Hedgerows for Hedgehogs and Campus Biodiversity:A Prickly Challenge for Universities

Across society, organisations find themselves challenged to address the climate and nature emergencies. Universities have a complex set of responsibilities given that they are preparing students for an uncertain future in which the very survival of life is in the balance. A characteristic of this complex challenge is the need to develop the necessary ecological and vertical literacy required to tackle the many aspects of fragmentation we are subject to. The 30x30 biodiversity challenge provides universities with an opportunity to address one particular form of fragmentation, that affecting habitats.The case study presented here explores how a Hedgehog Friendly Campus (HFC) initiative allowed awareness of hedgehog habitat needs and in particular the health of hedgerows to feed into campus environmental management. A surprising finding is that addressing the fragmentation of hedgerows highlights organisational fragmentation, with little communication between landscape managers, research and teaching. A collaborative systems approach to the biodiversity challenge is thus needed and realising this will challenge universities to build their capacity to embrace research and learning for sustainability through living lab projects. This requires a recognition of the responsibility universities have to enable action learning across disciplines in ways that will connect staff and students to, and bring them into relation with, the biodiversity crisis at a local level. The HFC initiative provides a rich opportunity for communities of inquiry and practice to be nurtured and for this process to inform the evolution of our understanding of habitat restoration on university campuses as a corporate responsibility

A temporal refuge from predation can change the outcome of prey species competition

Funding Information: – AS was supported by The Maxwell Institute Graduate School in Analysis and its Applications, a Centre for Doctoral Training funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant EP/L016508/01), the Scottish Funding Council, Heriot‐Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Oikos published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Society Oikos.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Incorporating habitat distribution in wildlife disease models: conservation implications for the threat of squirrelpox on the Isle of Arran

Emerging infectious diseases are a substantial threat to native populations. The spread of disease through naive native populations will depend on both demographic and disease parameters, as well as on habitat suitability and connectivity. Using the potential spread of squirrelpox virus (SQPV) on the Isle of Arran as a case study, we develop mathematical models to examine the impact of an emerging disease on a population in a complex landscape of different habitat types. Furthermore, by considering a range of disease parameters, we infer more generally how complex landscapes interact with disease characteristics to determine the spread and persistence of disease. Specific findings indicate that a SQPV outbreak on Arran is likely to be short lived and localized to the point of introduction allowing recovery of red squirrels to pre-infection densities; this has important consequences for the conservation of red squirrels. More generally, we find that the extent of disease spread is dependent on the rare passage of infection through poor quality corridors connecting good quality habitats. Acute, highly transmissible infectious diseases are predicted to spread rapidly causing high mortality. Nonetheless, the disease typically fades out following local epidemics and is not supported in the long term. A chronic infectious disease is predicted to spread more slowly but can remain endemic in the population. This allows the disease to spread more extensively in the long term as it increases the chance of spread between poorly connected populations. Our results highlight how a detailed understanding of landscape connectivity is crucial when considering conservation strategies to protect native species from disease threats

Modelling disease spread in real landscapes: Squirrelpox spread in southern Scotland as a case study

PublishedJournal ArticleThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Associazione Teriologica Italiana via the DOI in this record.© 2016 Associazione Teriologica Italiana.There is increasing evidence that invading species can gain an advantage over native species by introducing novel disease. A clear understanding of the role of disease in the expansion of introduced and invading species is therefore essential for the conservation of native species. In this study we focus on the case study system of the UK red and grey squirrel system in which disease-mediated competition has facilitated the replacement of red squirrels by greys. We modify a deterministic model of the squirrel system in which the competition and infection dynamics are well understood to produce a stochastic model which includes a realistic representation of the heterogeneous habitat in Southern Scotland. The model is used to examine the potential spread of infection (squirrelpox virus) through the squirrel system and to examine the impact of conservation measures that control grey squirrel numbers in an attempt to contain disease spread. The results have direct implications for conservation management and we discuss how they have helped shape current and future policy for red squirrel conservation in Scotland. The methods in this study can be readily adapted to represent different systems and since the stochastic population and disease dynamics are underpinned by classical deterministic modelling frameworks the results are applicable in general.AW and PL were supported in part by SNH. AW, MB and PL were supported in part by a NERC Innovations grant NE/M021319/1

Modelling the impact of forest design plans on an endangered mammal species: The eurasian red squirrel

PublishedJournal ArticleThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Associazione Teriologica Italiana via the DOI in this record.© 2016 Associazione Teriologica Italiana.The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is under threat in the UK from the introduced North American grey squirrel. National measures to save the species include large conifer forest reserves where management encompasses measures to bolster the native species. However, forests are multipurpose environments and foresters have to balance different timber production, amenity and conservation objectives. We present a mathematical modelling framework that examines the impacts of potential felling and restocking plans for two reserves, Kidland and Uswayford forests, in northern England. In collaboration with forest managers, we employed an iterative process that used the model to assess four forest design plans (felling and restocking scenarios) with the aim of improving red squirrel population viability. Overall, the model predicted that extinction in both forests at the same time was rare, but high in Uswayford (84%) alone. Survival could be drastically increased (from 16% to 70%) by felling and restocking adjustments, and improving dispersal between the two adjacent forests. This study provides an exemplar of how modelling can have a direct input to land management to help managers objectively balance the differing pressures of multipurpose forestry.AW, MB and PL are supported in part by a NERC Innovations grant NE/M021319/1