Two students at the University of Dundee have come up with a new research method to quickly establish the threat of extinction to Scotland's already endangered Capercaillie population.
The new method aims to determine the ideal habitat to preserve the Capercaillie population by studying the amount of parasites' egg and adult stages in the bird's faeces. A high level of parasites active in the Capercaillie indicates stress or illness in the bird which in turn indicates if the bird is suited to its current habitat or if its home is not suitable, causing stress and illness and making the bird less likely to reproduce.
Scotland's Capercaillie population is under threat of extinction for the second time. The rare bird became extinct in Scotland at the end of the nineteenth century but was reintroduced by bringing in birds from Scandinavia. Now, since 1970, 95% of Scotland's 20,000 Capercaillie population has been lost and there are only approximately 1,000 birds left in Scotland.
Jan Pekny (25), an Erasmus student from the Czech Republic struck on the idea of studying the faeces. He explains: "Previously we have relied upon population counts to determine the threat to a type of bird. This new method will work along side the traditional method, providing more and accurate information on the bird's state of health, allowing us to assess the suitability of their habitat. Once we can establish the Capercaillie's ideal habitat we have a better chance of giving the birds optimum conditions to reproduce."
Jan and fellow student Charlotte Kimber (23) are being helped in their study by keen ornithologists who are collecting faeces samples from four important Scottish habitats for the students to study. The bird enthusiasts are collecting samples from an island in Loch Lomond, Abernethy Forest, Glen Tannar and Glen Morangie.
Keith Skene, Lecturer in the Division of Environmental and Applied Biology in the School of Life Sciences, and the students' supervisor, said: "This new research method is an inspired idea. It is easy, inexpensive and provides so much accurate and valuable information for assessing the health of populations and their ultimate habitats. We hope to have completed our comparative study of the four habitats by May next year, allowing us to correlate Capercaille stress with key habitat elements. This will allow us to make recommendations to ensure that the Capercaillie lives and thrives in Scotland for many generations to come. It will also provide an important baseline survey, providing a means of measuring impacts of future conservation strategies of the world's largest grouse."
Charlotte Kimber is an Honours student in Zoology, at the University of Dundee, from Berkshire, and hopes to continue her studies at postgraduate level, animal conservation.
Jan Pekny is studying at the University of Dundee on the Erasmus exchange scheme. He is an honours student at MZLU University in Brnoin the Czech Republic, where he is undertaking diploma studies in Parasitology. He is also enrolled at Charles University in Prague where he is studying for another degree in translating and interpreting the English and German languages.
Contact Keith Skene and the students on 01382 344257.
By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk