– Tim Birkhead: The Value of Long-Term Monitoring and Surveillance

Professor Tim Birkhead of Sheffield University has studied the long-term population of guillemots on Skomer Island since 1972. This work has generated the necessary data to understand the population dynamics of this species.

Guillemots across much of their geographic range are in decline because of climate change and deteriorating food resources. The long-term study on Skomer has created a large database that can allow future researchers to assess and interpret future changes in the guillemot population.

Equally important to the guillemot story itself is the insight to be gained from the Skomer guillemot study that is relevant to other long-term monitoring programmes. The MHWESG has undertaken surveillance of the environmental quality of the Milford Haven Waterway for the last 25 years, and potentially has a lot to gain. It is for this reason that the MHWESG extended an invitation to Professor Birkhead to capture this insight in this review.

Key messages are that ultimately, data must inspire confidence among the end users. For this to happen, there is an absolute need for more scientific rigour and reproducibility in long-term monitoring studies. Monitoring also needs to be better valued as a component of mainstream science, particularly in these times of changing climate, increased human impacts and risk to the natural world. 

The full report is available for download here.