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This thesis begins by examining the factors that affect metabolic rate, before turning to the measurement of energy expenditure and the quantification of behaviour in the European badger (Meles meles). Resting metabolic rate and daily energy expenditure (DEE) were measured (by respirometry and doubly labelled water, respectively) in a population of free-ranging badgers and analysed in terms of age, sex, season, and bovine tuberculosis (bTB) disease status. In a pilot study with a captive tame badger, a tri-axial accelerometer equipped collar was used to gather data on badger movement. Custom software was also developed to classify badger behaviour. This software was then applied to accelerometer data collected on a wild badger (along with global positioning system (GPS) information) to construct a detailed behaviour-time budget and elucidate habitat use. Resting metabolic rate was found to be significantly lower during the winter (1845±109 kJ d-1) compared to the summer (2366±70 kJ-d-1). Measurements during the summer were significantly higher than mustelid specific basal metabolic rate allometric predictions. Evidence was also found for seasonal variation in DEE, with values during the winter (2309±736 kJ-d-1) being significantly lower than both summer (2566±1011 kJ-d-1) and autumn (3070±780 kJ d-1). Based on the available data, there was no detectable effect of bTB disease status on DEE. In the captive badger accelerometer study, behavioural classification had an accuracy of 99.4% for resting, 78.7% for trotting, 77.5% for snuffling, and 77.4% for walking. When applied to accelerometer and GPS data collected on a free-ranging badger, resting was the most commonly identified behaviour (67.4%) followed by walking (20.9%), snuffling (9.5%) and trotting (2.3%). An acceleration based proxy for energy expenditure was derived for each behaviour. Variation in badger behaviour with habitat type was also investigated. This work provides new insights into the energy expenditure and behaviour of the European badger, as well as the development of techniques that have potential to be applied to a range of other species.

All living organisms are subject to some form of stress, which in medical terms is a response oftl1e body to a wide range of external s~~uli. This may be physiological or psychological in nature. Objective, quantitative and meaningful me~ures of stress are important to stud~es in many branches of vertebrate biology including humanbiology, animal husbandry and wildlife ecology. The effects of stress in animals have previously been assessed using a variety oftecJ:niques, such as me.asurement of cortisol, haematological values and behavioural observations. The aim ofthis study was to develop and validate novel techniques for quantifying stress·by directly measuring the immune response. Transport significantly reduced the number of cir~ulatingleukocytes (F2,24 = 5.4, . . P<0.05). The changes in neutrophil n~bers may have- occurred as a result of an alteration in adhesion receptors on the neutrophils (L-selectin; integrins and PSGL-l P-Selectin Glycoprotein Ligand-I) or the endothelium (p-selectin; Intracellular Adhesion·Molecule 1). Transport stress had a significant effect on baseline neutrophil activation (F2,19 = 12.4, P<O.OOI), activation was lowestin non-transported aninials and highest immediately after transport, however transport stress did not have a significant effect on plasma antioxidant capacity.. This suggests that badgers possess enough antioxidant defences and oxidative damage is not likely to occur. Stress also significantly reduced the potential ofcirculating leukocytes to ·produce oxygen free radicals (F3,51=6.98, p<O.OOI). A significant decrease in plasma cortisol (Fl,28=4~67l; P<0.05) and testosterone (Fl,42=16.68, p <0.001) concentrations after transport was also observed. It is clear that.conservation interventions such as trapping, translocation and radiocollaring have an impact on their ~ubjects; there are many different methods to monitor stress induced immunosuppression, although the best way to achieve this is to combine different methods: Some techniques may be more appropriate than others depending on the species being studied.

Understanding demographic and disease processes in wildlife populations tends to be hampered by incomplete observations which can include significant errors. Models provide useful insights into the potential impacts of key processes and the value of such models greatly improves through integration with available data in a way that includes all sources of stochasticity and error. To date, the impact on disease of spatial and social structures observed in wildlife populations has not been widely addressed in modelling. I model the joint effects of differential fecundity and spatial heterogeneity on demography and disease dynamics, using a stochastic description of births, deaths, social-geographic migration, and disease transmission. A small set of rules governs the rates of births and movements in an environment where individuals compete for improved fecundity. This results in realistic population structures which, depending on the mode of disease transmission can have a profound effect on disease persistence and therefore has an impact on disease control strategies in wildlife populations. I also apply a simple model with births, deaths and disease events to the long-term observations of TB (Mycobacterium bovis) in badgers in Woodchester Park. The model is a continuous time, discrete state space Markov chain and is fitted to the data using an implementation of Bayesian parameter inference with an event-based likelihood. This provides a flexible framework to combine data with expert knowledge (in terms of model structure and prior distributions of parameters) and allows us to quantify the model parameters and their uncertainties. Ecological observations tend to be restricted in terms of scope and spatial temporal coverage and estimates are also affected by trapping efficiency and disease test sensitivity. My method accounts for such limitations as well as the stochastic nature of the processes. I extend the likelihood function by including an error term that depends on the difference between observed and inferred state space variables. I also demonstrate that the estimates improve by increasing observation frequency, combining the likelihood of more than one group and including variation of parameter values through the application of hierarchical priors.

