6. Field Survey
– Dates of survey
– First survey: 13/2/2016-14/2/2016
– Second survey: 22/2/2016-20/2/2016
– Survey methodology used
– Baited trail cameras
– Manual plant collec.on
– iGeology app
– Weather condi.ons
– First survey: light snow
– Second survey: mixture of sunshine and rain
– List of equipment used
– Trail cameras
7. Limitations of survey
– Limited .me to undertake a complete survey
– Animals less likely to forage in the winter
– Hiberna.on
– Not all plants are flowering/visible
– Limited area
– Focused on small area of woodland, in reality lots of woodland area touches the
farmland separated by distance and fences
– Limited knowledge
– Not trained ecologists or surveyors
11. Assessment of Habitat: Beech
Woodland
– Fagus sylva*ca-Rubus fru*cosus woodland
– Shrub layer with frequent and o`en abundant holly, other shrubs and saplings (other
than beech) usually rare
– Field layer o`en sparse, but usually frequent Rubus fru*cosus and/or pteridium
aquilinum and beech seedling
– Other species, including Deschampia cespitosa, Hedera helix, Melica uniflora, Milium
effusum or Ruscus aculeatus may be locally abundant
12. Beech tree: Fagus sylvaticus
– Large, deciduous tree na.ve to UK
– Rela.vely fast growing (up to
30-40m high)
– Found on well drained soil, such as
chalk and limestone
– Creates a shady woodland with a
dense carpet of fallen leaves and
husks-only shade tolerant plants
will survive beneath the canopy
– Rela.onship with wildlife:
– Beech foliage eaten by caterpillars
of a number of moths and
buderflies, including the grizzled
skipper and white admiral
– Seeds eaten by mice, voles,
squirrels and birds
– Provide habitat for hole-nes.ng
birds and wood-boring insects
– Suscep.ble to wood stripping by
grey squirrels
13. Bracken fern: Pteridium aquilinum
– Common and invasive weed na.ve to the
UK
– Favours moist, acid soils
– Found in woodland, heathland and
moorland
– Rela.onship with wildlife and livestock
– Food plant for larvae of several buderfly
species eg. high brown fri.llary and map-
winged swi`
– Provide a protec.ve habitat for ground-
nes.ng species of bird eg. skylark and
yellowhammer
– Can be damaging to sensi.ve habitats if
allowed to spread – can overshade other
plants and reduce food sources for
herbivorous animals and insects
– Provides a favourable habitat for the sheep
.ck (Ixodes ricinus) which has consequences
for .ck-borne diseases eg. louping ill, Borrelia
14. Rhododendron: Rhododendron
– Exo.c, highly invasive evergreen
shrub na.ve to Mediterranean and
Asia – introduced by Victorians
– Destruc.ve to habitats and na.ve
plant species
– Found in moist but well-drained
acid soils
– Thrive in dappled shade with
sheltered condi.ons
– Rela.onship with wildlife and
livestock
– Provides protec.ve “shields” for
na.ve woodmice from predators
– Inhibits regenera.on of na.ve
plant species and therefore reduces
food sources for herbivorous
mammals and insect species
– Toxic to sheep
15. Holly: Ilex aquifolium
– Evergreen shrub na.ve to UK
– Commonly found in woodland, scrub
and hedgerows
– Rela.onship with wildlife
– Provides dense cover and good
nes.ng opportuni.es for birds
– Deep, dry leaf lider used by
hedgehogs and small mammals for
hiberna.on
– Flowers provide nectar and pollen for
bees
– Leaves eaten by caterpillars of holly
blue buderfly, moth species and deer
– Berries eaten by birds and small
mammals such as woodmice
19. Black bird: Turdus
merula
– Found everywhere in gardens and
countryside and from coasts to
hills, although not on the highest
peaks
– Seen all year round
– Eat: insects, worms, berries
– Status: Green
20. Great tit: Parus major
– Seen in woodlands, parks and
gardens across the UK. Absent only
from the Northern and Western
Isles of Scotland
– Seen all year round
– Eat insects, seeds and nuts
– Status: Green
23. Wood Mouse: Apodemus
sylvaticus
– Common and widespread
– Lives in woodland and fields
– Mostly nocturnal
– Live in underground burrows
– Important food source for predators
– Diet: seed, green plant, fruit
– Nest communally in winter, in spring females take
up home range
– Disease:
– Leptospirosis
– Hantavirus
– Agricultural loss
24.
