{"id":1104,"date":"2017-10-27T10:03:45","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T10:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/?p=1104"},"modified":"2017-10-27T10:03:45","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T10:03:45","slug":"beths-project-expanding-the-knowledge-base-for-sand-lizards-lacerta-agilis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/2017\/10\/27\/beths-project-expanding-the-knowledge-base-for-sand-lizards-lacerta-agilis\/","title":{"rendered":"Beth’s Project – Expanding the knowledge base for sand lizards (Lacerta agilis)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello, Beth here. I cannot believe we have come to the end of the course! It has all gone very quickly but we have learnt so much along the way. I really cannot thank everyone at Marwell Wildlife and the University of Southampton enough for the support and invaluable guidance they have given me over the past year.<\/p>\n

As a research Masters, the bulk of our year was spent conducting our own research projects. I stayed in the UK for mine and studied sand lizards (Lacerta agilis<\/em>). This species of lizard is one of the UK\u2019s rarest reptiles with small fragmented populations isolated to a few heathland and coastal dune systems in the south and northwestern regions of the UK. Marwell has been part of a collaborative initiative aiming to conserve this wonderful species for quarter of a century. You can read more about the conservation work here https:\/\/www.arc-trust.org\/news\/25-years-of-saving-sand-lizard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>

Two males fighting<\/p><\/div>\n

My research project focused on expanding the current knowledge of the behaviour of this very cryptic and elusive species. I was particularly keen to examine whether individuals within a population had different \u2018personalities\u2019. It is thought that by understanding behaviour, we can best inform management decisions regarding the captive breeding and reintroduction initiative. More broadly, it will enable a more thorough understanding of the life history consequences of behaviour and also the population\u2019s\u00a0ability to adapt to changing environments. This adaptability is imperative to species survival in the 21st<\/sup> century due to the threats of climate change and other anthropogenic (human) activities.<\/p>\n

\"Individual<\/a>

Individual ‘number 6’ – the underdog<\/p><\/div>\n

During April, May and June I spent in excess of 120 hours studying the captive population held at Marwell Zoo. I was able to identify each individual based on their unique patterning, in the same way that humans have individual fingerprints. I quickly gained a favourite (I know I know, you shouldn\u2019t have favourites); individual \u2018number 6\u2019 a stunning lime green male who was a bit of an outcast to begin with but proved a big hit with the ladies later on in the season, a true underdog success story! Aside from the terrible tan lines, I absolutely loved my observation period and found gaining an in-depth view into the lives of my lizard friends fascinating.<\/p>\n

\"Juvenile<\/a>

Juvenile just before it was released at Eelmoor Marsh<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Me<\/a>

Me conducting behavioural observations<\/p><\/div>\n

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I was also lucky enough to take part in the release of 80 juveniles at Eelmoor Marsh (SSSI). This was a fantastic experience and it was great to see what my research is contributing to. For those who are interested you can watch a video about the release here https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/marwellwildlife\/videos\/10154228074372168\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Juvenile<\/a>

Juvenile settling in at Eelmoor Marsh<\/p><\/div>\n

The whole experience has given me a wonderful insight into what conducting research in wildlife conservation involves and has made me confident that this is the career path for me. I am excited to see what the future holds!<\/span><\/p>\n

Good luck to the next group of students, I cannot wait to hear what you all get up to!<\/p>\n

— Beth<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello, Beth here. I cannot believe we have come to the end of the course! It has all gone very quickly but we have learnt so much along the way. I really cannot thank everyone at Marwell Wildlife and the University of Southampton enough for the support and invaluable guidance they have given me over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99577,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[690761,328889],"tags":[468,134649,690759,69,690767],"class_list":["post-1104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-16-17-cohort","category-research-projects","tag-behaviour","tag-conservation","tag-reptiles","tag-research","tag-sand-lizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1130,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions\/1130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wildlifeconservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}