Postgraduate opportunities

To assess how far reintroduced Pine Hoverflies will disperse from their release sites in the Cairngorms, through both experimental field study at the RSPB's Abernethy nature reserve and data analysis for sites across Strathspey. Plus identifying potential areas for them to colonise through habitat mapping. 

The Pine Hoverfly is one of the UK's most threatened species. It’s restricted to the Caledonian pinewoods in the Scottish Highlands, with the remnant population confined to one indigenous site. Conservation efforts to expand its population, made by a long-standing partnership of organisations, are concentrating on supplementation of its breeding habitat using cut stumps and troughs filled with wood chip to mimic pine heart-rot, plus captive breeding and translocation.  
 
A previous PhD study investigated the rates of development of larvae and different types of substrate used within the stumps/troughs (Rotheray EL et al. 2015. Ecological Entomology, DOI: 10.1111/een.12269).  

Since 2021, Pine Hoverfly larvae and adults have been released into four sites, including two sites at the RSPB’s Abernethy reserve, and the number of larvae have been monitored annually. The ultimate aim is to establish self-sustaining populations that are not dependent on these interventions and exist within natural rot-holes in mature pines. To get to this point we wish to optimise the surrogate breeding habitat we are providing and this study should help us do this.  

The aims are to: 

1. analyse the existing long-term data set of occupied stumps and troughs, including ones colonised naturally by the reintroduced hoverflies, to assess likely dispersal distances;

2. map suitable habitat within the potential dispersal range to establish the level of connectivity between populations (eg recording presence of forage plants, mature pine trees and any natural heart rot observed);

3. test dispersal distances by setting up a trial of cut stumps at varying distances from release sites and seeing which ones are used by breeding females.  

This would involve larval surveys in September and October – if this timing doesn't work the survey data can be made available.  
 
The dispersal experiment could be carried out at the RSPB's Abernethy nature reserve and use similar methods to that for the Aspen Hoverfly, Hammerschmidtia ferruginea – see Rotheray E L et al. (2014) Journal of Insect Conservation DOI 10.1007/s10841-014-9627-7.

We want to better understand the distribution and behaviour of predators at Inishcreenry to inform our management of the reserve.

We have recently acquired the Inishcreenry reserve in Fermanagh, a 60-hectare wetland site which supports breeding waders.  

We have resource to install predator fencing, and may also have the ability to carry out vertebrate control in order to boost the number of breeding waders. However, we first want to better understand which predators are present on the reserve, in what densities, and how they are distributed and using the reserve, in order to ensure that we put the available resources to the best possible use. 

1. Gathering of data on predator distribution and abundance via scat transects, camera traps and observation. 
2. Surveying breeding waders using O'Brien and Smith methodology.  
3. Plotting of data using GIS.  
4. Statistical analysis of data to determine trends. 

The Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest research working group is also advertising ideas for MSc projects relating to temperate rainforest in Scotland.

You can find them listed here.

The RSPB is a part of the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, a voluntary partnership of organisations with a shared interest in helping Scotland’s rainforest to thrive once again. Saving Scotland’s Rainforest is a programme led by the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest to protect and restore this globally important habitat. 

Song Thrushes have undergone large declines on UK farmland but the causes are largely unknown. This project will utilise a rich demographic dataset (nest records, ring resightings, breeding surveys) collected from stable and declining populations to understand the drivers of decline.

The UK population of Song Thrushes declined by approximately 60% between 1975 and 1995. Analyses of national demographic data have suggested the decline may have been driven by mortality at the post-fledging and adult stages (Robinson et al. 2014, Methods in Ecology and Evolution).  

There is uncertainty as to the importance of the number of nesting attempts and the environmental drivers of decline.   

During the period 1995–2000 the RSPB undertook a detailed comparative demographic field study of Song Thrushes in two contrasting populations. One on mixed farmland in Sussex was stable and the other on arable farmland in Essex was rapidly declining. In both study areas standardised methods were employed to measure nesting success, the number of nesting attempts and post fledging survival (from ring resightings).  

There are also many casual resightings of colour-ringed thrushes that may allow the estimation of adult and first-year survival. Various covariate data are available that might explain spatial and temporal demographic variation including chick biometrics and diet, local habitat composition and quality, predator abundance and local weather.

This rich dataset has never been fully analysed and has the potential to provide detailed demographic insights into the effects of land use intensity on a widespread declining species. The main research questions are:  

1. What are the main demographic drivers of population change? 
2. Which environmental factors best explain demographic variation? 

