Population monitoring is important for conservation management but difficult to achieve for rare, cryptic species. Reliable information about the Critically Endangered Scottish wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris is lacking because of difficulties in morphological and genetic identification, resulting from extensive hybridization with feral domestic cats Felis catus. We carried out camera-trap surveys in the Cairngorms National Park, UK, to examine the feasibility of camera trapping, combined with a pelage identification method, to monitor Scottish wildcats. Camera trapping detected individually identifiable wildcats. Of 13 individual wild-living cats, four scored as wildcats based on pelage characters and the rest were wildcat × domestic cat hybrids. Spatially explicit capture–recapture density estimation methods generated a density of wild-living cats (wildcats and hybrids) of 68.17 ± SE 9.47 per 100 km2. The impact of reducing trapping-grid size, camera-trap numbers and survey length on density estimates was investigated using spatially explicit capture–recapture models. Our findings indicate camera trapping is more effective for monitoring wildcats than other methods currently used and capture success could be increased by using bait, placing camera stations ⩽ 1.5 km apart, increasing the number of camera stations, and surveying for 60–70 days. This study shows that camera trapping is effective for confirming the presence of the wildcat in potential target areas for conservation management.

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Aim European wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris (Schreber, 1775) populations are suffering considerable threats, making conservation action a priority. In Scotland, the establishment of Special Areas of Wildcat Conservation (SAWC) have been recommended; however, few studies have addressed wildcat ecological requirements in this region. Our goal was to identify the environmental determinants limiting wildcat occurrence at a broad scale in Scotland.Location Scotland, Europe.Methods We examined data from the recent Scottish wildcat survey (2006)(2007)(2008) and the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Gateway. Presence and pseudo-absence data from 71 sampling units (10 km 9 10 km) were used to generate models explaining probable wildcat occurrence. Models were built based on three pre-established hypotheses using generalized linear models (GLM-Logit).Results European rabbit presence, high rodent diversity and the prevalence of large grassland areas were positively associated with probable wildcat occurrence. Heather moorland, sampling units with few grassland patches or secondary watercourses and higher elevation ranges were associated with probable wildcat absence. We found no evidence that forested areas or human disturbance were influential.Main conclusions Our results suggest that wildcats may benefit from heterogeneity within the landscape matrix, reinforcing the idea that the wildcat is not primarily a forest species (as has traditionally been inferred from studies of the species elsewhere). We conclude that less mountainous areas, with a diverse landscape including woodland and grassland supporting rabbits and a diversity of small rodents are a priority for wildcat conservation efforts.

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A plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 (WT) protects a number of crop plant species from damping-off caused by Pythium ultimum. A genetically modified, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) producing variant, 23.10, carries on its chromosome a single copy of phzABCDEFG, under the control of the Ptac constitutive promoter. The genetically modified biological control agent (GM-BCA), 23.10, has improved biocontrol activity when compared to wild type SBW25, and can effectively suppress Pythium spp. present at up to 100 times normal field infestations. GM-BCA inocula establish high population densities which persist well in the phytosphere of several crop plants including pea, wheat and sugar beet, effectively suppressed infection and promoted increase in total plant biomass. It also has an improved spectrum of activity over other plant phytopathogens such as Fusarium spp. Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, Phytophtora cinnamomi and Rhizoctonia solani. However in developing BCAs and in particular GM BCAs it is important to determine whether their use has any adverse effect in the environment. Any observed changes following inoculation with wild type BCA or GM BCA in microbial diversity (bacteria and fungi) were negligible when assessed by either quantitive selective plate count methods (CFU/g) or culture independent molecular assays (SSU rRNA based PCR-DGGE). Rhizosphere community diversity profiles (DGGE) in infected plants in the presence of inocula were highly similar to disease free systems. Histological assessment of the impact of inocula on established functional mycorrhizae associations were conducted on cores collected from an established field margin grassland pasture. No adverse impact on mycorrhizal colonization and root infection were recorded after addition of WT or GM-BCA bacterial inocula as a soil drench. This approach and the related culturable and culture independent methods have recorded only a minor, transient perturbation to microbial communities, but as far as we are aware this is the first direct demonstration that a functional, AFC producing GMM also has only a transient impact on mycorrhizal associations in established plant communities. In all instances studied the plant species, plant stage of development and disease, damping-off, had a greater impact on changes in rhizosphere diversity than the presence of an introduced GM bacterial inocula.

