How Understanding Predation will explore Local Knowledge

How are wild bird numbers changing and what factors are driving those changes? 

These are questions that many people are interested in and their understanding of these issues is based on a variety of influences, such as experience and observations, discussions with friends and colleagues and on the interpretation of the scientific research that has been done. Interestingly, views on how things are changing and why can vary markedly between people.

This project seeks to address these issues and explore where people’s knowledge comes from and identify where and why similarities and differences in understanding occur. Our hope is that by understanding these different interpretations we will ultimately be better placed to address the questions that people have about our wild birds.

Both local and scientific knowledge contribute to our understanding of the world and therefore to conservation decision-making processes. See our previous posts about the benefits of taking a scientific approach and the role of Local Ecological Knowledge. 

Therefore, this project involves a review of current scientific literature and a review of local knowledge held by the scores of scientific and non-scientific organisations and individuals with an interest in this subject matter (see the draft report structure for the ways in which scientific evidence and local knowledge will be used in the project). 

Local knowledge is being explored in two stages: 

• First, through an online questionnaire. Postings on the blog have already been used to help understand the issues and perspectives of stakeholders and ensure that these are explored effectively during the project by informing the design of the questionnaire. We invite you to ask anyone with a stake in these issues to complete the questionnaire. By participating, interested parties can express their values and share their knowledge. So far, we have had over 200 questionnaires (as of 27th May 2015) completed and many different views have been expressed. These views are helping us understand how different stakeholders think and feel about issues relating to predator-prey interactions. 
• Second, we are organising a series of workshops where we will discuss the findings of the questionnaire in more depth. Further information on the form that these workshops will take is available in the workshop guide.

The workshops will include discussions about: 

• The extent to which participants base their understanding on science/local knowledge, and how they decide which form of knowledge to prioritise, and the reasons for this;
• Participants’ knowledge and understanding of changes in wild bird populations in upland and lowland systems in Scotland and the reasons for these changes; and
• The conservation and management goals for predator and prey species that participants would like to see implemented (in the context of maintaining healthy populations of both), and their knowledge and understanding of different techniques for achieving such goals.

Data gathered from questionnaires and workshops will be analysed in a systematic, transparent and equitable way with an emphasis on putting different sources on an equal footing. This does not mean that all information provided will be treated equally however, since both the investigation and analytical processes will distinguish between fact-based and value-based claims. These processes will differentiate between the information that is suitable for inclusion in the final factual evidence base and that which is appropriate for characterising the value-based findings. 

Thanks to all those who have submitted posts to the blog and filled out questionnaires so far, and we look forward to meeting many of you soon at one of our upcoming workshops.

What is the difference between the blog and the questionnaire?

The blog is designed as a space where anyone interested in UP can post general comments or questions or observations. Postings on the blog have already been used to help understand the issues and perspectives of stakeholders and ensure that these are explored effectively during the project. All information submitted to the blog will be considered and used to inform the reviewing as the project continues. However, if you have a keen interest in the project and knowledge to share, please make sure you fill in a questionnaire. You will also need to fill in a questionnaire if you want to attend one of the project workshops. The questionnaire is designed carefully to capture information in a structured way, and this will allow us to use it effectively and comprehensively to inform the findings of the project (see the draft report structure for the ways in which local knowledge will be used in the project).

Should we fill in a single questionnaire for our organisation or multiple ones?

If you are a small organisation, where a few individuals can summarise their local knowledge and agree that their views are consistent, then it is fine to submit a single questionnaire. However, much of the benefit of this project will come from collating as much local knowledge from across Scotland as possible, so if you are an organisation with many staff with relevant local knowledge spread across the country, please try to encourage as many as possible to fill the questionnaire if you can. Similarly, if you are an organisation with many members and can encourage members to fill the questionnaire too, this will be very valuable and very much appreciated. Just as having larger sample sizes in natural science studies allows us to better answer questions in an unbiased way and understand variation in effects, similar issues apply when researching local knowledge. 

This does not mean that filling a questionnaire is like placing a vote (it’s not a numbers exercise) but it does mean that the more questionnaires we receive the more certain we can be that we are building a shared understanding that includes the variation that exists in local knowledge within and between different interest groups across Scotland (see the draft report structure for the ways in which local knowledge will be used in the project).

Gill Ainsworth

University of Aberdeen 

Understanding Predation - Launch of the Questionnaire

Understanding Predation

Workshop Questionnaire

Gill Ainsworth explains the importance of the questionnaire and how it will be used to gather information from a diverse range of people, and from everyone who will be attending the workshops. However, anyone is welcome to  use the questionnaire to feed information and views to the project.

