ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY THE BEHAVIOUR OF FREE-ROAMING HERDS OF HIGHLAND CATTLE AND KONIK POLSKI AT WICKEN FEN NATURE RESERVE. CAROL LAIDLAW A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Master of Philosophy Submitted September 2018 Acknowledgements Firstly, and with much gratitude, my sincerest thanks go to my first supervisor, Dr. Dawn Hawkins, for her support, expertise and statistical skill. I owe a debt of gratitude also to my second supervisor, Dr. Olivia Norfolk, who helped to order my harems. Thanks are additionally due to Dr. Nancy Harrison, Dr. Francine Hughes and Dr. Mark Kennedy. Sincere thanks go to the National Trust for providing the funding to complete this research, and to Jon Megginson for thinking of the opportunity. Especial thanks to my managers and colleagues at Wicken Fen NNR, who provided me with the time and support to conduct this research. Appreciative thanks go to Martin Lester, who has kept the faith, provided advice, eaten cake and supplied maps without hesitation. Collecting the data, and completing this thesis, involved the help and support of many other people along the way. I am extremely grateful to Lizzie Dale and Maddie Downes, for many days spent out in the field as my recording assistants. Warm thanks to those who gave of their time proof-reading and editing; Peter Green, Hugh Laidlaw, Julie Zac, but most especially Gerrard Smallwood. I thank Dr. Peter Carey, Owen Mountford, and Dr. Stuart Warrington for guidance and information on species lists, habitat maps and the flora associated with the fen. Thanks also to those provided information on their grazing herds and systems; Adrian Barnett, Vicki Breakell, Gjis Kirsjens, Henri Kerkdijk-Otten, Kate Lemon, Esther Linnartz, Richard Mason, Andy Needle, Pete Short, and David Tallentire. Thanks go to John Hughes and Luke Underwood for providing cheerful support and inspirational quotes. Lastly, a tip of the hat to the cattle and horses; conservation grazers, ecosystem engineers, escape artists, research subjects and awkward hairy articles. Life, and the completion of this research, would not have been quite as interesting without them. This research was funded by the National Trust and Waste Recycling Environmental (Grant name and number; Wicken Fen Vision Habitat Creation, 08719-BAF10). ii ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY THE BEHAVIOUR OF FREE-ROAMING HERDS OF HIGHLAND CATTLE AND KONIK POLSKI AT WICKEN FEN NATURE RESERVE. CAROL LAIDLAW September 2018 Semi-feral or domestic livestock are often utilised by nature reserve managers in order to maintain or increase the biodiversity of a particular habitat; a technique known as conservation grazing management. This study investigated the maintenance behaviour, space use and social organisation of free-roaming Highland cattle and Konik polski (horses) introduced to Wicken Fen Nature Reserve in 2003 as part of the ‘Wicken Fen Vision’: a landscape scale habitat creation project in the East Anglian Fens. It provides the first description of the behaviour of large herbivores at this important site and was conducted to improve understanding of grazing animals in conservation management. Data were collected by scan sampling at 15 minute intervals over a total period of 162 non- consecutive hours in 2011. Scan sampling of individuals was used to record activity, nearest neighbour and sub-area location of three study groups (mixed sex cattle, female cattle and horses). Null hypothesis significance tests (NHSTs) and the generalized linear model were used on activity and location data to assess variation across individuals, time and space. Social network analysis and NHSTs were used on the nearest neighbour data to assess social structure and relationships. Variation in the proportion of scans spent in different activities was evident between sexes for cattle but not horses and between age categories for horses but not cattle, although data constraints may explain the latter. Variation in the proportion of scans spent in different activities varied within day and between seasons for all groups. The relative use of sub- areas also differed by season for all groups but there was only an association between sub- area and activity for the mixed cattle group. The variation in activity and space use between individuals and across seasons indicates that the outcome of conservation grazing is likely to be dependent on herd composition and timing. The cattle had a uniform, stable social network with strong ties between kin. The horse herds contained sub-groups centred on adult individuals with long term stable associations, with strong ties between mother and recent offspring and unrelated adults. This study demonstrates that behavioural data on free-roaming grazers can be effectively collected and analysed, using traditional and emerging statistical techniques, to describe patterns of variation relevant to the ethical use of large herbivores in conservation management. It has also generated questions, and provided insights for protocols, for future research exploring causal factors in variation and linking behaviour to specific ecological outcomes. Keywords: landscape scale; free-roaming; Highland cattle; Konik polski; social network analysis. iii Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ iii Contents .................................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures: ...................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables............................................................................................................................ x Chapter One ............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Conservation context ...................................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 Challenges ................................................................................................................ 2 1.2.2 Landscape-scale conservation.................................................................................. 3 1.2.3 Grazing as a conservation tool ................................................................................. 3 1.2.4 Re-wilding ............................................................................................................... 4 1.3 The Wicken Fen Vision .................................................................................................. 5 1.4 The study species ............................................................................................................ 6 1.4.1 Highland cattle ......................................................................................................... 7 1.4.2 Konik polski ............................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Thesis aims, objectives and structure ............................................................................. 8 Chapter Two ........................................................................................................................... 10 Description of the study site and grazing herds at Wicken Fen ............................................. 10 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 10 2.2 The research site ........................................................................................................... 10 2.3 The research areas ........................................................................................................ 13 2.3.1 Descriptions of Areas 1 and 2 ................................................................................ 16 2.3.2 Boundaries and access ........................................................................................... 18 2.3.3 Hydrology .............................................................................................................. 18 iv 2.3.4 Soils ....................................................................................................................... 21 2.3.5 Vegetative profiles ................................................................................................. 21 2.4 The animals, a general overview .................................................................................. 22 2.4.1 Introduction and integration of the cattle and horses to Wicken Fen Nature Reserve............................................................................................................................ 23 2.4.2 Welfare and management ...................................................................................... 24 2.5 Methods .......................................................................................................................