Changes in the Fauna

Abstract A high proportion of the known invertebrate fauna of Britain has been recorded within the Wytham Estate at some time or other; recent collections include samples for genome sequencing in the Darwin Tree of Life project. Long-term monitoring of winter moth populations has continued. New studies have focussed on pollinators and below-ground invertebrates. Losses of species over the last century are often associated with changes in land management, gains with the spread north of species, apparently as a result of climate change. While some bird species such as nightingales have declined, raptors and some wetland species have increased. Small mammal research and bat studies have benefitted from the use of new technologies to allow studies of individuals’ movements, revealing that the research itself can alter the behaviour of the animals