stretches, a 25% decline in these species should be detectable. Additional power to detect change in these species could be obtained through combining WBBS with BBS data for these species, although the level of additional power obtained would not be useful in isolation unless combined with an increase in survey effort. It is unlikely that trends at a Government Office region, Country or by environmental zone could be produced for these species.

Latest information: WBBS report 2005

Winter Mammal Monitoring Survey (WMM)

Run by BTO and The Mammal Society (TMS); Funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)

The Winter Mammal Monitoring Survey was a pilot survey from 2001-2004, including three field seasons. The remit of the pilot was to design and test a volunteer-based winter transect survey of mammals in the UK. The two components, a sightings survey and a signs survey, were both tested to assess the value of winter surveillance of mammals, because at this time they are more visible and, therefore, more likely to be seen. Assessment included: sample sizes obtained, species coverage, regional differences in species distribution, survey power and volunteer involvement.

Methods: volunteers were asked to make two visits during the winter months, to randomly selected 1 km squares in the countryside and walk a 2 km line transect recording sightings (first visit) and signs (second visit) of mammals. Volunteers were also asked to record broad habitat features so that relationships between mammal presence and habitat type could be assessed.

Site coverage: UK wide.

Species coverage: sightings survey; rabbit, brown hare, grey squirrel, feral cat, roe deer.

Species coverage: Field signs survey. Eight signs were recorded belonging to seven species: mole, rabbit, harvest mouse, field vole, common rat, fox, badger.

Survey power: In the sightings survey the sample sizes indicate that for three species (feral cat, roe deer and grey squirrel) a halving or doubling could be detected with a high degree of confidence. For another two species (brown hare and rabbit) a 25% increase or decrease could be detected with a high degree of confidence.

In the signs survey the sample sizes achieved indicate that a halving or doubling in signs of badger, common rat or foxes, and a change of 25% in signs of mole, rabbit, harvest mouse and field vole could be detected with confidence.

Latest information

Winter Mammal Monitoring Report 2005

Mammals on Roads (MoR)

Run by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)/ Mammals Trust UK (MTUK) and Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL); Funded by MTUK

Mammals on Roads is a pilot project from 2000-2005, set up to assess the power of the survey method to detect population change for a number of target species and the relationship between numbers of particular species killed on the roads, the abundance of those species in various habitats and the effects of species behaviour and microhabitat features on road kill numbers. MoR has been run as an established scheme in 2006.

Methods: volunteers were asked to count mammals seen on at least 20 mile stretches of road during July, August and September. For safety and accuracy reasons, volunteers were asked not to carry out the survey on motorways, dual carriageways or at night time. Urban areas were also not included because of the requirements of the survey method, but also because urban mammal populations may behave differently with regard to roads than those in the wider countryside. Location was recorded at the start and the end of each journey and at every junction. Volunteers were also asked to take a milometer reading every 10 miles. Several calibration exercises were carried out to assess the rate of decay of corpses of various species; the time lapse required before repeat journeys along the same stretches of road could be included in the dataset; the relationship between abundance of species in the wild (e.g. rabbits) and road kill numbers.

Site coverage: GB with an annual mean of 469 volunteers taking part in the survey. A mean of 1,774 valid journeys and a mean total of 108,050 valid km were driven each year.

Species coverage: hedgehog, rabbit, grey squirrel, fox and badger.

Latest information:

Summary of 2005 results

Summary of 2004 results

Summary of 2003 results

The Great British Deer Survey 2005

Run by the British Deer Society (BDS) with cooperation from Central Science Laboratory (CSL); Funded by BDS

The BDS is collecting information on the distribution and abundance of deer species during the Great British Deer Survey, which has been designed to provide important information about wild deer populations in the UK. Two previous national deer surveys have been carried out by the BDS, in 1969 and 1998-2000, assessing the distribution of deer species across the UK at a 10 km square level. In the 2005 survey the BDS collected more information than simply the presence of animals within 10 km squares, including identifying trends in age-class and sex ratio distributions within the ranges of British deer and determining whether each observation represents a resident population, an occasional route used by some species or a one-off escapee or release of a single animal. This information will help in the understanding of how and why British deer are distributed in the way that they are. It is proposed to carry out a national Deer Distribution Survey every 5 years. The survey is continuing in 2006 in order to complete coverage.

Methods: the 2005 Great British Deer Survey used trained and practised observers of deer, and some members of the general public, to record presence or absence of each of the 6 species of deer in each 10 km square within the UK.

Site coverage: UK. Every 10 km square searched for presence/absence of deer species.

Species coverage: Red deer, sika deer, fallow deer, roe deer, muntjac, and water deer.

Survey power: the distribution survey will provide data across the UK at the 10 km square level.

Latest information: