1 / 13

Watershrew’s and wetland habitat quality

Watershrew’s and wetland habitat quality. Dawn Scott & Fran Southgate. Project background. 2002-2005 Partnership – SROP & UOB MPhil – Fran Southgate 27 study sites over 3 catchments Cuckmere, Ouse and Pevensey Levels Monitoring: Summer and Winter for 3 years. What is a water shrew?.

kalila
Télécharger la présentation

Watershrew’s and wetland habitat quality

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Watershrew’s and wetland habitat quality Dawn Scott & Fran Southgate

  2. Project background • 2002-2005 • Partnership – SROP & UOB • MPhil – Fran Southgate • 27 study sites over 3 catchments • Cuckmere, Ouse and Pevensey Levels • Monitoring: Summer and Winter for 3 years

  3. What is a water shrew? • Noemys fodiens • Largest UK shrew: 13g • Dark, usually silver pale underside • Fringed tail and feet • Ecology: • Breeding peak May & June (2 or < litters/season) • Life span 14-19 months • Aquatic/Riparian (but can be found away from water) • Insectivore: Diet 50: 50 terrestrial/aquatic invertebrates

  4. Why focus on this species? • Limited data on habitat requirements and distribution • Conservation status? W&C act 1987 • Predominantly feeds on aquatic prey • Intolerant to poor water quality ??? • Potential bio-indicator of water quality ??

  5. Project aims • Assess presence & abundance of water shrews across the 3 catchments and monitor these seasonally • Assess habitat characteristics and habitat quality • Assess presence and abundance of invertebrate prey base • Record indicators of water quality

  6. Methods • Shrew scat tubes: P/A and relative abundance • Wetland features: Bank slope, water body • Plant diversity: Bank and in-stream • Water quality: Temp,DO, pH, NH4, P, N • Habitat assessment: Composition and structure • Invertebrates: Diversity, BMWP, ASPT

  7. Water parameters • PH, temp. & DO showed no significant effect on water shrew presence over all sample seasons • Only DO in summer ’03 showed a significant effect on water shrew presence where higher DO = higher abundance • Higher water temperature was associated with lower water shrew presence in Summer 03 and Winter 04 • Data for phosphate, nitrates and ammonia showed no statistically significant relationships with water shrew abundance

  8. Invertebrates • Positive correlations between invertebrate diversity and richness scores and seasonal water shrew relative abundance in Summer 03, Winter 03 and Summer 04 • However, statistical analysis confirmed that neither water shrew presence nor relative abundance were associated with any of the derived BMWP and ASPT scores.

More Related