Dormouse Conservation and Woodland Management - Biosciences - NERC GW4+ DTP Studentship

This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4+ DTP). The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter plus six Research Organisation partners: British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Met Office, the Natural History Museum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The partnership aims to provide a broad training in earth and environmental sciences, designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science. For further details about the programme please see http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/

The studentships will provide funding for a stipend which is currently £14,553 per annum for 2017-2018, research costs and UK/EU tuition fees at Research Council UK rates for 42 months (3.5 years) for full-time students, pro rata for part-time students.


Location: Penryn Campus, Cornwall


Project description:

Despite their strict protection and major conservation efforts, populations of hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius in England and Wales continue to decline. Recent analyses by the University of Exeter (Goodwin et al 2017) identified a 72% decline in dormouse populations from 1993 to 2014 and suggested that the species could be categorized as Endangered in the UK. Our recent work has also highlighted the importance of improving woodland management to enhance the conservation status of the species in the UK. This collaborative CASE project will involve fieldwork on dormice and forestry practice. The student will work alongside key conservation organisations to build on recent work on dormouse ecology and to evaluate and improve woodland management practices in order to reverse the fortunes of this most endearing British mammal.

Project Aims and Methods:

The overall aim of this project is to understand variation in dormouse conservation status, evaluate woodland management and provide evidence for improved practices to support dormouse recovery in the UK. This will be achieved by extensive analysis of dormouse populations and of woodland characteristics, using remotely sensed data, accompanied by intensive surveys of dormice and habitats in a sample of commercial and non-commercial, broadleaf and coniferous woodlands.

The student will survey woodland managers to understand practice in relation to conservation regulation and commercial and other management objectives. The student will also have the opportunity to employ molecular genetic techniques to understand dormouse population processes and to develop population models to understand how variation in practice might affect populations in the long term. The student will work at public and private forests across England and Wales, sampling sites at which dormice are thriving and sites where they are in decline. The project will require extended periods of fieldwork away from Cornwall, and periods in the laboratory in Cardiff and at Forest Research.

Candidate:

The project will suit a student interested in a career in animal ecology, conservation science and wildlife management. The work will require a high degree of analytical ability and a willingness to work in the field conducting ecological studies of wildlife and practitioner surveys, in the laboratory and at the computer conducting statistical and analytical work.

Case Award Description:

Forest Research is the lead CASE partner, and will host placements in the field and at FR research stations. This is also a partnership project with two GW4+ Associate Partners: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales. NE and NRW are members of the UK Dormouse Biodiversity Steering Group and will also offer a policy placement opportunity, allowing the student to shadow specialist conservation advisors.

Training:

Project partners at Exeter, Cardiff and at the partner organisations will provide broad-based training in conservation science, including: species status assessment, ecological survey and analysis using terrestrial and remotely sensed data, forest ecology and with the additional opportunity to employ molecular analysis of population processes, social surveys of practitioners and population modelling.