PROPOZYCJA MONITORINGU GRONOSTAJA MUSTELA ERMINEA (LINNAEUS, 1758) NA PRZYKŁADZIE POLSKI

Abstract

The ability to monitor species distribution and abundance is essential to detect changes in animal population and implement conservation management programs which can prevent further deterioration of the species’ situation and help assess the progress of these programs. The stoat (Mustela erminea) is a small, extremely difficult to catch, predatory mammal which is under partial species protection in Poland. However, at the moment there are no deliberate actions conducted to protect it, and the strategy for the stoat monitoring has not been developed yet. This is directly related to various components, among which is the difficulty to develop an effective non-invasive method for capturing and identifying a stoat individual. The current state of knowledge regarding the distribution and abundance of the species in Poland is largely based on the observations reported to the coordinator, references in the literature, and photographs available on the Internet. The data, however, has not been confirmed by reliable field studies aimed to assess the current situation of this predator in Poland. This clearly indicates the need to deepen the knowledge about the distribution and abundance of the stoat in this country by starting the monitoring of the species. In this article, the first attempt was made to define the methodology needed to conduct it, which may be the base for further modification and refinement as new data is collected. A detailed description of the adopted methodology has been developed on the basis of methods successfully used in research on mustelids in other countries.