New paper out in Mammal Review! “A review of bovine tuberculosis transmission risk in European wildlife communities” https://t.co/NJcIOxi6WO I’m very excited to share this study that examines what roles different wildlife species may play in bTB transmission. Thread 1/5

Dream team of coauthors: @GW_Shannon @LineCordes @anddavies Prof. John Healey @BangorSNS @KESS_Central @GwctWales @BritishDeerSoc @BritishEcolSoc @NatResWales @SteveG_BASC (only 6yrs late - sorry!) @AlastairDeerEng @amygresham48 🧵8/8

Proactive management to maintain sustainable deer numbers is considerably more successful and cost-effective than dealing with an established popn. – an important consideration for the conservation of native fauna & flora. 🧵7/8

We demonstrate the method by predicting the spread of roe deer in Wales. Our model shows where the roe deer population is most likely to expand to. This information can be used to engage local stakeholders and target surveillance efforts towards key areas. 🧵6/8

First, we estimate habitat suitability and then generalise this map into a landscape of individual sized patches. Simple, generic parameters are then used to simulate popn. spread as a function of the connectivity, size and quality of patches. 🧵5/8

We developed a hybrid model, which can be constructed using commonly-available presence-only species data, remotely sensed environmental data and basic demographic information. 🧵4/8

Models capable of making dynamic predictions often require lots of data that are unavailable for most species. Simple models may not be biologically realistic and complex ones are difficult to interpret. 🧵3/8

Predicting how species distributions will change over time is critical for effective conservation and wildlife management planning. 🧵2/8

NEW paper!!! 'Predicting the spatial expansion of an animal population with presence-only data' https://t.co/LHqZxgRsl2 Super excited to finally share this research predicting the spread of roe deer in Wales 🧵1/8

Red squirrel conservation is about habitat management and predicting landscape scale impacts of tree felling. In NW Wales @NatResWales simply do not get it.

Calling all #cameratrap researchers! I invite you to submit your next #wildlife paper to our Special Issue, Ecological Insights from Camera Trapping, highlighting big- and small-scale discoveries. It is sure to get broad readership in our #science community. Please RT!

Fingers crossed the progression of the 'Agriculture Wales Bill' delivers better protection for forest wildlife. The ability to put 'environmental conditions' in tree felling licences is an essential if we are to reverse biodiversity decline. https://t.co/6I0jdcF8xV

A shout out to @GW_Shannon who is braving through hundreds of camera trap images of blue tits, looking for red squirrels in our new exciting @BangorSNS project with @Welshsquirrels. How can cameras be used to monitor #redsquirrel ? Watch this space for more news on the project.

This is Beyond the Pale.

A summary of our paper on the evidence of population management on wild ungulates @CoedCadw @KESS_Central @BASCWales @NatResWales @PLOSONE #wildlife #deer #conservation

Link to the paper: https://t.co/DHY6eIpGLF @GW_Shannon @LineCordes @amygresham48 @GwctWales @BritishDeerSoc (5/5)

We encourage (1) Researchers to address knowledge gaps, (2) Practitioners monitor popn's beyond size (health, condition, take genetic samples etc.) & (3) Reviewers assess the evidence and draw conclusions to support the sustainable managmt. of popn's in the future (4/5)

Some species (wild pigs & red deer), control methods (shooting) and effects (popn. size, movement) were well reported. However, evidence was lacking for other species (muntjac & fallow deer), non-lethal control methods and effects on behaviour, health & physiology (3/5)

In our paper, we use a reproducible search strategy to find evidence (academic papers & reports) on the effects of these control methods on each species. We then report how well each species/control method/effect on species, is represented in the literature (2/5)

Ungulates (deer + wild pigs/goats/sheep in the UK) are globally important species that are often managed to control their enviromental impacts via a range of methods, e.g. shooting, fencing, contraception, trapping and diversionary feeding (1/5)