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monitoring and surveys

We undertake annual monitoring and surveys of wildlife and vegetation cover to help chart the changes happening under rewilding. Our baseline survey was undertaken in 2005, close to the start of the project. We also carry out surveys on specific species. This is a live document page that will be updated as reports become available.

Bird survey report being finalised
Butterfly surveys
Annual herd inspection


2019 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
Bat Survey Report – Steph Murphy, Arbeco

Bramble as a Facilitator of English Oak Regeneration – Catherine King

Design of a Wetland – Salehin Sajid

Knepp Bird Ringing Review 2015-2019 – Tony Davis

Knepp Exmoor Strategy – Rina Quinlan

The Effectiveness of Natural Flood Management Interventions – Sam Lee
Nematoproctus praesectus new to Britain, found together with N. distendens (Meigen), and notes on their habitat preferences – C. Martin Drake

Plant-Pollinator Relationships in a Rewilded Landscape – Catriona Maclaren

Rewilding Benefits Ecosystem Services – Sarah Davidson

The Changing Role of Land Use and Subsequent Biodiversity of Hedgerows – Molly Emmerson

The Effect of Pig Rootling on Invertebrate Biodiversity – Richard Godbehere

The Effects of Human Activity on Large Herbivores – Hugo Allan

The Potential of Ecosystem Engineers for the Conservation of Early-successional Insects – Will Langdon

The Vegetation of the Pig Rootled Areas at Knepp Wildland and their use by Farmland Birds – Ivan de Klee

Understanding the Effectiveness of Wood Debris – Jacques Cador


2018 MAIN SURVEYS
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Student talks
Annual herd inspection


2018 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
A comparison of the wintering bird communities of the re-wilded Knepp Castle Estate with adjacent farmland – Gareth James

Beavers as a Natural Flood Management tool in a Sussex catchment – Gareth Williams

Does Rewilding Benefit Dung Beetle Biodiversity? – Sarah Brompton

Does Rewilding restore soil biodiversity and function? – Laura Koester genannt Kurwald

Drivers and impacts of large herbivore foraging behaviour in a rewilded landscape – Thomas Dando

How vegetational succession in relation to rewilding influences small mammal communities at Knepp Castle Estate – Betsy Brown

Impacts of livestock grazing on winter woodland bird diversity – Guy Border

Impacts of Rewilding at Knepp Castle Estate on Abundance and Species Richness of Carabidae and Scarabaeidae – Claire Murphy

Paradise Regained! The 2018 Purple Emperor Season – Matthew Oates

Repeat Botanical Survey of the River Adur & Lancing Brook Knepp Estate – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

The effect of megaherbivore guild intactness on the distribution of plant spinescence – Georgina Pashler

The Impacts of a Rewilding Project on Pollinator Abundance and Diversity at a Local Scale – Claire Wallace


2017 MAIN SURVEYS
Annual herd inspection
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys

2017 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
Lasioglossum malachurum research summary – Tanya Pennell

Lime Tree survey on Knepp – Jamie Simpson

Scrub and hedgerow changes 2001-2015 – Nienke Eernisse

The effect of river restoration on aquatic biodiversity – Jessica Walker

The Rainbow and 27 Acre fields transects – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

2016 MAIN SURVEYS
Annual herd inspection
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys

2016 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

Aculeate bee and wasp survey report – Goulson & Wood

Bird Ringing Report – Tony Davis

Conservation Area Audit for VCA – Jonathan Spencer

How UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) can help monitor landscape dynamics – Thomson Ecology

Impacts of semi-natural grazing on vegetation biodiversity – Charlotte L. Bottone

Knepp wetland restoration invertebrate survey – Graeme Lyons

Molluscan Survey – Dr Martin Willing

OART report on the Knepp river restoration – Peter King

Phase 1 habitat survey 2016 – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

Pondtail area woody colonisation transect – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

Rewilding Britain: Exploring the opportunities and challenges for NGOs – Rachel Forsyth

Trees for Trouts project proposal – OART

Using Bioindicator Bat Activity to Compare Ex-Agricultural Habitats – Fritha West

2015 MAIN SURVEYS
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys

2015 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

A baseline invertebrate survey of the Knepp Estate – Graeme Lyons

Bird ringing report – Tony Davis

Can geomorphological channel design deliver better outcomes for river restorations than reconnecting historic meanders – Michael Green

Investigating the effect of browsing on Brown Hairstreak – Piort Szota

The role of trees outside woodlands in providing habitat and ecological networks for saproxylic invertebrates

Transect survey report – Dolphin Ecological Surveys


2014 MAIN SURVEYS
Annual herd inspection
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Ragwort Survey

2014 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

A short survey of aphids – Dransfield & Brightwell

Dormouse survey for Great Cockshill wood, Knepp Estate

Is the most effective way to increase biodiversity in the UK through conservation management or rewilding? Freya Stirling

2013 MAIN SURVEYS
Annual herd inspection
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Knepp monitoring report

2013 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

Available edible fodder Survey – Amy Nightingale

Benefits of extensive agriculture for the nightingale – Hicks, O., Burrell, C., Lord, A.M

