Families are being invited by The Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen to come along to Satrosphere this weekend to try their hand at ‘Pipit Run’, the ‘Grazing Puzzle’ and the radio tracking of ‘beetles’ as part of BA National Discovery Day.

Admission is free to this one-day event, which takes place on Saturday 18 March between 1000 and 1700.

This is the first in a series of events this year being organized by the Macaulay as part of its ‘Grazing, Bugs and Birds’ initiative aimed at highlighting the impact on wildlife of a reduction in the number of livestock grazing Scottish hills.

Wildlife Ecologist, Dr Pete Dennis said: “Grazing animals, such as sheep and cattle, have had a major influence on shaping our landscape for hundreds of years. EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms affecting the way we farm mean that the once common sight on many of our hillsides of lots of sheep may very soon be a thing of the past. Fewer sheep should help to restore wildlife but a complete loss of cattle may be detrimental to upland biodiversity.”

The Macaulay Institute, along with partner organisations has, for the last four years, been investigating how the reduction of livestock numbers on the Scottish hills will change the plants and animals living there.

Current commercial stocking densities are unfavourable for many birds and mammals, because predominantly short vegetation means fewer invertebrates (insects and spiders) to feed on, and less places to nest or hide.

However, the research also indicates that the complete removal of sheep and cattle from either localised or extensive areas of the hill and uplands of Scotland would not benefit birds very much, as they cannot feed in the uniformly tall vegetation.

Researchers found that reduction in grazing regimes to one third commercial densities appears to create a diverse vegetation structure, rich in plants and invertebrates, and beneficial to songbirds (such as the meadow pipit) because of the mixture of feeding and nesting sites it provides.

“Complete removal of sheep and cattle is likely to have a dramatic effect on the biodiversity of the Scottish uplands. The research reported in this exhibit suggests that the maximum biodiversity is achieved where some level of sheep and cattle grazing is maintained,” said Dr Dennis.

At Satrosphere , children of all ages will be able to see how scientists study biodiversity in the field. In the ‘Grazing Puzzle’ they will be able to help count the different number of minibeasts found on different hillsides. They can also try their hand at ‘radio-tracking’ beetles to see which length of grass they’ve gone into, with a special hand held receiver that lights up the nearer the person gets to the beetle!

In the ‘Pipit Run’ board game players will have to try and feed their chicks while avoiding a kestrel circling overhead.

The Macaulay Institute is the premier land use research institute in the UK. Two hundred and seventy staff are based at the Macaulay Institute at Craigiebuckler in Aberdeen. The Macaulay Institute aims to be an international leader in research on the use of rural land resources for the benefit of people and the environment and is involved in research across the globe; from Scotland to Chile and China. More about the Macaulay Institute can be found at www.macaulay.ac.uk

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For further information contact: Karen Sage Tricker PR Office 01224 646491 Mobile 07795 522 012 Email ksage@trickerpr.com Notes 1) This work is funded by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department. Other partners in this project are:

• Scottish Agricultural College
• Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
• RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)
• BioSS (Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland)
• University of Aberdeen
• University of Exeter in Cornwall