The data may be suitable for the application of Bayesian Integrated Population Models (IPMs) as proposed by Kery and Schaub (Bayesian Population Analysis using WinBUGS, 2012). 

Preliminary analyses suggest thrushes in the declining population made fewer nesting attempts (an aspect of demography not measured by national schemes) and consequently had lower productivity than the stable population. We expect the data are strong enough to support a publication in a peer-reviewed international journal. 

Investigate the thermal niches of endangered endemic species across UK Overseas Territories. Using downscaled climate models, the study will assess projected changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea level, to predict potential habitat shifts and vulnerability of priority species under future climate scenarios. 

The UK Overseas Territories are home to around 90% of the UK’s biodiversity, including a huge range of rare and unique species, with some found nowhere else in the world. However most of the UKOTs are extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts, yet our understanding of how future climate change will impact endemic threatened species is limited.

This MSc project will assess the potential impacts of climate change on endangered endemic species within the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs), focusing on projected shifts in habitat suitability under future climate scenarios.  

Using high-resolution downscaled climate models and sea level rise predictions, the study will evaluate how changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea level, may alter the thermal and ecological niches of selected species.  

The project will focus on one or two priority species, such as representatives from St Helena and the Caribbean, where sufficient ecological and climatic data are available.  

By integrating species distribution data, local weather station records, and habitat maps, the student will model potential changes in suitable habitat and explore the likelihood of elevational or spatial range shifts in response to warming and drying trends.  

This desk-based research will employ GIS and climate modelling tools to identify key areas of vulnerability and resilience. The results will contribute to understanding how climate change may threaten biodiversity in the UKOTs and inform conservation planning for priority species.  

The project is suitable for a student interested in climate modelling, biogeography, and conservation, ideally under supervision from a researcher experienced in climate data analysis. 

The population status of Crested Tits in Scotland is poorly known. This project will make use of recent survey data to produce updated estimates of population size and change since the 1990s. 

The Crested Tit is a charismatic songbird of conifer and mixed woodlands. Although widespread across much of Europe, Crested Tits in the UK are restricted to the pinewoods of northern Scotland.  

The best estimate of population size dates from a survey in the mid-1990s and is consequently out of date. The species’ limited range means that it is too scarce to be monitored by the annual Breeding Bird Survey.  

Increases in distribution recorded by the 2007–11 Bird Atlas may in part be due to improved observer effort. More recent data on Crested Tit numbers were collected during the last two national Capercaillie surveys. However, these surveys used a stratification for Capercaillie and sampled only part of the Crested Tit’s distribution.  

Using these survey data, the project will calculate updated estimates of Crested Tit density and abundance within the area of overlap and explore the potential for deriving range-wide estimates of population size. 

 Using datasets of Crested Tit counts recorded on line transect surveys during the winters of 2015/16 and 2021/22, together with multicovariate distance sampling analyses, the student will calculate estimates of density accounting for incomplete detection. Analyses will explore environmental and habitat covariates of detectability and density.  

GIS layers will be used to calculate the area and composition of woodlands within the Crested Tit’s distribution and that sampled during the 2015/16 and 2021/22 surveys. Estimates of abundance will be adjusted to account for incomplete counts of group sizes. 

The Aspen Hoverfly, Hammerschmidtia ferruginea, has a very limited population distribution. It is present at only eight sites in Strathspey, most of which are likely to be genetically isolated from each other.  

In an attempt to restore it to its historic range, which included Deeside, a trial translocation of eight larvae from two sites was carried out in 2019. Despite the small number of founders, this population has persisted.  

Before supplementation is carried out it is important to know what level of genetic diversity exists within the Strathspey populations. It also provides an opportunity to study the development of a new population from a small number of founders.

The Aspen Hoverfly is one of the UK's most threatened species, restricted to the mature Aspen woodland in the Scottish Highlands where it breeds in the rotting cambium of large decaying Aspen trees (see Rotheray et al. 2009.  Journal of Insect Conservation 13, 569–574).  

Conservation efforts to expand its population, made by a long-standing partnership of organisations, are concentrating on maintaining a continuous supply of suitable breeding habitat and restoring it to its former range in Deeside, through translocation.  

A previous Masters study investigated dispersal distances and found a maximum of 5km, which suggests that many of the populations are likely to be isolated.  

A study of its genetics would inform just how genetically isolated these populations are and whether they have undergone a bottleneck. It would also inform further translocation and supplementation methods.