Colin Lawton

• PhD in Zoology
• Senior Lecturer at Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway

Anthropogenic structures, such as dams, delay, injure and kill during downstream migrating silver‐phase Anguillid eels. To enhance spawner escapement from rivers, efforts are being made to develop devices that guide eels towards safe passage routes. We tested the ability of a strobing light array to deflect downstream migrating European silver eels...

Species distribution modelling is a valuable tool for understanding and managing protected areas globally. This study used MaxEnt modelling with high-resolution environmental data and extensive in-situ observations to create habitat suitability maps for 16 reptile species in the highly biodiverse Souss-Massa National Park (SMNP), Morocco. The study...

Translocations, a conservation tool used to conserve and restore dwindling species, are often associated with high failure rates. Inadequate long‐term monitoring of both populations and their introduction sites beyond the initial years post‐translocation creates a gap in our understanding of the factors that determine translocation success or failu...

The jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca form extensive aggregations in the Mediterranean Sea that can exert top-down control on prey and cause mass-mortalities in fish farms. The description of extensive aggregations of P. noctiluca in the northeast Atlantic in 2007 coupled with a subsequent mortality event of farmed salmon in Northern Ireland prompted...

Despite the medical importance of North African scorpions, many aspects of their ecology which may be important to understand envenoming patterns throughout their range, remain understudied. The region of Souss-Massa in central Morocco exhibits a high incidence of scorpion envenomings, with 29 437 cases reported between 2005 and 2010, resulting in...

Translocations, a conservation tool used to conserve and restore dwindling species, are often associated with high failure rates. Inadequate long-term monitoring of both populations and their introduction sites beyond the initial years post-translocation creates a gap in our understanding of the factors that determine translocation success or failu...

Reptiles are essential components of global biodiversity and dynamic ecosystems due to their ecological roles and functions. However, they face significant vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbances and habitat degradation, resulting in their classification as the third most threatened vertebrate group globally. The current study examines reptile...

The noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis is a globally invasive species with implications for public health and possibly for native ecosystems. Here, we report on a case of predation on a protected species of vertebrate, a pygmy shrew Sorex minutus in Britain. The importance and novelty of this report are: (1) this is the third documented case...

Geographic Information System (GIS) combined with remote sensing and field data was used to identify and map Souss‐Massa National Park (SMNP) habitats, an exceptionally biodiverse coastal area located in Morocco. Habitats in fenced and unfenced areas were compared to assess the fencing effectiveness for conserving semi‐arid/arid environments. Senti...

Parechiniscus Cuénot, 1926 is a monotypic genus of tardigrades that includes among its characteristic features the uncommon trait of unpaired dorsal cuticular plates at the position of each of the first three leg pairs. Our morphological analyses of Irish Parechiniscus specimens, which included scanning electron microscopy, led to a new interpretat...

Updates to the Irish checklist of species. Published on www.irishtardigrades.com

The grey squirrel ( Sciurus carolinensis ) is an invasive rodent in Ireland that has had detrimental impacts on the native Irish red squirrel ( S. vulgaris ) as well as on silviculture. This invasive species spread rapidly throughout Ireland, but in recent years appears to be declining in certain areas of the country. This study analysed the geneti...

Invasive species pose one of the greatest global threats to biodiversity. There has been a long history of importing coevolved natural enemies to act as biological control agents to try to suppress densities of invasive species, with historically limited success and frequent adverse impacts on native biodiversity. Our understanding of the processes...

Two new heterotardigrade (Tardigrada) species, Bryodelphax pucapetricolus sp. nov. and Bryodelphax wallacearthuri sp. nov., are described from moss associated with limestone pavement in the Republic of Ireland. The species description process for these two taxa initiated a more detailed exploration of several morphological characters of importance...

The noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis continues to expand its range globally with possible implications for public health and native species. Of the European Union list of 66 species of invasive plants and animals, none are spiders. S. nobilis is invasive around the world, but its impact on native species has not been fully assessed. Here,...

Souss-Massa National Park (SMNP) is Morocco’s first coastal national park, created to preserve the high diversity of its continental and marine environments. Reptiles play an essential role in balancing SMNP ecosystems, yet little work has been done to study this fauna. The present work aims at providing the first reptile inventory of SMNP since it...

