Participation of the National Gamebag Census in the Mammal Surveillance Network
(2006)
Davey, P.A. & Aebischer, N.J.
The first annual report of mammal trends from the National Gamebag Census, a scheme collecting data on mammals from gamebag returns. Run by the Game Conservancy Trust, the scheme has been in operation since 1961 and is a very valuable time-series dataset for a range of mammal species.
Introduction
The National Gamebag Census (NGC) is of considerable interest to
the statutory agencies charged by the government with monitoring
the status of UK wildlife, particularly with respect to mammals
that are difficult to monitor by other means. The Joint
Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is responsible for assessing
and reporting on the state of UK biodiversity on behalf of these
agencies. In 2003, JNCC invited The Game Conservancy Trust
(GCT) to join the Tracking Mammals Partnership, thereby giving
official recognition of the importance of NGC records as a
monitoring tool for wildlife management and conservation.
The resulting agreement seeks to improve data collection,
collation and analysis of the NGC, which will make it an important
part of the Tracking Mammals Partnership. The latter
comprises 25 organisations and aims to detect changes in the
abundance and distribution of terrestrial and freshwater
mammals. Information collected by the Partnership will act as
an early warning system for detecting changes in abundance for
species of conservation interest and for pest or problem
species.
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A report to JNCC for the year 2005/6
Please cite as: Davey, P.A. & Aebischer, N.J., (2006), Participation of the National Gamebag Census in the Mammal Surveillance Network, online only, A report to JNCC for the year 2005/6