Science matters
BASC monitors scientific journals, environmental, policy and political alerts for the results of studies of relevance to shooting and conservation. Below are links to a selection of papers published between January – March 2026.
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Birds
- An Evaluation of the Distance at Which Direct Ecological Effects of Released Pheasants Extend Beyond Their Release Sites
- Long-term demographic changes in harvested Eurasian teal (Anas crecca) and Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) in the UK
- Dispersal Behaviour and Movement Patterns of Pheasants from Woodland Release Pens
- Migrating and Wintering Waterfowl
- Waterfowl Harvest Management
- The role of wild birds in the global highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 panzootic, 2020–2023
- Forage over fear: Assessing drivers of site use in response to shooting disturbance in a managed goose species
- Modelling the national breeding distribution and population size of an elusive forest bird, the Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)
- Estimating Eurasian Woodcock Roding Range Size Using GPS-Tracking
- Assessing geographic changes in hunting pressure on wildfowl through ring recovery locations
- Night-Time Movements and Roosting Habitat Selection of Grey Partridges Perdix perdix in the Agricultural Landscape
- Crippling rates of waterfowl by gunshot in Northwestern Europe: interspecific and geographic differences give clues to possible management challenges and options
- Candida albicans in Faeces of Migratory Geese Can Persist in Agricultural Soils: One-Health Implications for Grazing Livestock
- Waterfowl Move Less in Heterogeneous and Human-Populated Landscapes, With Implications for Spread of Avian Influenza Viruses
- Applying integrated population models to guide conservation planning: Western Capercaillie in Scotland
- Nasal saddles reduce survival rate in Eurasian teal
- Probabilistic approach reveals the toxicity threshold values of free-living raptors in Great Britain, United Kingdom, for the lethal effect of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides
- An analysis of Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme data to improve understanding of the impact of Avian Influenza in 2023 on raptors and raptor populations in Scotland
- The role of ducks in detecting Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in small-scale backyard poultry farms
- Scope for waterfowl to speed up migration to a warming Arctic
- The effects of predator removal on mallard production and population change in northeastern North Dakota
Mammals
- Wild UK deer as carriers of livestock lameness associated pathogens
- Sport hunting associated with favourable conservation status of mammals
- Navigating multi-predator dynamic risk landscapes in anthropogenic environments: spatio-temporal plasticity in roe deer habitat selection
- Experimental evidence for large carnivore risk cues reducing deer browsing intensity in a temperate forest
- Understanding Why Grey Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) Bark Strip in British Woodlands: A Systematic Map
- Are pine martens a panacea for Britain’s squirrel problems?
- Identifying and Quantifying Conflicts Between Humans and Terrestrial Mammals in Great Britain
- Disentangling complex disease ecology networks: Using structural equation modelling to quantify the direct and indirect effects of deer on Lyme borreliosis hazard
- Forty-five years of studying deer: a personal reflection of the past, present and future of deer research
- Both forest cover and land management practices explain variation in recovering pine marten densities
- Identifying hotspots and drivers of wildlife-vehicle collision risk using citizen science data: a case study focused on the European badger Meles meles
Land management
- Vegetation Responses to Experimental Prescribed Burning and Cutting of Heather on Blanket Peat Sites Managed as Grouse Moors in Northern England
- Historical ecology and stakeholder perspectives can inform peatland fire management
- Views from the hill: Deer stalkers’ perspectives on land-use change in the Scottish Highlands
- Effects of Bike Trails on Roe Deer and Wild Boar Habitat Use in Forested Landscapes
- Thinking outside the bog: Planting dwarf birch (Betula nana) for mountain woodland restoration beyond habitat refugia constrained by overgrazing
- Solar fields provide diurnal habitat for European hares (Lepus europaeus) within the intensive agricultural landscape – Preprint January 2026
- Evolutionary Dynamics, Physiological Mechanisms, and Ecological Connectivity in Global Avian Migration – Preprint January 2026
Other topics
- Renewed coexistence as a conceptual reframing of animal reintroductions to foster sustainable human–wildlife coexistence
- The landscape of no worries? Increased recreation exposure decreases the landscape of human fear in wildlife
- Hunting and fishing harvest data collection: a horizon scanning exercise from the French context
- An analysis of neglected and underutilised species integration in UK alternative food networks: a case study of Dorset
- To hunt or not to hunt: Is it that simple for female hunters?
- Frequency and risk factors for tail injuries in UK dogs under primary veterinary care
- Entry and fate of plastic tips from hunting bullets into game meat – their remaining and distribution in gelatine as a ballistic simulant
- Temporal and spatial drivers of Lyme disease hazard differ between urban and rural environments
- Mapping ticks (Acari: Argasidae, Ixodidae) and informing local public action: Insights from the United Kingdom Tick Surveillance Scheme (2021-2024)
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