Martin Gaywood

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Senior Researcher

martin.gaywood.ic@uhi.ac.uk

Academic background

Following my PhD on snake ecology and postdoctoral research on wildlife corridors at the University of Southampton, I worked at the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology in Australia to develop modelling techniques to inform nature reserve design, funded through a Royal Society Travelling Fellowship. I moved to NatureScot (then called Scottish Natural Heritage) on my return to the UK.

Since that time I’ve focussed mainly on species conservation and have managed numerous projects covering topics ranging from species autecology to national surveys, the development of survey and monitoring methods, the identification of European sites for species conservation, wildlife management, and the development and application of strategic and practical conservation programmes. I have a lead role in species reintroduction and other conservation translocation projects, am a member of the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group, have authored/co-authored over 70 publications and supervised five PhD projects. In 2023 I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research conservation translocations in Canada and Australia. My work often involves collaborative, multi-partner, interdisciplinary approaches to evidence-based nature restoration and the sharing of best practice methods designed to improve conservation outcomes.

Research interest:

Species ecology and conservation
Conservation translocation
Wildlife management
Ecosystem restoration

The following projects have been carried out through NatureScot:

Scotland’s Beaver Strategy 2022-2045 – multi-partner initiative, in collaboration with the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group
The development of tools to inform beaver restoration and management – multi project and multi partner work involving, for example, development of a web-based app to inform beaver population development following release, use of UAVs to monitor habitat change, eDNA applications etc.
Saving Wildcats
Development of the new Scottish wildcat strategy – ongoing multi-partner initiative, 2024-2025

Past projects:

Beavers in Scotland: Report to Scottish Government – collation of research, monitoring and information to inform the government decision on beaver reintroduction
The Scottish Beaver Trial – independent monitoring programme for Britain’s first formal mammal reintroduction project, a multi-partner initiative
Scottish Wildcat Action – five year, multi-partner programme
The Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations – produced through the National Species Reintroduction Forum
Species Action Framework – management of a five-year, multi-partner programme of targeted species conservation and management

Publications:

Gaywood, M.J. (2024). Conservation translocations in a changing climate. London, Churchill Fellowship report. Available at: https://www.churchillfellowship.org/ideas-experts/fellows-directory/martin-gaywood/

Cushman, S.A., Kilshaw, K., Campbell, R.D., Kaszta, Z., Gaywood, M.J. & Macdonald, D.W. (2024) Comparing the performance of global, geographically weighted and ecologically weighted species distribution models for Scottish wildcats using GLM and Random Forest predictive modelling. Ecological Modelling, 492.

Cushman, S.A., Kilshaw, K., Kaszta, Z., Campbell, R.D., Gaywood, M.J & Macdonald, D.W. (2024) Exploring nonstationary limiting factors in species habitat relationships Ecological Modelling, 490.

Wilson, K.A., Law, A., Hester, A.J., Gaywood, M.J, & Willby, N. (2024) Tree felling by beaver promotes regeneration in riparian woodlands whilst increasing resource availability for deer. Forest Ecology and Management, 562.

Gaywood, M., Bavin, D., Dalrymple, S., Finger, A., Foster, J. and Pouget, D. (2023). Conservation translocations in Britain. British Wildlife 34, 572-583.

Kitchener, A., Campbell, R. and Gaywood M. (eds.) (2023) Scottish Wildcat Action Summary Report. Inverness, NatureScot.

Campbell-Palmer, R., Bauer, A., Jones, S., Ross, B. and Gaywood, M.J. (2022) The return of the Eurasian beaver to Britain: the implications of unplanned releases and the human dimension. In Gaywood, M.J., Ewen, J.G, Hollingsworth, P. M. and Moehrenschlager, A. (eds.) Conservation Translocations. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

Gaywood, M.J., Ewen, J.G, Hollingsworth, P. M. and Moehrenschlager, A. (eds.) (2022) Conservation Translocations. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press. 400 pp.

Gaywood, M.J. and Stanley-Price, M. (2022) Moving species: reintroductions and other conservation translocations. In Gaywood, M.J., Ewen, J.G, Hollingsworth, P. M. and Moehrenschlager, A. (eds.) Conservation Translocations. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

Trouwborst, A., Blackmore, A., Blyth, S., Fleurke, F., McCormack, P. & Gaywood, M.J. (2022). Conservation translocations and the law. In Gaywood, M.J., Ewen, J.G, Hollingsworth, P. M. and Moehrenschlager, A. (eds.) Conservation Translocations. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

Phelan, R., Baumgartner, B., Brand, S., Brister, E., Burgiel, S.W., Charo, R.A., Coche, I., Cofrancesco, A., Delborne, J.A., Edwards, O. and Fisher, J.P., Gaywood, M., Gordon, D.R., Howald, G., Hunter, M.E., Kareiva, P., Mankad, A., Marvier, M., Moseby, K., Newhouse A.E., Novak, B.J., Ohrstrom, G., Olson, S., Palmer, M.J., Palumbi, S., Patterson Jr., N., Pedrono, M., Pelegri., F., Rohwer, Y., Ryder O.A., Saah, J.R., Scheller, R.M., Seddon, P.J., Shaffer, H.B., Shapiro, B., Sweeney, M., Tercek, M.R., Thizy, D., Tilt, W., Weber, M., Wegrzyn, R.D., Whitelaw, B., Winkler, M., Wodak, J., Zimring, M. and Robbins, P. (2021). Intended consequences statement. Conservation Science and Practice, 3(4), p.e371.

