Developing a mammal monitoring programme for the UK
(1999)
BTO - Research Report 223
Toms, M.P., Siriwardena, G.M. & Greenwood, J.J.D.
The British Trust for Ornithology was commissioned by JNCC to undertake an exercise to extend the work of Macdonald et al. The results of this exercise are presented in this authoritative and independent report by the BTO, which should provide great assistance to JNCC, and other potential partners, to develop further their views, priorities and role with regard to mammal monitoring in the UK.
Foreword
In 1998, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the
Regions (DETR) published Proposals for future monitoring of British
mammals by David Macdonald, Georgina Mace and Steve Rushton. This
was the culmination of work commissioned jointly by DETR and the
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) to make recommendations
for a system to monitor British mammals.
Subsequent to publication of the proposals, JNCC, amongst
others, recognised that the work of Macdonald, Mace and Rushton
clearly pointed to areas that could usefully be investigated
further. Three of the most obvious were:
- a deeper consideration of the different types of conservation
and control activities that mammals monitoring would need to
inform, and how this would vary according to the management
objectives for the species. Sample size, statistical power and
sample design are all to some degree dependent on the objectives of
the monitoring
- a more detailed analysis of how the volunteer effort described
in the original proposals could be cost-effectively increased and
organised without loss of rigour
- a review of the possibilities for exploiting existing data
gather schemes.
Consequently, the British Trust for Ornithology was
commissioned by JNCC to undertake an exercise to extend the work of
Macdonald et al. The results of this exercise are
presented in this authoritative and independent report by the BTO,
which should provide great assistance to JNCC, and other potential
partners, to develop further their views, priorities and role with
regard to mammal monitoring in the UK.
JNCC very much welcomes this report and believes it provides
excellent and complimentary discussions of some of the more
critical issues identified by Macdonald et al. It is now necessary
to test how the mammal monitoring ideas might be put into practice
and to take some difficult decisions necessary to finalise the
methods proposed. For example:
- trials of new methods are needed to verify costs and
assumptions about data quality
- the potential volunteer network must be polled in order that
its eventual use in mammal monitoring can be efficiently organised
and adequately informed
- the detailed work required for modification of existing mammal
monitoring schemes need to be ascertained in consultation with the
current sponsors and organisers
- work to develop an administrative structure appropriate for the
preliminary organisation and integration of mammal monitoring needs
to start.
The establishment of a new long-term integrated monitoring
scheme for such a popular, high profile and economically important
group of species as the mammals, is no small undertaking. Many
organisations are involved and each has its own priorities for
mammal monitoring. Despite the challenge, it is paramount that
these organisation work together to ensure that mammal monitoring
in the UK has a long-term future and a sound methodology. These
points are quite correctly stressed very firmly the BTO in this
report.
Paul Rose, Ian MacLean and Steve Gibson
JNCC, Peterborough December 1999
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Please cite as: Toms, M.P., Siriwardena, G.M. & Greenwood, J.J.D., (1999), Developing a mammal monitoring programme for the UK, (Part III.A.1 written by S.N. Freeman & G.M. Siriwardena)