Research carried out by E³ Ecology Ltd

RESEARCH

Re-wetting - Implications for invertebrate abundance as a wader food resource

A study was completed with Sam Stark of Newcastle University at an upland site in the Scottish borders where re-wetting of degraded blanket bog is on-going, assessing the impacts on tipulid abundance.

Tipulid larvae are a key food resource for Golden Plover chicks and the availability of larvae has a critical impact on chick survival rates.

It was found that re-wetting resulted in a significant increase in larval abundance and therefore the likelihood, all else being equal, of chick survival in any given year.

This study has confirmed a further benefit of re-wetting as a conservation tool, with the process feeding into strategies aimed to conserve Golden Plover and other upland waders.

More detailed studies are being undertaken in 2010.