Spider species across 27 families have been recorded naturally preying upon vertebrates. Intricate three-dimensional webs, predation strategies, and potent neurotoxic venom allow Latrodectus and Steatoda spiders to subdue vertebrate prey that are many times larger and heavier than themselves. Yet, little is known about the behaviour associated with...

Although gelatinous zooplankton are an important component of marine ecosystems, gelatinous mesozooplankton that are <2 cm are underrepresented in monitoring programmes. Here, the interannual variability of gelatinous mesozooplankton abundance and diversity was estimated from 167 zooplankton net samples that were collected in the Celtic Sea during...

Riverine dams and weirs present silver eels with multiple migration routes during their downstream migrations. In relation to dams, understanding route selection is important for estimating silver eel escapement, especially where mortality rates vary among routes. On the lower River Shannon, Ireland, a water-regulating weir presents silver eels wit...

Our understanding of the distribution and abundance of gelatinous mesozooplankton (0.2 – 20 mm) has been largely determined from the deployment of net sampling devices. Although zooplankton nets have been shown to underrepresent the abundance of certain gelatinous taxa in comparison to data from optical systems, nets still provide relative abundanc...

Updates to the Irish checklist of tardigrade species from previously published literature 2016–2020. New version for 2021 coming soon. www.irishtardigrades.com for more information.

Estimation of silver eel, Anguilla anguilla L., production is fundamental for the man-agement of eel stocks. In the hydropower-regulated rivers Shannon and Erne, Ireland, production is calculated using catch data from a conservation trap and transport pro-gramme. However, in both rivers gaps in silver eel catch datasets tend to occur, which can lea...

In 2019, a survey was conducted across the island of Ireland on the distribution and status of three mammal species, the native Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris and Pine Marten Martes martes, and the invasive Grey Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis. The Grey Squirrel was introduced to Ireland just over 100 years ago, and has since spread to cover most of t...

Ireland, being an island situated on Europe’s western seaboard, has a fewer number of native species than mainland European Union Member States (MS). Increased numbers of vectors and pathways have reduced the island’s biotic isolation, increasing the risk of new introductions and their associated impacts on native biodiversity. It is likely that th...

One of the primary drivers of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) is human intervention via host or parasite translocations. A unique opportunity to study host and parasite dispersal during a bio-invasion currently exists in Ireland due to the introduction of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) in the 1920s. The continuing range expansion of M. glareo...

• A new Red List of Irish terrestrial mammals is presented. This updates and supersedes the Red List published in 2009. • All 27 terrestrial species native to Ireland or naturalised in Ireland before 1500 are assessed. The seals are included for the first time. • Of these, one was found to be regionally extinct (grey wolf Canis lupus), one achieved...

The decline in Anguillid eels globally, and the requirement for conservation measures, has increased the need for effective eel population monitoring protocols. Estimation of the stock size of European eels has largely been attempted by indirect methods and modelling. Estimation of the eel populations of particular hydrosystems has been undertaken...

Following the introduction of the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) to Ireland in 1911, the species quickly established and spread to cover the eastern half of Ireland. Historically, the River Shannon has delineated the western boundary of its distribution in Ireland, however the factors limiting the spread of the species westwards were unclear....

Downstream migration dynamics of silver-phase eels have traditionally been documented using fisheries catch data. However, improved monitoring protocols and more comprehensive analyses are needed because of widespread declines in Anguillid eel stocks. Therefore, daily catches of silver-phase European eel (Anguilla anguilla) were recorded at an eel...

Wood Mice and Bank Voles were captured in two urban woodlands in Galway city using Longworth traps baited with one of three different baits. Wood Mice showed a preference for peanuts, while Bank Voles were more likely to be captured in traps baited with a commercial hamster pet food. Different bait preferences were also shown by male and female Woo...

The Eurasian red squirrel’s (Sciurus vulgaris) history in Ireland is largely unknown, but the original population is thought to have been driven to extinction by humans in the seventeenth century, and multiple records exist for its subsequent reintroduction in the nineteenth century. However, it is currently unknown how these reintroductions affect...

It is becoming increasingly evident that biological invasions result in altered disease dynamics in invaded ecosystems, with knock-on effects for native host communities. We investigated disease dynamics in an invaded ecosystem, using the helminth communities of the native wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) in the presence and absence of the invasive...