Needham, R.J., Gaywood, M.J., Tree, A., Sotherton, N., Roberts, D., Bean, C.W., and Kemp, P.S. (2021) The response of a brown trout (Salmo trutta) population to reintroduced Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) habitat modification. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 78.

Campbell-Palmer, R., Rosell, F., Naylor, A., Cole, G., Mota, S., Brown, D., Fraser, M., Pizzi, R., Elliott, M., Wilson, K., Gaywood, M., and Girling, S. (2021) Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) health surveillance in Britain: Assessing a disjunctive reintroduced population. Veterinary Record 2021: e84.

Gaywood, M.J. (2018) Reintroducing the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber to Scotland. Mammal Review 48(1), 48-61.

Law, A., Gaywood, M.J., Jones, K.C., Ramsay, P., and Willby, N.J. (2017) Using ecosystem engineers as tools in habitat restoration and rewilding: beaver and wetlands. Science of the Total Environment 605– 606,1021–1030.

Gaywood M.J., Boon, P.J., Thompson, D.B.A. and Strachan, I.M. (eds.) (2016) The Species Action Framework Handbook. Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby, Perth. 389 pp.

Stringer, A.P., Blake, D., Genney D.R. and Gaywood, M.J. (2016) A geospatial analysis of ecosystem engineer activity and its use during species reintroduction. European Journal of Wildlife Research 64(41).

Stringer, A.P. and Gaywood, M.J. (2016). The impacts of beavers Castor spp. on biodiversity and the ecological basis for their reintroduction to Scotland. Mammal Review 46(4), 270-283.

Gaywood, M.J. (ed.) (2015) Beavers in Scotland – A Report to the Scottish Government. Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness. 204pp.

Kemp, P. S., Worthington, T. A., Langford, T. E. L., Tree, A. R. J. and Gaywood, M. J. (2012) Qualitative and quantitative effects of reintroduced beavers on stream fish. Fish and Fisheries 13, 158-181.

Hopkins, J.J., Allison, H.M., Walmsley, C.A., Gaywood, M. and Thurgate, G. (2007) Conserving biodiversity in a changing climate: guidance on building capacity to adapt. Defra on behalf of the UK Biodiversity Partnership, London.

Wingfield, R.A., Murphy, K.J., and Gaywood, M.J. (2006) Assessing and predicting the success of Najas flexilis (Willd.) Rostk. & Shmidt, a rare European aquatic macrophyte, in relation to lake environmental conditions. Hydrobiologia 570, 79-88.

Wingfield, R.A., Murphy, K.J., and Gaywood, M.J. (2005) Lake habitat suitability for the rare European macrophyte Najas flexilis (Willd.) Rostk. & Schmidt. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 15(3), 227-241.

Hastie, L.C., Cooksley, S.C., Scougall, F., Young, M.R., Boon, P.J. and Gaywood, M.J. (2004) Applications of extensive survey techniques to describe freshwater pearl mussel distribution and habitat in the River Spey, Scotland. River Research and Applications 20, 1001-1013.

Hastie, L.C., Cosgrove, P.J., Ellis N. and Gaywood, M.J. (2003) The threat of climate change to freshwater pearl mussel populations. Ambio 32(1), 40-46.

Cosgrove, P.J., Young, M.R., Hastie, L., Gaywood, M.J. and Boon, P.J. (2000) The status of the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera Linn. in Scotland. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 10, 197-208.

Gaywood, M.J. and Spellerberg, I.F. (1999) Snakes. World Wildlife Series, Colin Baxter Publishing.

Kruuk, H., Carrs, D.N., Conroy, J.W.H. and Gaywood, M.J. (1998) Habitat use and conservation of otters (Lutra lutra) in Britain: A review. In Dunstone, N. and Gorman, M. (eds). Behaviour and Ecology of Riparian Mammals. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London 71.

Godley, B., Gaywood, M.J., Law, R.J., McCarthy, C.J., McKenzie, C., Patterson, I.A.P., Penrose, R., Reid, R.J. and Ross, H.M. (1998) Patterns of marine turtle mortality in British waters (1992-1996) with reference to tissue contaminant levels. Journal of the Marine Biological Association UK 78, 973-984.

Gaywood, M.J. (1997) Marine turtles in British and Irish waters. British Wildlife 9, 69-78.

Austin, M.P. and Gaywood, M.J. (1994) Current problems of environmental gradients and species response curves in relation to continuum theory. Journal of Vegetation Science 5, 473-482.

Spellerberg, I.F. and Gaywood, M.J. (1993) Linear features: Linear Habitats and Wildlife Corridors. English Nature Research Report 60, Peterborough.

Links:

NatureScot