In my previous post, I mentioned that the social science strand of the Understanding Predation project would include two methods of collecting stakeholder knowledge about impacts on ground nesting wild bird species: an online questionnaire and a series of workshops.

Well, the online questionnaire is now open and we invite you to have your say!

About the Questionnaire

As well as being distributed directly to Moorland Forum member organisations, the questionnaire is open to the public via this blog.

The questionnaire is designed to collect information that will complement a review of published natural science literature also being carried out as part of the project. The results will help us develop a better understanding of the diversity of knowledge and experiences that exist regarding ground nesting wild bird species in upland and lowland systems in Scotland.

The questionnaire will take around 30 minutes to complete and asks about people’s experiences and opinions of the following broad topics:

• Interest and experience of issues relating to six species of ground nesting wild birds (Black Grouse, Curlew, Golden plover, Grey Partridge, Lapwing, Oystercatcher);
• How environmental and human factors may positively or negatively impact on these wild bird species;
• How predator species may positively or negatively impact on these wild bird species; 
• Different techniques for managing predator-prey interactions; 
• Types of facts or proof used to make assessments about impacts; and
• Preferred forms of knowledge. 

Get Involved

You can access the questionnaire by clicking on this link.

A pdf version of the questionnaire can be found the Project's webpage, in case you want to preview it before completing it online.

Please also tell your colleagues (e.g. staff, members, volunteers) about this questionnaire so we can include as many diverse views as possible in the research.

Timing

Please complete the questionnaire online as soon as possible.

Provide Literature, Facts and Proof

We encourage you to include any references, facts or proof to support your questionnaire responses (e.g. documents, observations, photos). You can describe these in the questionnaire itself and e-mail or post them to me at the address below.

Also, if you have any unpublished documents (e.g. reports) that you think ought to be included in the natural science review, but that may not be widely available, please e-mail or post items to the address below with a brief description of their relevance. We will write another post shortly about the kinds of documents we’re looking for.

Attend workshops

This project will also explore the issues discussed in the questionnaire in greater depth during stakeholder workshops, conducted between April and July 2015. Participants at these workshops must complete this questionnaire first, and I will write another blog post soon with more details about the workshops.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like to take part in this research, you can contact me by using the comment form below, or to keep the message private, by using this contact form.

Correspondence address:

Gill Ainsworth

Research Fellow in Understanding Predation

Institute of Biological & Environmental Sciences

Aberdeen University

Tillydrone Avenue

Aberdeen

AB24 2TZ

Preparing for the Workshops

A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to prepare the information for the workshops.  In this post, Gill Ainsworth, the Post-doctorate Researcher for the project, explains how the workshops will operate and she explains the purpose of the questionnaire that people attending workshops will be asked to complete online beforehand.

The social science strand of the Understanding Predation project aims to collect Local Ecological Knowledge held by a wide range of stakeholders about how various environmental and human factors, including predators, impact on ground nesting wild bird species in upland and lowland systems in Scotland.

Local Ecological Knowledge is the knowledge held by a specific group of people about their local environment. Like natural science, it is based on observations and the need to interpret and understand the world around us. In addition to local knowledge about plants or animals, Local Ecological Knowledge also includes knowledge of how land and resources are managed, the institutions around management, and world views. Understanding Local Ecological Knowledge can help combine the economic, social, institutional and biological aspects of a system. This may lead to strategies that include a wider range of people and are more effective and accepted in local contexts. 

Members of the Moorland Forum identified six, wild bird, prey species in upland and lowland systems as particularly important. Four predator species were identified through population surveys as having a significant impact on the prey bird species and are therefore also of importance to this research. The species are:

• Six wild bird prey species - Black Grouse, Curlew, Golden Plover, Grey Partridge, Lapwing, Oystercatcher); and 
• Four common predator species - Buzzard, Carrion/Hooded Crow, Raven, Red Fox. 

During the workshops, there will also be opportunities to discuss any other predator species considered important, if participants want to do this. 

The research will be conducted in two stages. First of all, an online ‘pre-workshop’ questionnaire will be distributed to members of organisations with an interest in the predation of wild birds in upland and lowland systems. It will also be made available on this blog so that as many people as possible can have their say. 

The second stage of the research will include workshops where participants can have in-depth discussions about particular areas of interest. In order to take part in a workshop, it will be a condition that people complete the online questionnaire beforehand, as responses will form the basis of the workshop discussions. 

Over the next few weeks, I will post an announcement on the blog about the launch of the questionnaire and the content of the workshops. I will also be contacting representatives of stakeholder organisations to identify potential workshop participants, set dates and agree on suitable locations. 

In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like to take part in this research, you can contact me by using the comment form below, or to keep the message private, by using this contact form.

Gill Ainsworth

University of Aberdeen