Posts Tagged ‘european protected species licence’

National Vegetation Classification survey in Cheshire

Monday, August 15th, 2011

UES have recently completed a National Vegetation Classification (NVC) survey of a woodland in Cheshire in order to inform the client of any potential impacts their development would have on species on site.

Canopy and field layer

To survey the woodland canopy, 50 x 50 metre quadrats were used and all trees within those quadrats were recorded and assigned a frequency score. To survey the field and ground layer, a 2 x 2 metre quadrat was chosen and again all plants recorded and given a frequency score.

UES concluded that the woodland was a National Vegetation Classification community W10 Quercus robur – Pteridium aquilinum – Rubus fruticosus woodland typical sub-community, which is common throughout England. Field layer growth has been restricted by the dense tree canopy and so it is unlikely that any increased activity within the woodland as a result of the client will have any negative effect.

UES suggested that management of this woodland should be focussed on creating open areas by the removal of some of the Sycamore trees and non-native species such as Rhododendron. The removal of Sycamore will thin out the canopy increasing the light reaching the ground flora, which will encourage the growth of the field layer.

Water vole survey in Tarbock, Liverpool

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Tarbock Hall is a 86 hectare parcel of land west of Liverpool on which developers intend to restore the dilapidated farm buildings as luxury houses, and also create a golf course.

UES has been involved in numerous surveys on site including bat surveys, National Vegetation Classification surveys (NVC), macro invertebrate surveys, breeding bird surveys, great crested newt surveys and water vole surveys. As part of the on-going ecological management of the site additional ecological surveys and monitoring were recommended to our client, one being water vole.

UES returned this year to conduct further water vole surveys in order to monitor the local population. The results were positive as various water vole field signs were found including, latrines, feeding remains and burrows. Other notable wildlife includes a moorhen’s nest which was found within a reed bed.

Discussions are now taking place on how best to increase water vole occupancy on site by way of appropriate management of invasive and dominant vegetation, creation of additional wetland habitats and increased connectivity measures.

Extended phase 1 habitat survey for Seddon Homes in Lancashire

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

UES have completed an extended phase 1 habitat survey of a site in Lancashire in order to inform the client of any potential impacts their development would have on habitats and species.

A phase 1 habitat survey is a standard method of environmental audit. It involves categorising different habitat types and habitat features within a survey area. The information gained from the survey can be used to determine the ecological value of the site, and to direct any more specific survey work which may need to be carried out prior to the start of work, such as badger surveys, barn owl surveys, bat surveys, great crested newt surveys, dormouse surveys, water vole surveys, breeding bird surveys, hedgerow surveys and tree surveys.

Male Palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus)

Seddon Homes applied for planning permission for a new build housing scheme which was subject to a ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’ (CSH) assessment. The aim of the Code for Sustainable Homes is to encourage development on land that has a limited value to wildlife, and discourage the use of previously undeveloped land.

The site was surveyed and all species on site recorded. The development site was deemed to be of moderate ecological value due to the neutral grassland with associated mature trees and species-rich countryside hedgerows. Numerous species of birds were also recorded during the survey which could have been breeding on or local to site. Further surveys for great crested newts (GCN) were conducted due to a pond on site being identified as suitable for amphibians. Palmate newts were found on site.

It was decided that enhancement measures were required in order to secure an ecological benefit at site level and achieve the maximum number of CSH ecological credits. The client welcomed the suggestion of incorporating bat and bird boxes into the design of the new buildings, which could provide a real benefit to local bat and bird populations.

Great crested newt monitoring at Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

It’s the fourth year that United Environmental Services have monitored the ponds in Kings Cliffe following a major trapping and relocation scheme. So far this year a good number of adult great crested newts and developing great crested newt larvae have been caught in bottle traps  and pond nets and recorded whilst torching. A healthy population of other amphibians including Smooth and Palmate newts have also been recorded on the site, as well as reptile species such as slow worm and grass snake.

UES caught a particularly large female great crested newt, which was heavily pregnant whilst bottle trapping. Courtship and egg-laying normally lasts from mid-March to mid-May. Female great crested newts lay eggs individually on leaves of submerged vegetation, which she then carefully folds up into a package. After about 3 weeks the great crested newt larvae hatch out and spend the next 2 to 3 months developing into juveniles, whilst feeding on a wide variety of pond life including small crustaceans and other newt larvae.

