| dc.description.abstract | The current biodiversity crisis will continue to accelerate as anthropogenic pressures, especially climate change, increase. Single species conservation can aid the recovery of wider biodiversity by promoting the preservation of particular habitats, and landscape-scale changes to connectivity. Understanding species' population ecology and their response to environmental variation is vital for effective conservation.
In this thesis, I investigate the population ecology and habitat requirements of hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius in Britain, a flagship species for early successional woodland. I have used methods at different scales to assess patterns in dormouse status and translate my findings into conservation actions.
First, I conduct a literature review to investigate how hibernation, an obligate component of dormouse life history in Britain, interacts with threats and conservation actions. I find that hibernation biology conveys some protection against threats such as predation but also exposes hibernators to additional pressures. Hibernator responses to climate change are diverse but can enhance population decline. Some conservation actions have successfully targeted hibernation biology to promote species recovery.
Next, I investigate the habitat factors associated with the presence of hazel dormice in understudied hedge and scrub habitats. Dormice were more frequently present in hedges with a high abundance of honeysuckle and hazel, multiple intersections with other hedges and without an earthen bank, and in scrub without a bracken-dominated mid-story and where the local population of dormice is large. Dormice would benefit from landscape-scale hedge and scrub creation to promote connectivity.
I then update the dormouse population trend for Britain, using data from a citizen science monitoring scheme, the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP). I show there has been a decline of 78% (95% confidence interval = 72–84%) over 27 years 1994–2020 and provide evidence that dormouse could be up-listed to Endangered on the next Red List assessment for British mammals. I also discuss the broader implications of Red Listing for chronically declining species.
I also use the NDMP to investigate the habitat and climate factors driving local colonisation and extinction in nest boxes. I account for the effects of preferential sampling, revealing how this changes our understanding of both the decline in dormouse occupancy and abundance, and the environmental drivers of occupancy changes. I find the area of woodland within 1km of the NDMP site, and the late winter (February, March) temperature range impact local extinction probability, with implications for habitat management and climate change.
I then consider population ecology on a finer scale, using an integrated population model to estimate recruitment and monthly survival for two dormouse populations, one in Lithuania and the other in Britain. I calculate the contribution of each vital rate to realised population growth, showing that juvenile recruitment has the biggest effects on growth at both sites, though the stage class with the biggest contribution differs. I investigate the correlations between climate variables and vital rates, demonstrating that climate variation has more impact on rates in Britain, at the edge of the dormouse range.
Finally, I discuss my findings in relation of hazel dormouse conservation, and broader context of citizen science and population ecology. This work identifies connectivity and climate are important influences on dormouse status and suggests conservation actions to promote dormouse recovery in Britain. This highlights the importance of investigating multiple aspects of species' population ecology to gain an integrated understanding of variation in status and future management opportunities. | en_GB |
