RESEARCH |
25 year high for black grouse As usual, this year’s Review is a mixture of reporting on projects nearing completion, those about to start and the on-going, long-term messages from our work. The 2012 Review predicted some gloomy breeding results for birds following the extremely poor weather during the 2012 breeding season. This has indeed translated into lower breeding densities in spring 2013 (see grey partridge data on page 26). Predicting poor figures is one thing, but they still hurt when they actually accrue. However, not all is doom and gloom. Our red grouse continue to thrive (see page 34), thanks to the successful deployment of medicated grit and its role in suppressing the effects of strongylosis. Most pleasing are the black grouse data. We have gone from a 25-year low in chicks per hen in 2012, to a 25-year high a year later (see page 36). Equally encouraging are our results on research to expand the range of this species (see page 42). Our translocation programme works, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. Also in the uplands, we report on our grey partridge study on the moor edge, which taught us a great deal about this popular species well away from its usual farmland habitats. No chicks were produced in the poor summer of 2012, but a greater understanding of their nesting and brood cover requirements will help us formulate conservation advice for upland farmers and moor owners (see page 40). Hot off the press are the results of the 2013 National Breeding Woodcock Survey (see page 20). We estimate about 69,000 males present in the UK, a figure slightly down on 2003 and showing notable range declines in Wales and southern England. We also noticed a decline that started in 2008. Hopefully a deeper analysis of our database will shed more light on the reasons for this change. In our Review, we periodically report on findings from our long-term datasets. This year Nicholas Aebischer presents 50-year trends in data on five mammal species reported in our National Gamebag Census (see page 30). Mammals are notoriously difficult to count and bag records are increasingly being accepted as indicators of trends in their numbers over time, in our case 50 years. Finally, our research team published 35 scientific papers this year, including the publication and defence of two PhD studies with students at Bournemouth and Nottingham universities. Congratulations to them as they take their first steps on a career in scientific research.
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by Nick Sotherton Director of Research Our upland researchers studying black grouse, which bounced back from a disastrous breeding year in 2012 to a 25-year high in 2013. © Pat White/GWCT
GAME & WILDLIFE REVIEW 2013 | 11