The horizontal transfer and effects on host fitness of a neutral gene cassette inserted into three different genomic loci of a plant-colonizing pseudomonad was assessed in a model ecosystem. The KX reporter cassette (kanamycin resistance, aph, and catechol 2, 3, dioxygenase, xylE) was introduced on the disarmed transposon mini-Tn5 into: (I) the chromosome of a spontaneous rifampicin resistant mutant Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25R; (II) the chromosome of SBW25R in the presence of a naturally occurring lysogenic-phage (phage Phi101); and (III) a naturally occurring plasmid pQBR11 (330 kbp, tra+, Hgr) introduced into SBW25R. These bacteria were applied to Stellaria media (chickweed) plants as seed dressings [c. 5 x 104 colony-forming units (cfu)/seed] and the seedlings planted in 16 microcosm chambers containing model plant and animal communities. Gene transfer to pseudomonads in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere was found only in the plasmid treatment (III). Bacteria in the phage treatment (II) initially declined in density and free phage was detected, but populations partly recovered as the plants matured. Surprisingly, bacteria in the chromosome insertion treatment (I) consistently achieved higher population densities than the unmanipulated control and other treatments. Plasmids were acquired from indigenous bacterial populations in the control and chromosome insertion treatments. Plasmid acquisition, plasmid transfer from inocula and selection for plasmid carrying inocula coincided with plant maturation.

A species’ habitat niche width informs its position on the generalist–specialist continuum, which is central to life‐history theory and crucial to conservation planning. However, assessments of niche width are often based on local‐scale studies or qualitative descriptions rather than broad, quantitative assessments conducted in heterogeneous landscapes. Here, we show how broad‐scale, hierarchical occupancy models can clarify a species’ niche width and degree of habitat specialism by evaluating the woodland‐specialist classification of the European pine marten Martes martes. We deployed 526 camera‐trap stations at 27 sites throughout a vast extent (~50 000 km2) in Scotland and modeled pine marten occupancy as a function of habitat characteristics using a hierarchical Bayesian analysis. Our model was flexible to trap happiness due to baiting at camera traps and accounted for spatial autocorrelation among and imperfect detection at camera‐trap stations. We detected a positive association between pine marten occupancy probability and wooded habitats. However, pine marten occupancy probability was also high in numerous non‐wooded habitats, including agricultural land, heather and heather grassland, semi‐natural grassland and areas near anthropogenic structures. Our study is the first to record high pine marten occupancy in open habitats at broad spatial scales and thereby corroborates recent smaller scale indications that pine martens are more of a habitat generalist than previously thought. Our results guide ongoing conservation efforts by identifying that pine martens are not strict woodland specialists, but rather inhabit a mosaic of habitat types in the landscape. More broadly, our case study exemplifies how coupling hierarchical occupancy models with large‐scale experimental designs can clarify a species’ niche width and associated position on the generalist–specialist continuum.

Aim In the light of human‐induced rapid environmental change (HIREC), populations are exposed to ever‐greater bioclimatic stress at the edge of a species’ historic range. The distribution dynamics of European badgers (Meles meles) at their southern edge are linked tightly to climatic variability. We contribute critical data on how climatic context and local factors determine site occupancy in a northern‐range population. Location Eleven study areas (averaging ~21.3 km2) spread over ~50,000 km2 in Northern Scotland. Methods While accounting for heterogeneous detectability, we applied single‐season occupancy models to broad‐scale camera‐trapping data (168 stations) to evaluate how Autumn–Winter weather conditions interact with land‐cover type (including agricultural land) and human disturbance to determine badger occupancy. Results Mean minimum daily winter temperature and elevation influenced inter‐site occupancy. When clustering study areas into two distinct topo‐climatic types, badger occupancy was associated with agriculture in areas with lower mean minimum winter temperatures (<0.3°C) at higher elevation (>246 m). In areas with higher mean minimum winter temperature (>1.2°C) at lower elevation (<133 m), badgers selected sites further away from human infrastructures (settlements and main roads). Climatic factors and human disturbance interact in intricate, context‐dependent patterns to determine badger site occupancy. Main Conclusions The UKCP09 Medium Emissions Scenario projects a winter mean minimum temperature increase of between 1 and 3°C (central estimate) for Northern Scotland by the 2050s. Although warmer weather should benefit badger occupancy, this may be counteracted by up to a predicted 5% human population increase in the Scottish highlands, by 2037, which is likely to disturb badgers. We show that even in instances where species’ regional responses to climate change are positive, these effects can be neutralized by other anthropogenic pressures. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence advocating that interactive effects should be taken into account when planning conservation management.