Research shows significance of native predators to naturally restore ecosystem

Research shows significance of native predators to naturally restore ecosystem - Queen's University Belfast

A new research study led by Queen’s University highlights the crucial role that recovering native predators can play in conserving the natural ecosystem.

The research reveals how a native predator, the pine marten, is helping to conserve the UK and Ireland’s only native squirrel, the red squirrel.

Following introductions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the invasive grey squirrel had replaced the native red squirrel across much of its former range in the UK and Ireland. The pine marten, a recovering predator in the UK and Ireland are naturally controlling introduced grey squirrels, while simultaneously helping to secure the survival of native red squirrel populations.

Until now, little was known about how the pine marten which predates both grey and red squirrels was able to negatively affect invasive grey squirrel populations while positively affecting their native cousins.

Through the exposure of red and grey squirrels to pine marten scent at twenty feeding sites across Northern Ireland, the researchers used cameras to record how the different squirrel species responded to their shared predator, the pine marten.

They found that native red squirrels showed clear behavioural responses to pine marten scent, while grey squirrels did not. Red squirrels visited the feeders less often and increased their vigilance when pine marten scent was applied whilst grey squirrels did not change their behaviour. This is likely a response to red squirrels sharing a landscape with pine marten over a long-period of time, with grey squirrels being relative newcomers to the threat that the pine marten poses.