Background to the Project

In 2001 the British Trust for Ornithology and The Mammal Society were awarded a contract to design and run a pilot multi-species winter monitoring project. The award of this contract in part reflects the recent work that we in the BTO have done in evaluating how Britain's mammals can best be monitored, using our expertise with monitoring bird populations and working with volunteers to suggest how different approaches could be used to monitor mammals. In addition, many Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) fieldworkers already monitor mammals as part of their BBS transects, providing valuable information on population trends of target mammal species.

Why monitor mammals?

We need to monitor mammals for many of the same reasons that we need to monitor bird populations: to determine abundance, distribution and most importantly population change. Many mammal species are thought to have declined, while others have increased; some of which could be considered as being of economic importance because of the damage they do to crops and woodland. Mammals do not receive the same amount of attention as birds, predominantly because they are less easy to observe and more difficult to identify. These factors also make them difficult to monitor and, with different methods required for different species, there has been no national approach for multi-species monitoring of mammals across Britain.

In an attempt to come up with a national multi-species approach, the Government, through its agencies, commissioned a series of two reports to suggest ways in which such monitoring could be developed. While the first of these was produced by researchers based at Oxford University, the second was prepared by staff here at the BTO headquarters in Thetford (Toms, Siriwardena & Greenwood 2000, BTO Research Report 223). This report drew upon knowledge and experience gained from coordinating bird surveys, monitoring work and the use of volunteer fieldworkers, to show what could be achieved nationally.

This project is particularly exciting because it draws on the expertise of the BTO, and the survey skills of BTO fieldworkers, in a new and interesting way, coupling these together with The Mammal Society's tremendous knowledge of Britain's mammals. While the BTO is not looking to become involved in independent mammal monitoring in the longer term, we are using our experience of survey design and the use of volunteer fieldworkers to help, in collaboration with The Mammal Society, set the scene for future mammal monitoring across Britain. That is why our involvement in this pilot is so important.

If you would like to know more about the winter mammal pilot please e-mail mammals@bto.org.