Celebrating 75 years of the Wytham Woods’ Great Tit study
75 years of the influential Great Tit study at Wytham Woods - University of Oxford
Wytham Woods’ Great Tit study celebrates 75 years and reveals how spring has advanced a calendar month in that time.
On 27 April 1947, the first Great Tit egg of the year was counted in the University of Oxford's 'living laboratory' at Wytham Woods. It was to be the start of a deep and on-going relationship between the bird population and generations of researchers.
Seventy-five years later, in 2022, the year’s first Great Tit egg was counted on 28 March; almost exactly a month earlier than its predecessor from 75 years ago.
The Wytham Great Tit study is the longest continuous study of an individually-marked animal population in the world. It plays a key role in scientists’ understanding of how populations change in response to the environment – particularly how they are coping with changing climates.
Sir David Attenborough said: ‘I am delighted to hear of the 75th anniversary of the long-term Great Tit study in Wytham Woods. Having visited several times, I know how fundamental this study, and others like it, have been for our understanding of the impacts of climate change on the natural world. Long-term studies like this require long-term commitment, and I wish the study – and its practitioners – a long and productive future.’
Like many aspects of their biology, the timing of the laying of Great Tit eggs is influenced by large and small-scale factors, such as climate, social interactions and the health and behaviour of nearby trees, which researchers are beginning to understand in terms of potential vulnerabilities and resilience to changing climates.
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Posted On: 27/04/2022