This year, Wild Ground have had the opportunity to help Liverpool John Moores student, Rosie Webber, with her PhD research.
Rosie’s project is titled “Does population density influence the welfare of wild newts?” and she chose one of our nature reserves as one of her field study sites due to our large population of great crested newts. Rosie has been testing the water quality of our ponds through invertebrate sampling and measuring variables such as pH and electrolyte content.
Dr G. Wyn Hughes, an expert in microbiota, also paid our reserve a visit to write a very interesting report on the tiny organisms which the invertebrates feed on, underpinning the food web.
We’ve also been taking part in newt trapping throughout the year, which has provided us with lots of information about how ponds are being used by newts and the when the peak of great crested newt breeding activity was this year (which has been slightly skewed due to the dry spring). Our record for the number of great crested newts found in one trap was 45!
The data collected will give us an insight in the overall health of not just the reserves great crested newt population, but also of the habitat on the reserve, which will be invaluable in relation to the future management of the site.