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Wildlife
- Close
- - We protect wildlife in Britain and around the world by bringing our most threatened species back from the brink of extinction. We do this through ground-breaking research, practical conservation and education, all with the help of our supporters.
Wild places
- Close
- - Some habitats contain such a richness of life that we need to protect them at all odds. We are working to preserve ancient woodlands, orchards and wood pastures and parklands, as well as the countless species they support.
What we do
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- - Everything we do is based on scientific evidence. We gather this through surveys, which you can take part in, and by awarding research grants to the most inspiring scientists worldwide. This evidence guides our conservation efforts and is shared through our events and publications.
Who we are
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- - People’s Trust for Endangered Species was set up in 1977 to save our wildlife. We are governed by a board of volunteer trustees and our team of staff are passionate about protecting endangered species and places.
Success stories
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- - We strive to bring our most threatened species in the UK and around the world back from the brink of extinction. Our successes come from ground-breaking research, practical conservation and education, all with the help of our supporters.
Get involved
- Close
- - There are so many ways you can help save endangered species. Fancy taking part in a survey, joining us on a wildlife event or becoming a regular supporter?
Shop
- Close
- - Support our work in our shop with a range of charity gifts, home-ware, cards and more. 100% of the profits go directly to help wildlife both in the UK an overseas.
Donate
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- - There is nothing natural about the alarming rate at which we are losing animals and their homes. It is absolutely avoidable. We can stop the loss of our wildlife – but we need your support. You can act now by choosing to give to our cause. Thank you.

Home // Research grants // Our UK mammal projects // Dormice and woodland management

Dormice and woodland management

Dormouse torpor in handDormouse torpor in hand by Rhys Owen-Roberts

Investigating the relationship between dormouse populations and woodland management practices.

This project has now finished

Investigating the relationship between dormouse populations and woodland management practices.

The problem

Hazel dormice are arboreal creatures, living in woodlands and scrubby habitats such as hedgerows. It is thought that they prefer early successional stages of woodland and “edge” habitat, which was historically found throughout Britain due to woodland management practices such as coppicing. However the current situation for hazel dormice is thought to be precarious, with UK populations experiencing an overall long-term decline. To counter this trend, land management practices like coppicing and hedge restoration have been re-established in order to improve the habitat quality for existing populations and aid the establishment of new populations via dispersal or reintroduction. However, actually finding out what the impact of different management practices is on specific populations is challenging because of the time scale of change and because of complicating anthropogenic and natural factors.

The solution

This project run by Fraser Combe at Manchester Metropolitan University aims to evaluate the relationship between dormice and woodland management practices using long-term monitoring data from the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP). Our analysis has two parts. Our first objective is to look closely at the NDMP dataset in order to identify factors (various habitat and management characteristics) that are of the highest importance in explaining positive changes in dormouse population trends. Secondly, we will measure long-term changes in habitat features using remote sensing and GIS data and see how this relates to changes in dormouse numbers over time. The structural characteristics of forests, such as canopy cover, biomass, and density, are critical ecosystem variables for biodiversity and can be very accurately measured by satellite imagery. Both parts of our analysis will be used to identify specific management practices that are associated with dormouse population trends. The results of this research can be used to inform how we advise woodland owners to look after their forests by identifying those practices that have a high, positive impact in order to aid the recovery of hazel dormouse populations in the long term.