Monitoring biodiversity on MMU campus

Posted by Simon Valle, Kosta Tzoulas and Stu

As part of its award-winning environmental policy, MMU has committed to enhancing biodiversity on its estate. A first series of exploratory 'bioblitzes' were done by staff, students and local experts in 2015 on the Cheshire Campus and in Ryebank Fields - these yielded very interesting data on the surprising number of species that can live so close to busy urban settlements. This year, we started our monitoring programme, again with the help of consultants at The Environment Partnership and students on the MMU Futures programme. 

Students monitor aquatic plants and invertebrates in the newly created wetland at Birley Fields (Photo: Stu)

Our first step was to set up 20 x 20 m monitoring plots, placed at key places within the All Saints, Birley Fields and MMU Cheshire campuses. We then used standardised methods to record a range of different animal and plant groups within the plots - trees and bushes, terrestrial and aquatic plants, invertebrates such as Ladybirds, lichens, birds, reptiles and mammals). These counts will form the basis of long-term monitoring of biodiversity levels.

Badgers were 'caught' on several camera traps at the MMU Cheshire campus.

Last year's bioblitz at MMU Cheshire Campus suggested the presence of a badger set, as well as signs of water vole presence (feeding remains, latrines and burrows). In order to confirm this information a number of camera traps were strategically placed as part of this year’s survey effort. Although all evidence suggests that the set may not be in use, the presence of badgers has been documented in several areas of the campus.
 
Camera traps have proved useful to document the presence of other species otherwise difficult to survey (e.g. fox), whereas for more numerous species like rabbits and grey squirrels they provide a useful index of occurrence (i.e. encounter rate) that can be used as a proxy their occurrence over the years. The presence of kingfishers was confirmed along the wetland habitats of MMU Cheshire Campus.
 

Kingfisher, a fantastic bird to have on MMU's estate (Photo: Laitche)

A relatively new UK species of bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum, was recorded both on Birley Fields and Crewe campuses. First recorded in Britain in 2001, this species has been, and still is, rapidly colonising the UK. In Manchester, moth specialist Dr Emma Coulthard has found over 20 individuals of the Diamond-back Moth (Plutella xylostella) which is a migratory species and can come in huge numbers depending on the weather events in the Mediterranean. Vegetation surveys in the Birley Fields showed that, although the campus hosts a limited number of species, it has an impressive structural and micro-habitat variety for an urban environment.

Sampling invertebrates in All Saints Park with the help of Paul Chipman and a ladder (Photo: Stu)

We thank our friends from The Environment Partnership (TEP), MMU staff, MMU's Environment Team for making it possible for us to set up a scientifically rigorous survey framework which will be used in the years to come to monitor species and inform management decisions across MMU's estate.