Wild animals evolving to give birth earlier in warming climate

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

by University of Edinburgh

Red deer on a Scottish island are providing scientists with some of the first evidence that wild animals are evolving to give birth earlier in the year as the climate warms.

Genetic changes to red deer on the Isle of Rum—located off the west coast of Scotland—have played a key role in a rapid shift in birth dates in recent years, new research shows.

Previous studies have shown that the deer have been giving birth earlier since the 1980s, at a rate of about three days per decade, partly due to the effects of warmer temperatures on the deer's behaviour and physiology.

Now, scientists have revealed that genetic changes caused by natural selection—the theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin—are also involved.

The study provides a rare example of evolution happening quickly enough to be detected over only a few decades.

A team including scientists from the University of Edinburgh made the discovery using field records and genetic data collected on Rum over a 45-year period since 1972.

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Wild red deer contribute to the preservation of open landscapes

Date:  May 9, 2019

Source:  University of Göttingen

Similar to farm animals such as cattle or sheep, wild red deer grazing in open landscapes can also contribute to the conservation of protected habitats. This was demonstrated by a research team from the University of Göttingen and the Institute for Wildlife Biology of Göttingen and Dresden. The results were published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

The interdisciplinary research team, which involved the Divisions of Grassland Science and Wildlife Sciences of the University of Göttingen, conducted research over a period of three years at the Grafenwöhr Training Area, an army training base, in Bavaria. "This area is home not only to numerous protected habitats and rare species, but also to a large population of free-ranging red deer," says Friederike Riesch, PhD student in the Division of Grassland Science at the University of Göttingen and first author of the study. Since the animals are only hunted on a few days a year in the non-forested areas of the training area, they can use the grassland and heathland areas all day for foraging. The scientists recorded above-ground plant growth, forage quality and forage removal by red deer in protected grassland and heath habitats. The result: the proportion of plant growth eaten by wild red deer is comparable to that of extensive grazing by farm livestock.

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Inbreeding impacts on mothering ability, red deer study shows

Date: March 14, 2016

Source: University of Edinburgh

Inbred animals have fewer surviving offspring compared with others, a study of red deer in the wild has found.

The insight could aid the conservation and management of endangered populations of animals in which inbreeding carries a high risk of extinction.

The findings from a long-term study on a Scottish island shows that hinds whose parents were first cousins raise far fewer offspring - about one-quarter as many - to adulthood over their lifetimes compared with others.

This is because inbred hinds are less likely to survive to breeding age, to have a calf in any given year and to rear any calves they do have to independence.

Similarly, male red deer born to first cousins sire only one-twentieth the number of offspring of average adult males.

Inbreeding is known to have adverse effects across many species, but examples of its impact on adult wild animals are rare.

Researchers used a DNA screening tool to gain a highly detailed measure of inbreeding for each individual deer living at the study site on the Isle of Rum in the Inner Hebrides.

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Why it is ethical to kill deer but let the badgers live

Culling wildlife has a bad name right now. The government's badger cull has been a disaster on its own terms and a catastrophe by any sensible assessment. But Britain is divided, and not just over badgers. While the culling of badgers in the West Country is condemned by conservationists, in the Highlands wildlife charities are seeking to dispatch large numbers of another majestic native: red deer. And many nature-lovers would cheer an intensified cull of deer populations across the country. To philosophers of animal rights, "conservation culling" is an Orwellian atrocity – "speciesism" in action. And conservationists – and I include myself in this group – sometimes flounder in the face of such clear and principled thinking.

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Personality Differences: In Lean Times Red Deer With Dominant Personalities Pay A High Price

Saving energy is important for humans and animals alike when resources are limited. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, found out that although higher-ranked red deer gain privileged access to patches of food, they also have higher metabolic rates and thus use more energy. This can be a serious disadvantage in winter when red deer rely largely on their limited stored body fat to survive.

Energy budget adjustments

Energy is the currency of life, and a central topic of wildlife ecological research is to understand how animals regulate their energy budgets with respect to its limited supply in the environment. Chris Turbill and colleagues set out to test the hypothesis that high rank, i.e. social dominance might be associated with higher metabolic rate. They measured heart rate and body temperature (proxy indicators for metabolic rate) using minimally invasive rumen transmitters in a herd of female red deer (Cervus elaphus) during winter. Red deer have a highly hierarchical herd structure. Before the experiment, behavioral observations were used to determine the social status of individuals in the group. The animals were allowed to move freely in the approx. 45 hectare large natural enclosure of the Research Institute. Owing to the poor natural forage available over winter, the deer were also fed pellets at an automated feeding station, which enabled the researchers to periodically restrict food rations and test the physiological impact of dominance in situations of food scarcity.

Dominance is costly

Red deer must withstand a negative energy balance over the winter season and maintenance of their body mass is critical to survival and reproduction. In lean times red deer, and other northern ungulates, save energy by drastically reducing their metabolism over cold winter nights – an energy-saving mechanism scientists refer to as “hypometabolism“. Socially dominant animals, however, are less good at this. The experimental results found that dominant individuals do have faster heart rates and higher body temperatures during winter compared to subordinates. Consequently, dominant individuals suffered higher rates of body mass loss during periods of low food availability than subordinates. Because the normally disadvantaged lower-ranked individuals do better in keeping their head low, slowing down, and chilling out, they seem to withstand severe winter conditions better.

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Scots red deer 'breeding earlier due to climate change'

Scotland's red deer are breeding earlier each year, according to scientists studying the impact of climate change on the species.

It is thought to be the result of improved grazing, due to the longer growing season in spring and summer.

Scientists have been studying the red deer population on the Isle of Rum since 1953.

It is one of the longest running research projects of its kind anywhere in the world.

The climate change research is based on data gathered since 1980.

