Mammals and other wildlife
The importance, and decline, of mammals in the United Kingdom
As the United Kingdom has been shaped by land-use change for many thousands of years, space for nature has steadily diminished. Humans have had a long-lasting negative impact on mammals, and you might be surprised to learn that the UK was once home to species such as Brown Bears (Ursus arctos), Wolves (Canis lupus) and Lynx (Lynx lynx). Many extant species (those that are not yet extinct) are now experiencing accelerating declines. The beloved Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), for example, has declined by around 95% since the 1970s, signalling a very real risk of extinction if nothing changes. Since the 1950s, 133 mammal species have become extinct in the UK, and 26% of the species that remain are now in decline, with an increasing risk of disappearing altogether. As many of these common species are predatory animals, they are essential for healthy ecosystem function.
Common urban mammals include Foxes (Vulpes vulpes), many species of Deer and Badgers (Meles meles), all of which are abundant at the OpenLiving Labs. We are monitoring not only which species are present on the site, but also what they are doing, through an upcoming citizen science project focused on the behavioural ecology of urban mammals.
Our cameras collect more than mammals though; Birds, which are mostly identified using their song and some innovative AI-driven software (which you can learn about here) or even insects which are most often possible to identify this way, so please visit our invertebrates page for more information on how we collect invertebrate biodiversity data.
This section discusses how we measure which mammals and other wildlife are present on the site and how they use it, alongside examples of some of the fascinating behaviour captured by our camera traps.
Visual detection of animals and their behaviour
We have six camera traps across OpenLiving Labs, predominantly in the woodland and one in the riparian zone. These cameras run 24-hours a day, and are equipped with night vision too, so we are able to not only see what species we have at all times of the day the year round, but what they get up to at times where it would be difficult to manually observe them. Similarly, this is a non-invasive method of recording their presence and behaviour without disturbing them, although the camera is noticed from time-to-time, as seen below!
A cryptic species we have had at the site historically is the Stoat (Mustela erminea). This is a relatively common but not often-seen outside of camera trapping. This one lives in a Hedgehog hide and has recently been coming out on cold mornings.
While we detect birds mostly through birdsong, the cameras pick up many species. The video below is an excellent example of the behavioural studies we are able to conduct, where what appears to be a Thrush (Turdus sp.). of some kind using a rock to crack open what appears to be a snail.
Red Fox (Vuples vulpes) are one our most common species. Our cameras have detected them with a wide range of behaviours, from one carrying prey looking lively and healthy, to one showing extensive signs of mange. All of these different behaviours and individual conditions give us a right insight into what we have and what they are doing.
Other mammals such as Badgers (Meles meles), Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), Muntjac Deer (Muntiacus reevesi) and even Otters (Lutra lutra) have been captured regularly in our Living Lab. Below are some examples of the unique and interesting species we have recorded, with small video clips demonstrating how the cameras operate and night.
Examining these clips both helps understand urban biodiversity and what these animals get up to when humans aren’t directly interfering with their behaviour at the point of observation. If you want to contribute to the identification of species and/or their behaviour, have a look at our Citizen Science project page.
