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Climate change is exacerbating hazel dormouse decline, new research confirms - PTES
New research has confirmed that increased precipitation and fluctuating winter temperatures, as well as density dependence all negatively affects hazel dormouse populations. Worryingly, changing weather patterns – which are increasing – appear to exacerbate populations that are already struggling. The study warns that without mitigating these factors, dormice could disappear from our woodlands altogether.
The research was led by Dr Fraser Combe, former PhD Student at Manchester Metropolitan University, and supported by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species which spearheads the UK’s hazel dormouse conservation work. It has been published in leading journal Animal Conservation.
The research showed that in adult dormice, both over winter survival and fecundity (the ability to breed successfully) were negatively impacted by increased average temperatures and higher rainfall, especially when these patterns of warm, wet weather were interspersed with cold periods. It’s not uncommon for hibernators to wake up intermittently, but frequent waking depletes the adults’ energy reserves by the time they wake in spring, thereby hampering their breeding capacity.
Juveniles were impacted before hibernation and over winter. If juvenile dormice don’t build up enough fat reserves before winter their chance of surviving hibernation is slim. That, combined with waking up early or more frequently and being forced to be active when they should be asleep and when there’s less food around, has serious consequences too.
But the study did offer some cause for optimism: conservationists can help mitigate against these negative effects, giving dormice a fighting chance
Read the full paper here and to find out more about PTES’ dormouse conservation work here.
Read more about PTES, earlier this year they wrote an article for us all about 30 years of putting hazel dormice back where they belong
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Posted On: 25/07/2023