Timing events

Scientists monitor deer living in the north of Rum every day of the year and are able to identify the animals by sight.

Deer researcher Ali Morris told BBC Scotland: "In spring, the main things we're watching for are changes in the hinds' udders, as we're trying to work out if they're pregnant or lactating.

Continued and video

Wild and Woolly: Deer Joins Sheep Flock

Even deer get lonely, it seems. A young red deer in England has been accepted into a flock of about 100 sheep, and seems quite content living, eating and sleeping with his new friends.

Members of the National Trust (a British conservation group) discovered the young buck two weeks ago after the sheep had been moved onto a nature preserve northeast of London at Dunwich Heath, according to the BBC.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/26364-deer-sheep-friends.html

Study warns action needed to save Irish hare from extinction

The Irish hare is one of a number of native species facing extinction if action is not taken to control the invasion of foreign mammals in Ireland, according to new research.

The red squirrel and red deer are also in danger.

It follows research by academics from Queen's University in Belfast.

They carried out a two-year study on two introduced species now thriving in Ireland - the bank vole and the greater white toothed shrew.

Researchers found that the native pygmy shrew has completely vanished in the parts of the island where foreign species are found, while wood mouse numbers have dropped by 50% in places where the bank vole is fully established.

The study on so-called "invasional meltdown", published in the international scientific journal Biological Invasions, claimed that if the rate of invasion continued as at present, native small mammals in Ireland would die out in at least 80% of their available habitat.

Professor Ian Montgomery, lead researcher from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen's University, explained the importance of small mammals in the established food chain.

He said major changes in species composition have both top-down and bottom-up effects in the ecosystem, affecting bird and mammal predators as well as the invertebrates, seeds and seedling that small rodents feed on.

"The introduction of alien mammals to Ireland over the last 100 years has had major detrimental effects, threatening our indigenous habitats and species," Professor Montgomery said.

More:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17099536

Red deer released onto Surrey heathland to restore ecosystems

Home to nightjars, woodlarks and Dartford warblers

December 2010: Deer that had became locally extinct more than 200 years ago have been successfully reintroduced to Surrey's Pirbright heathland.

The award-winning scheme, led by Defence Estates, Natural England and Surrey Wildlife Trust, is a pioneering, landscape-scale, conservation project where red deer are being introduced to protect the vitally important heathland habitat at the MOD's Pirbright Ranges, near West End Village.

Now the gates between the holding paddocks, where the deer have been during the summer, have been opened - allowing the deer to wander out into their 740ha new home.

Military training base and conservation hotspot
As well as being an extremely busy and important military training facility, this beautiful area is an extremely valuable wildlife habitat. It is protected at a European level as a Special Protection Area (SPA) for its ground-nesting heathland birds, as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for its wetland areas and within the UK as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Populations of nightjar, woodlark and Dartford warbler breed within the ranges; the area attracts spectacular visiting species such as the great grey shrike and merlin and UK Biodiversity Action Plan species such as marsh clubmoss and marsh fern thrive there.

However, invasive scrub and coarse grasses are overwhelming the rarer heathland species. Usually these are cleared with machines, burning and domestic livestock, but, due to the military history of the area, none of these are permitted. This has led to a cycle of vegetation growing up before fuelling fire which sweeps across the area. The fire brigade is not allowed to enter the area so the fire burns unchecked for days, causing pressure on the emergency services, fear from surrounding homeowners and disruption to military and civilian training at Pirbright Camp; it can be disastrous for wildlife as many species are unable to escape the flames.

Deer will protect threatened habitat
Since 2006 a group of partner organisations has been working to find a solution to the long-term management of the area. A comprehensive review of potential grazing animals was undertaken by Natural England, the RSPCA, British Deer Society (BDS), the Deer Initiative, Forest Research, Defence Estates and SWT. The group selected red deer, which are naturally equipped for thriving on a diet of scrub and coarse grasses, to protect the threatened habitat.

A full risk assessment has been undertaken to cover all aspects of deer welfare. Recognised experts, including a specialist deer vet, have contributed to the project and are on hand to offer advice as the scheme develops. Deer management will be undertaken by qualified members of Defence Deer Management (DDM, the Services branch of the BDS). Several of the deer wear GPS/radio tracking collars to monitor their use the area and guide understanding of behaviour.


Col Roger Owen, Defence Training Estate Home Counties Deputy Commander, said: ‘Supporting our Armed Forces is the top priority for Defence Estates. This project allows internationally important heathland to be safeguarded and enhanced, while still enabling troops to continue preparing for overseas operations at Pirbright.

Incredibly moving to see the deer walk across this stunning landscape
‘Releasing the deer marks a milestone in the project's ongoing success and demonstrates that seemingly insurmountable problems can be overcome when people work together in close partnership.'

James Adler, SWT grazing manager, said: ‘We are delighted to finally be letting the deer onto the fantastic area Defence Estates, Natural England and SWT have created for them. It has taken an enormous amount of work to get to this stage but to see the first red deer for 200 years walking across this stunning landscape is incredibly moving.

‘We are proud to have a sustainable conservation system up and running to safeguard the future of this unsurpassed southern wilderness and its wildlife.'

Carole Mortimer, Natural England's conservation adviser for the site said: ‘This deer release marks the culmination of a project which has taken commitment and perseverance over several years. We can now finally see these charismatic animals out on the heathland. Ongoing monitoring and research over the next few years will enable us to check that the deer are effective and give us reassurance that this unique site will be protected and its condition enhanced.'

The project recently won the Ministry of Defence's Environmental Project category in this year's Sanctuary Awards for its innovative work in improving the SSSI, which forms part of the Thames Basin Heaths, as well as the excellent partnership working of the team.


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/deer-pirbright.html