The invasive grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) has successfully spread to cover the eastern half of Ireland since its introduction to the Irish midlands in 1911, but it has so far failed to spread west of the River Shannon. The species has declined in parts of its former range but the south, southwest and northwest of the island remain vulnerabl...

British squirrels infected with leprosy With the exception of armadillos in the Americas, leprosy infections are considered almost exclusively restricted to humans. Avanzi et al. examined warty growths on the faces and extremities of red squirrels in the British Isles and found that two species of leprosy-causing organisms were to blame (see the Pe...

The phylum Tardigrada was not recorded in Ireland until the Clare Island Survey of 1909–1911, with only rare subsequent reports on Irish tardigrade species. In recent decades, significant taxonomic revision has occurred within Tardigrada. This has resulted in the need for a review of all known historical records from Ireland and Northern Ireland in...

Successful management of an invasive species requires in depth knowledge of the invader, the invaded ecosystem, and their interactions. The complexity of the species-system interactions can be reduced and represented in ecological models for better comprehension. In this study, a spatially explicit population model was created using the RAMAS softw...

Introduced species are often less parasitised compared to their native counterparts and to ecologically similar hosts in the new environment. Reduced parasitism may come about due to both the loss of original parasites and low acquisition of novel parasites. In this study we investigated the intestinal helminth parasites of the introduced bank vole...

The home range is a settled area in which an animal conducts its daily activities such as feeding, resting and breeding. Within the home range, the animal will have core areas; small regions where it spends a disproportionate amount of time. There is considerable variation in grey squirrel home range size, as ranging behaviour is influenced by a nu...

The 2007 all-island survey of squirrel species in Ireland showed that the range of the invasive grey squirrel covered the eastern half of the island and had negatively impacted the distribution of the native red squirrel. The red squirrel, although generally widespread, was largely absent from areas where the grey squirrel was well established. The...

Translocation is increasingly used as a means of conserving red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), to reinforce numbers in a struggling population, reintroduce them to an area from which they have disappeared, or to expand their range within a region (assisted colonisation). We review several red squirrel translocations that have taken place in Europe,...

A number of factors in the ecology of squirrels make them difficult prey to capture, and less likely than many other rodents to be targeted by predators. Their arboreal lifestyle ensures they are difficult to capture for most ground dwelling carnivores, with the forest canopy protecting them from aerial attack by raptors. They are most at risk from...

Several squirrel species are biological invaders and their establishment in an area is often marked by ecological and economic costs to native species and forest crops. The eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin 1788) has been intentionally introduced multiple times outside of its native range but its success in establishing and spreadi...

The Irish Eel Management Plan (EMP) contributes to recovery of the European eel spawning stock by conservation measures that include closure of commercial fisheries and mitigation of hydropower impacts. The conservation strategy for the hydropower-regulated River Shannon (mean annual discharge 186m3s-1) is largely focused on silver eel trap and tra...

Landscape management schemes can have unanticipated effects on native species. While we tend to label habitat alterations as distinctly good or bad for specific species, it is not always clear what constitutes good habitat and what is low quality habitat. In many managed landscapes, there is a cyclical nature to these alterations, with some stages...

We aimed to investigate the extent of the Hazel Dormouse’s range in Ireland by means of a sightings survey, in which only sightings supported by photographic evidence, or where an animal was captured, were considered valid. Eleven individual animals were recorded, bringing the total number of Hazel Dormice recorded in Ireland to fourteen between 20...

Context Improved knowledge of changing species distributions is critically important for conservation managers in the face of increasing species invasions, habitat disturbance and climate change. Efficient monitoring of the location of advancing species invasion frontiers is especially crucial for effective species community and habitat management....

In Ireland, the UK and Italy, the invasive North American grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, threatens the survival of the Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, as the effects of competition and disease almost inevitably lead to total replacement of red squirrel populations. However the results of a recent national squirrel survey suggested th...

Registered Office, Ulster Museum, Belfast BT9 5AB. A total of 117 stoats was examined for damage by Skrjabingylus nasicola. Of these 70.11 per cent showed clinical signs of skrjabingylosis. The presence of the parasite was found across all age groups and between sexes. Adult stoats were more likely to be infected than juveniles, but differences in...

