The Tracking Mammals Partnership (TMP) has just published UK
Mammals Update 2008, the third annual update of population trends
for 35 terrestrial mammals, around 54% of our land mammal
fauna. For the first time we have been able to assess trends
for most species over 10-year and 25-year intervals, which provides
interesting information on differences in short-term and long-term
trends.
Bats continue to do well, with 45% of those
monitored (five of 11 species) showing increases, and the rest (six
of 11 species) with stable populations, although with only eight
years of information the trends are still relatively short-term.
For other native species the news is more mixed - mole, stoat,
weasel, badger, otter and roe deer are increasing, polecat, fox and
red deer are stable after periods of long-term increase, but
hedgehog, red squirrel, dormouse and water vole continue to
decline.
Some non-native species have shown very large
increases, both long- and short-term, with muntjac populations
increasing by over 1,200% in 25 years and nearly 130% in the last
10 years. Grey squirrels have increased by 100% in the last 25
years, with more rapid increases in the last 10 years. Sika deer,
fallow deer and common rat have all increased substantially. Rabbit
populations have shown a long-term increase of 161%, but have
declined in the last 10 years. Mink, a species known to be a
problem for water voles, has been steadily declining over the last
25 years, correlated with increasing distribution and abundance of
otter populations.
The organisations in the TMP continue to
improve species coverage in the UK, with the production of
guidelines to monitor red squirrels (JNCC, People’s Trust for
Endangered Species and Forestry Commission), developing methods to
monitor small mammals (JNCC and The Mammal Society), a new project,
funded by PTES, Environment Agency and Royal Society of Wildlife
Trusts to collate data on, and map occurrence of, water voles, and
a new survey to assess Scottish wildcat distribution run by
Scottish Natural Heritage.
The Bat Conservation Trust, which runs the
National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP), in partnership with JNCC,
is using the experience gained to help develop European and
international bat monitoring, under the auspices of the European
Bats Agreement and with start-up funding from several Member
States, as well as the Darwin Initiative-funded iBats project (in partnership
with the Zoological Society of London).
The TMP continues to make a substantial
contribution towards comprehensive data access through the National
Biodiversity Netwrok Gateway, which has mammal data from the
National Otter Surveys, the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme,
the Bat Conservation Trust/Mammals Trust UK car survey, the British
Birds Survey and Waterways Breeding Birds Survey, and the NBMP
Daubenton’s Waterway Survey. In 2008 data from the other surveys in
the NBMP will be made generally available.
2007 saw the culmination of two major
conservation status assessments, the review of the UK Biodiversity
Action Plan (BAP) priority list of species and habitats, and the EU
Habitats Directive conservation status assessments for European
protected species and habitats. Criteria for assessment were
different but both processes relied quite heavily on TMP monitoring
data to provide evidence on the status of individual mammal
species. As a result we now have 18 mammal species on the BAP
priority list, and 22 mammals that are listed on the Habitats
Directive Annexes and have breeding populations in the UK had full
conservation status assessments.
BAP priority mammals
|
Insectivores/ bats
|
Lagomorphs
|
Rodents
|
Carnivores
|
|
Hedgehog, greater horseshoe, lesser horseshoe,
barbastelle, Bechstein’s, soprano pipistrelle, noctule, brown
long-eared bat
|
Mountain hare, brown hare
|
Red squirrel, water vole, hazel dormouse,
harvest mouse
|
Scottish wildcat, otter, pine marten,
polecat
|
Habitats Directive Conservation Status
Assessments for European Protected Mammals
|
Favourable
|
Unfavourable Inadequate
|
Unfavourable Bad
|
Unknown
|
|
Lesser horseshoe, common pipistrelle,
Daubenton’s, Natterer’s, brown long-eared bat, otter, pine marten,
polecat
|
Greater horseshoe, Bechstein’s bat, mountain
hare
|
Hazel dormouse, wildcat
|
Barbastelle, soprano pipistrelle, Brandt’s,
whiskered, noctule, Nathusius’ pipistrelle, Leisler’s, grey
long-eared, serotine bat
|
JNCC continues to work in partnership with the
24 other organisations in TMP to provide data from multi-species
schemes and continues to provide major support to the partnership
through the TMP coordinator role.
For more information see the Tracking Mammals
website
Jessa Battersby
Tracking Mammals Partnership Coordinator
Tel: +44 (0) 1733 866808
Email: