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R E S E A R C H
Research
E3 has carried out a range of research projects some of which are outlined below. Further details can be downloaded through the links at the bottom of the page.
70% loss of inclosure period field trees in last 100 years
Research for Northumberland County Council assessing the decline in inclosure period field trees within the county showed a loss of 70% of hedgerow trees over the last 150 years and that veteran trees were very rare. The study led to the production of a leaflet, 'Trees in the Landscape', outlining the results and their significance in relation to obtaining grants from the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, and other agri-environment schemes, to protect remaining trees and hedges through appropriate management and foster the next generation of veteran trees.
75% of lowland farm building complexes support brown long-eared bat roosts
During the summer of 2003 an investigation was carried out into the roosting preferences of brown long-eared bats within barns in Northumberland. This research produced a number of fresh insights into the behaviour of this species, which was found in 75% of lowland traditional barns, and has lead to a re-assessment of the level of survey effort and methods employed when surveying for this species within the northeast.
Standard exclusion methods for water vole do not work?
Methods recommended in the Water Vole Handbook were found to be ineffective in dissuading water vole from using a 300m length of stream in Darlington. Strimming did not cause voles to move out of the area, and trapping out the population took longer than the guidelines suggest.
Small pit-fall traps catch more amphibians
Analysis of catch data for two sizes of pit-fall traps, the usual bucket size and narrower 2litre pop-bottles, for a Defra licensed great crested newt exclusion, showed that the pop bottles were significantly more efficient at catching amphibians. Numbers of GCN were too small to analyse, but as the traps are also cheaper and quicker to install, the benefits of the bottle could be significant.
Bats prefer living in up-market villages!
A car transect survey allowed the bat populations over an area of 500 square kilometers of Northumberland to be modeled against Phase 1 habitat data Tony Martin had gathered for English Nature and the County Council. The usual correlations were found with bat numbers being higher in areas with woodland, diverse grassland and scattered buildings and lower in urban areas. Plotting bat numbers against a property price index for a dozen villages provided by Sanderson Young Estate Agents showed a highly significant correlation: bats prefer to live in country estates to colliery villages.
Current research projects include a County-wide survey of nesting barn owls and an assessment of bat mating behavior in traditional farm buildings.
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