Monitoring the distribution, abundance and demography of species is vital to ensure that conservation efforts are appropriate and effective. Monitoring enables evaluation of responses to natural or human disturbance, highlights the need for management interventions and enables these interventions to be assessed and refined. The methods used largely depend on the specific aim of monitoring and behaviour of the target species, as well as the time and spatial scale that monitoring is required to cover. The European pine marten (Martes martes) is one of few remaining mammalian predators native to the UK. Since persecution in the early 19th century resulted in their near extinction, pine martens have recovered part of their former range in Scotland. Their recent recovery and an overlap in territory with vulnerable prey species such as the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) make the collection of accurate baseline data and subsequent monitoring of population trends vital for conservation efforts. Faecal counts have traditionally been used to provide a relative measure of population density for pine marten. In most cases, absolute measures of population density require individual identification. Non-invasive genotyping can provide this information but the quality of DNA from these samples is often poor. Here, the process is refined for pine marten faeces (scats) and hair samples. DNA degradation increased significantly for scats exposed to rainfall, with the rate of DNA amplification success reduced by 38% over a 16 day period. Success rates for hair samples were higher when more hair follicles were included in the analysis. Population densities were estimated for three forests in Scotland using a robust combination of non-invasive genotyping of hair samples and spatially explicit capture recapture modelling. Population density estimates of 0.07 (95% CI 0.03 - 0.16) to 0.38 km-2 (95% CI 0.11 - 1.07) were obtained which are within the range of previous estimates for forests elsewhere in Scotland. The first attempt to quantify the relationship between traditional scat counts and home range size was then conducted; a significant negative correlation exists but only when population density is relatively low. Previous studies suggest that pine martens in Western Europe are less forest dependent than those in Eastern Europe. Results from this thesis support this, with populations at the highest density found at sites with intermediate forest cover. This tolerance of lower forest cover is also apparent in the diet. Despite a preference for Myodes voles in populations in Eastern Europe, those in Western Europe show a strong preference for Microtus voles as well as a higher level of frugivory. We assess the autumn diet of four populations in Scotland assess the effect of forest cover and sex on the diet. There was no evidence of differential consumption of Microtus voles or birds between the sexes. Our analysis shows that frugivory is influenced by forest fragmentation, with a 5-fold increase in the occurrence of fruit (from 2% to 10%) as forest cover increased from 4% to 47%. Diversionary feeding has been suggested as a management technique to reduce the depredation of capercaillie by pine martens. This thesis presents the first attempt to quantify the success and cost-efficacy of diversionary feeding for a range of problems (crop damage, threatened safety, livestock depredation) across 30 experimental trials. The strategy proved more effective when targeted towards food-limited populations, and when aiming to alleviate habitat damage or risks to human safety rather than depredation. A novel decision-making framework was developed to aid managers with the initial planning of the strategy and its subsequent implementation within an adaptive format. Further to this, the feasibility of using diversionary feeding with a view to reduce the depredation of capercaillie by pine martens was assessed. Questionnaire responses were collected from people who have provided food for pine martens throughout Scotland. A positive reaction to food was observed, with 58% of respondents reporting that initial visits occurred within one week of placement and 46% reporting that subsequent visits were received daily. These results suggest that diversionary feeding may be a viable option for pine marten management, although testing of its impact on capercaillie productivity would be required.

Increased afforestation and protective legislation in the latter half of the 20th Century allowed the British pine marten Martes martes population to recover from near extinction. Although still largely confined to northern Scotland, the marten population is expanding its size and range by utlising coniferous plantation forests which have become increasingly available. However, little is known about the marten’s ecology in plantation forestry, and less about how they may adapt to changing silvicultural trends. This study investigated aspects of pine marten ecology within Morangie forest, a managed plantation in NE Scotland, with the ultimate aim of formulating management guidelines for modern plantation forests. During the course of the study 11 pine marten were radiotracked and their home ranges mapped to examine marten-habitat associations at several spatial scales. Compositional analysis of habitat based on dominant vegetation type showed that martens established their home ranges in areas dominated by mature forest, whilst showing relative avoidance for open heath moor and grazed pasture. Within home ranges, foraging martens utilised patches of graminoid vegetation, such as those typically associated with Microtus voles, in areas with little or no tree canopy cover. These findings provide unequivocal evidence that fine-scale patches of non-forested habitat provide crucial foraging resources for marten, and therefore ought to be provisioned for in forest management plans. To assist the implementation of these requirements in forest planning, a model was developed to predict the fine scale distribution of Microtus-rich foraging habitat for marten using GIS-based habitat variables that are routinely available to forest managers: topographic wetness index, stand tree height and stand basal area. Management recommendations of ways to improve wind-firm plantation forests as habitats for pine marten are provided. To augment the investigation of marten spatial ecology, the diet of martens was examined seasonally through the analysis of contents from c. 2450 scats, 86 % of which were genetically identified as being pine marten in origin. Marten diets displayed marked seasonality, but small mammals, berries and small birds were the principal foods consumed based on both frequency of occurrence and estimated weight of biomass ingested. Comparison of the relative composition of small mammal species in the diet with those available in the environment revealed that marten displayed an indisputable preference for Microtus voles. Such habits demonstrate that the niche of Scottish martens has diverged from those in mainland populations which predominantly prey upon Clethrionomys voles. A comparison of the marten’s winter diet with those found in studies at similar latitudes (58°N) demonstrated that the Scottish diet was more similar to diets at more southerly latitudes as they contained more fruit and fewer large mammals than typically boreal diets. Investigation of inter-annual variation of the marten’s spring diet from five successive years revealed that Microtus were consistently the most important prey species in the diet each year. Indirect evidence of the relative abundance of Microtus suggested that Microtus populations were non-cyclic. Findings are discussed with reference to the unique ecological circumstances confronting marten in the Scotland; typical of insular populations the UK has a depauperate native fauna in comparison with mainland Europe, in addition to this, mild climatic conditions, particularly over winter, and a historically fragmented landscape appear to have allowed the niche of the Scottish marten to diverge from that considered typical elsewhere in its range. The Scottish marten is dependent on both forested and open habitats, and is both a Microtus specialist and trophic generalist.