Bryophytes on the Knepp Castle Estate – Tom Ottley

Earthworms and soil ecosystem services – James Wood-Segura

Knepp Nightingales – Olivia Hicks

Pig rooting and earthworm abundance – Joseph Cole

Preliminary report on Purple Emperor butterfly surveys – Oates & Hulme

The impact of landscape level arable reversion on invertebrate foodstock for Yellowhammers – Tim Saunders

The effect of rewilding on the densities of a group of Birds of Conservation Concern species – Isobel Donovan

Winter thrush – Simon Carter

2012 MAIN SURVEYS
Annual herd inspection
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Knepp monitoring report
Ragwort survey

2012 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
Butterfly survey summary

Ecological survey of Horsham Common – Ben Rainbow

Late Holocene Environmental Change in N Sussex: a proposal for multidisciplinary study of the lake at Knepp Castle Remote Sensing Monitoring – Dr Geoff Smith

River Adur and wetland restoration project

Tamworth pigs as ecological analogs analogs of wild boar – Anita Diaz, Antonio Uzal & Paul Buckland

The impacts on bird diversity of re-wilding an intensive farm – Olivia Hicks

The re-naturalisation of the River Adur on Knepp Castle Estate – Benjamin W Lewis

Turtle Dove Survey – Simon Carter

Wildland project gathering

2011 MAIN SURVEYS
Annual herd inspection
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Fixed point photography survey
Knepp monitoring report
Ragwort survey

2011 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
A strategy for clean water pond creation – Knepp

DEFRA report on ecosystem services – Hodder, K.H., et al

Fungus Foray

Knepp Wildland Project review 2000-2011

Land at Knepp Estate + 2km buffer around River Adur and Knepp Lake

Meadow Restoration Crab Tree Platt SNCI

Newsletter

Preliminary assessment of Oak sapling study, 27 Acres Field
River Adur Invertebrate Survey – Schmid-arayar, Schmid and Campbell

The activity patterns of Tamworth pigs and their effects on the Knepp Castle Estate Wildland Project – an analogue for wild boar – Ross Johnson

Valuing ecosystem services: case studies from lowland England

Year 10 for the re-wilding project


2010 MAIN SURVEYS
Annual herd inspection
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Fixed point photography survey
Knepp monitoring report
Ragwort survey

2010 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

Botanical Transect Survey – Sophie Miller

Hedgerow surveys 2009 – 2010 – Peter Challis

Newsletter

Reptile survey – Thomson Ecology

Re-wilding the landscape Large herbivores, dung faunas and conservation at Knepp Castle – Laura E Eadie

Road verges – Ben Rainbow

The effect of a semi-natural grazing regime on the vegetation of the Knepp Castle Estate: can a wildland be restored – Rebecca Corby

The Relationship between vegetation, micro-topography and edaphic factors in a lowland floodplain grassland system, South East England

2009 MAIN SURVEYS
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Fixed point photography survey
Knepp monitoring report
Ragwort monitoring

2009 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
Bat handbook for Knepp

Knepp bat report

Laybrook pre-planning ecological objections

Rewilding: New Constructions of Nature in Conservation Biology

2008 MAIN SURVEYS
Bird survey
Butterfly surveys
Fixed point photography survey
Knepp monitoring report

2008 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

Botanical Survey of Horsham Common SNCI – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

Floodplain Woodland Survey: Charlwood Wood – Neil Sanderson

Floodplain Woodland Survey: Hartsgravel Wood – Neil Sanderson

River Adur re-naturalisation: Pre-project ecological surveys – Theresa Greenaway

Small Mammal Survey executive summary – James Goodrum

2007 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

Botanical Survey of River Adur and Lancing Brook repeat – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

Creating naturalistic grazing in lowland England – research note Kernon report

Monitoring strategy for Knepp Castle Estate Wildland Project

Proposed Wet Woodland Area Survey – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

Rainbow and 27 Acre Transect – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

2006 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
Knepp Castle Estate Baseline Ecological Survey

Large herbivores at Knepp – Joep van de Vlasakker

Pre-feasibility study of river restoration – Martin Janes, Jenny Mant and Alice Fellick RRC

Summary of baseline report


2005 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS

Amphibian and Reptile Survey – David Buckingham

Bat Survey – Martin Love

Botanical Survey of River Adur and Lancing Brook – Dolphin Ecological Surveys

Dormouse Survey – Rich Howorth

Floodplain Biodiversity – David Gowing

Water shrew Survey – Fran Southgate & Yohanna Regis

Wetland Coleoptera Survey – Peter Hodge

2003 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
Ecological assessment of Kneppmill pond

2000 ADDITIONAL SURVEYS
Restoration management plan – Colson & Stone report

 

Our 12+ Policy

Knepp Wildland Safaris, our gardens and campsite are all about the quiet and patient observation of nature.

Some of the species we are likely to encounter are shy or can be frightened by loud noises or sudden movements. Our campsite with open-air fire-pits, wood-burning stoves and an on-site pond is unsuitable for small children.

For this reason, our safaris, garden visits, holiday cottages and campsite are suitable only for children of 12 and over.

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