25. Rabbit: Oryctolagus
cuniculus
– Distribu.on: widespread across the
Bri.sh Isles
– Diet: eats a wide range of vegeta.on,
especially grasses. Favours young,
succulent leaves and shoots and selects
more nutri.ous species
– Introduced species
– Diseases:
– Salmonellosis
– Yersiniosis
– Tularaemia
– Agricultural damage more concerning
26. Fox: Vulpes vulpes
– Diet:
– Salt marshes: crabs, dead seabirds
– Upland: carrion
– Lowland and rural: small mammals, field voles and rabbits, earthworms, beetles, fruit (blackberries) and small birds
– Distribu.on: highly adaptable, found across Britain, absent from Isles (except Skye), in all habitats from salt marshes and
sand dunes to the tops of mountains. Highly adapted to urban surroundings
– Habitat:
– Urban and garden
– Rivers and wetland
– Coastal and marshland
– Deciduous woodland
– Mixed woodland
– Arable land
27. Foxes continued…
– Behaviour:
– Hold terrirories from 0.2 square kilmetres to 40 square
kilometers
– Each territory occupied by a fox family group-o`en a pair
(dog fox and vixen) and cubs
– In areas where food is plen.ful family group may contain
several adults
– Reproduc.on:
– One vixen in a group produces cubs once a year in spring
– Liders: 4-5 cubs born blind and deaf in a den (called an
earth)
– Cubs start to come out at ~4 weeks old
– Conserva.on status:
– Not protected legally
– The Hun.ng Act 2004 outlawed hun.ng with dogs in
England and Wales, also applies to hun.ng of deer, hares
and mink
– Disease and Zoonoses
– Distemper
– Leptospirosis
– CAV-1
– Rabies
– Echinococcus mul*locularis
– Scarcoptes scabei
– Toxocara canis
– Abundance es.ma.on: at least two
28. Foxes, Rabbits, Mice and
Agriculture
– Rabbits and mice are agricultural pests
– Rabbits est. £120 million loss
– Rats and mice est. £30 million loss
– Foxes est. £12 million loss
– However, foxes eat rabbits-indirect benefit of £7 million
– Possibly economically valuable to commercial forests-eat voles
29.
30. Stoat: Mustela erminea
– Na.ve species
– Descrip.on: long slender body, short legs,
characteris.c black .p bushy tail
– Diet:
– Small mammals: rabbits and water voles
– Small rodents
– Birds, eggs, fruit, earthworms
– Distribu.on: occurs throughout Britain and
Ireland, living in any habitats at any al.tude
with sufficient ground cover and food
– Habitat:
– Urban and gardens
– Rivers and wetlands
– Coastal and marshland
– Deciduous woodland
– Grassland
– Mixed woodland
– Heathland
– Arable land
31. Stoats continued…
– Behaviour:
– Hunt along ditches, hedgerows and walls or through meadows and marshes
– Search systema.cally
– Prey killed by single bite of the neck
– Nests of former prey are taken over as dens
– Within territory resident stoat will have several dens which is uses periodically
– Males and females live separately, marking with scent
– Animals will defend territory against intruders of same sex, but in spring males’ system
breaks down as they range in search of females
– Breeding:
– Females (including this years kits, which may only be 2-3 weeks old) are mated early in the
summer
– Delayed implanta.on for 9-10 months, but ac.ve gesta.on only 4 weeks
– Lider size 6-12 young-deaf, blind, barely furred
– Females feed them up to 12 weeks
– Conserva.on status:
– Legally protected in Ireland but not in UK
– Being killed by farmers has lidle effect on
numbers
– Abundance es.ma.on: probably one in this
area
– Diseases:
– Distemper
– TB?
– Yersinia pes.s
– Erysipelothris rhusiopathiae
