title: Innovations and tools to inform hazel dormouse conservation strategies
Creators: name: Cartledge, Emma
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2027

description: The most effective conservation stems from evidence-based decisions, which require knowledge of the most appropriate approaches for how and where to protect biodiversity, species and habitats. This relies upon reliable monitoring schemes and understanding the reasons for conservation success, so that conservation efforts and funding can be targeted towards the most appropriate places and methods. Reintroductions are one of the tools used to restore species to their historical range. Despite being increasingly used as a conservation tool, many reintroductions fail to establish viable populations. Therefore, it is important to effectively plan and assess reintroduction programmes to increase the chance of long-term success. Planning effective conservation programmes, such as reintroductions, relies upon knowledge of a species’ ecology and distribution. Well-planned monitoring schemes and reliable survey techniques are essential for collecting this information. Recent developments in molecular tools and techniques enable rapid, objective assessments with limited training requirements for those collecting samples.

The hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is a species of conservation concern in the UK. As a result, the species is legally protected and there are ongoing targeted conservation efforts. In the UK, the hazel dormouse has undergone a rapid population decline and associated range retraction. This is thought to be due to changes in habitat and climate. Aiming to restore the species to its historical range, there have been over 30 releases of more than 1000 total dormice to reintroduction sites in central and northern England. These reintroductions are monitored as part of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP), including over 400 natural sites, which are checked at least twice a year using nest boxes. Making use of the data from the NDMP, I investigate the impacts of habitat and climate on dormouse populations, including at the reintroduction sites. I also investigate the potential of new non-invasive dormouse survey methods.

In my thesis, I firstly discuss reintroduction biology and suggest ways of improving the workflow of reintroduction programmes, in order to increase their success. I highlight the importance of reliable monitoring methods and develop a theory of change to assist reintroduction planners. As identified in my theory of change, selecting appropriate release sites is vital. This can be assisted by quantitative techniques and species distribution models. Focusing on the hazel dormouse, I demonstrate the utility of these analytical techniques with regards to habitat and climate suitability. I find that habitat factors influence reintroduced dormouse population counts and climate suitability impacts reintroduction outcome. Some unexpected relationships lead to questions surrounding whether nest box counts accurately reflect population size. This is further questioned in a subsequent chapter, where I focus on a dormouse reintroduction site where no dormice have been recorded in the nest boxes since 2017. Tracks from footprint tunnels provide limited evidence for dormice at this site, whereas a new mass spectrometry method suggests widespread evidence of dormouse presence. Finally, I demonstrate the potential of a non-invasive environmental DNA method for dormouse surveys. The implications of my thesis findings are discussed in terms of hazel dormouse conservation in the UK, but also more broadly, making recommendations for conservation practitioners who implement reintroduction programmes.