A non-invasive approach was used to investigatevariation in pine marten (Martes martes) abundance betweenthe midlands and east of Ireland, and to determine the frequency of occurrence of squirrels and other small mammals in thediet. Remotely plucked hair samples were genotyped to differentiate between individual animals, and real-time polymerasecha...

The increasing movement of people to wilderness areas, shrinking of wildlife habitats and the resulting urbanisation of wildlife has led to growing concerns about the transfer of parasitic diseases, particularly from contaminated faeces. Faecal samples from wild carnivores in Ireland were examined for the presence of protozoan and nematode parasite...

DNA identification of mammal species occurring in the diet of a predator is potentially a useful approach to remotely monitor the distribution of multiple species. This is important in Ireland, where it has been shown that the com-bined presence of the introduced bank vole and greater white-toothed shrew impact the distribution of the indige-nous s...

DNA identification of mammal species occurring in the diet of a predator is potentially a useful approach to remotely monitoring the distribution of multiple species. This is important in Ireland, where it has been shown that the combined presence of the introduced bank vole and greater white-toothed shrew have negative impacts on the distribution...

SUMMARY Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite, primarily associated with bovine abortion. The only definitive hosts discovered to date are carnivores. This study aimed to identify the role of mammalian carnivores in the epidemiology of bovine neosporosis. A sample bank of serum, fecal and brain samples was established: American mink (Mustela vis...

Invasive species pose a major threat to biodiversity but provide an opportunity to describe the processes that lead to changes in a species' range. The bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is an invasive rodent that was introduced to Ireland in the early twentieth century. Given its continuing range expansion, the substantial empirical data on its spread t...

This report details the findings of research conducted in the west of Ireland on the use of translocation as a conservation tool for the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).

Native Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) and introduced American mink (Mustela vison) carcasses collected throughout Ireland were screened for biliary parasites. Secondary intermediate hosts, Cyprinid fish, were also examined for Opistorchiid metacercariae. Twenty-nine mink and 24 otter gall bladders were screened for biliary parasites. A single mink an...

We report the first record of the parasitic nematode Skrjabingylus petrowi in Ireland, the fifth record of S. petrowi outside Russia. Twenty-three of the nematodes were removed from the skull of a male road kill pine marten Martes martes from Co. Tipperary. The spicule lengths measured in the male nematodes removed ranged from 410 to 500μm, which i...

Two examples of the introduction of non-indigenous invasive species are reviewed: the grey squirrel in Europe (United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy) and the brushtail possum in New Zealand. Both have become very successful in their respective non-native habitats since their introductions in the mid-to-late 19th Century. Both species impact extensively...

Mink (Mustela vison) carcasses collected from control programmes throughout Ireland examined for cranial helminths; Skrjabingylus spp. (Nematoda) and Troglo trema acutum (Trematoda). Two methods of determining infection were used: external examination of and the necropsy of fresh material. In total 157 mink were examined. External examination of th...

Red squirrels have undergone a 30% contraction of their range in the last 10years in Ireland, a decline attributed to the introduced grey squirrel. Large regions in the west of Ireland are free of both species of squirrel, due to the isolation of forests there and their relatively recent planting. The potential of these forests as translocation sit...

The red squirrel in Britain and Ireland has been described as a separate subspecies, Sciurus vulgaris leucourus, based on bleaching of the tail and ear tufts. However, recent investigations in northern England found this light colour confined to one area, probably due to the rapid spread of introduced continental European red squirrels. This study...

Grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, populations have been subjected to various degrees of control in the woodlands of Ireland and Britain since their introduction. The populations readily recover, but the recolonisation rates and other ecological effects of the culls have not been fully examined. Monthly live trapping programmes were used to monit...

A mammal survey, using tracks and signs surveys, small mammal trapping and bat detection was carried out in Terryland Forest Park, an urban woodland under development in Galway City. Twelve mammal species were positively identified as being present in the Park, including mammals common in urban areas, such as the fox, house mouse and brown rat, and...

The introduced grey squirrel has caused major problems for the silviculture of broadleaved trees in Ireland. Severe economic damage is caused by grey squirrels through their habit of stripping bark from trees to eat the soft tissue underneath. Certain trees are more prone to damage than others, and the damage tends to occur at specific times of the...