On the hunt for orchids

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

There are 56 species of wild orchid in Britain and Ireland (out of around 25,000 known species worldwide). In the UK wild orchids can be found in a variety of natural habitats including woodland, grassland, marshes, heaths and sand dunes, as well as in managed sites such as abandoned pits and roadside verges. Each orchid species has its own blooming season, which can run from as early as April in the case of the Early-purple orchid to as late as September for the Autumn ladies tresses.

The main threats to wild orchids in the UK are habitat change and destruction. In Britain, orchids are protected by the Wildlife And Countryside Act, 1981, which states that it is an offence to uproot them unless you have permission from the land owner.

UES spotted these wild orchids whilst completing ecological surveys in Cheshire, Liverpool, and Hampshire.

Moth monitoring surveys

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

There are over 2500 species of moth in Britain. As there are so many species of moths, experts split them into two groups, the larger (or macro-) moths and the smaller (or micro-) moths.

UES has been lucky enough to spot 51 species of macro-moth so far during monitoring surveys, including the impressive Eyed hawk-moth so called due to the large and beautiful spots on each of its hind wings, and the Peppered moth whose white with black speckled patterning across the wings make it well camouflaged against lichen-covered tree trunks which it rests on during the day.

Other favourite species observed include Burnished brass, Elephant hawk, Garden tiger, Ghost, Light emerald and Lime hawk-moth.

UES contributes to the National Moth Recording Scheme (NMRS), which brings together sightings of all macro-moths across the UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands in a bid to create full ‘Britain and Ireland’ distributions for all species.

Newest member of the UES team

Monday, July 18th, 2011

UES welcomes Kathryn James as their new Graduate Ecologist. Kathryn is currently completing a MRes in Aquatic Ecology and Conservation at Swansea University, having recently completed a BSc in Zoology at Cardiff University.

“Since coming to UES my survey skills have increased dramatically; I have honed my identification skills and have learnt how to juggle a diverse and challenging workload.

I’ve enjoyed the sheer range of clients and projects I get to work on and the fact that no day is ever the same. I particularly enjoy going out on bat surveys and learning about different botanical species, which is an aspect of ecology that I had not delved into before.”

UES volunteer for the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT)

Friday, July 15th, 2011

BCT runs a number of national, annual surveys to monitor the status of bats throughout the UK. These surveys form the National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP). UES volunteers with around 3000 others to collect essential data on bat populations every year.

UES is currently completing field surveys of 3 sites in Cheshire. Each survey involves walking a triangular route in a randomly allocated 1km square on two evenings in July, to record noctule, serotine, common pipistrelle and soprano pipistrelle bat activity. UES uses several pieces of equipment during a bat survey; bat boxes which can detect the echolocation calls of bats, and the Anabat system which detects bat echolocation calls and displays them visually on a PDA screen which makes recording of the bat calls and identification of the bat species much more accurate.

The NBMP is of great importance as UK bat populations have declined considerably during the past century due to building and development works affecting roosts, and the loss of feeding habitats and flightlines.

Great crested newt Pond monitoring in Northamptonshire

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Well it’s the third year we have monitored the ponds down here in Kings cliffe following a major trapping and relocation scheme. After the expected initial dip in the great crested newt population size following the trapping scheme the population seems to be on the way back on the up.

The ponds are developing well and increasing in vegetation cover year on year and we have just completed the fifth of six monitoring surveys which were a condition of the initial Natural England European Protected Species Licence application. Interestingly we have trapped the same female great crested newt for three years running.total we saw 25 great crested newts while torching and bottle trapped a further 14 this morning as well as over 40 other amphibians.  This indicates the site has a medium population which is the same as before the start of the project.

The site has  a lot of interesting wildlife, last night we saw daubentons bats, roe dear, a very young leveret and red kites, and we are looking forward to visiting again next week.

United Environmental Services are now ISO 9001 certified

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

As a company we always strive to ensure that the services we offer are high quality and good value. We decided to work towards ISO 9001 certification to further improve the way that we operate and hopefully offer a higher quality service to our customers.

Working towards ISO 9001 certification has meant that we have had to look at every aspect of the business with a critical eye in order to identify any improvements which could be made. We have looked at every area of the business from the point of view of our customers and internally and set up a framework which will help us to continually improve the service we offer.

Some of the areas which we covered are; Customer contact and feedback, staff training, professional insurances, IT systems and data security, compliance with legislation and professional licensing.

We hope that this will enable us to continually improve the way in which we work, and enable our clients to tell us if there is anything we could be doing better.