Currently Merryl is leading a research project to investigate the efficacy of displacement using vegetation removal on water voles. This technique is routinely used by ecological consultants on behalf of development works in areas where water voles are present, working under licence. Currently there is no evidence to indicate the response of water voles to such habitat destruction: it is assumed by many that the water voles will disperse of their own accord, however the limited evidence suggests otherwise, and it is thought that in reality many water voles will adopt more fossorial habits or suffer increased predation. This research aims to test the response of water voles to habitat destruction to inform future guidelines as to the validity of such an approach.

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Selected Publications

Gelling M, Zochowski WJ, Mathews F, Johnson A, Palmer MF, Macdonald DW. (2015). Leptospirosis acquisition following the reintroduction of wildlife. Veterinary Record. 177: 17 440.

Macdonald DW, Harrington LA, Gelling M, Tattersall FH & Tew T. (2015). Effects of Farming Practice on Small Mammals. In DW Macdonald & RE Feber (Eds.) Wildlife Conservation on Farmland. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Moorhouse TP, Gelling M, Macdonald DW (2015). Water Vole Restoration in the Upper Thames. In DW Macdonald & RE Feber (Eds.) Wildlife Conservation on Farmland. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Gelling M & Grogan A (2015). Animal Welfare Implications of Mitigation Schemes. In Practice – Bulletin of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. 88: 14-18.

Macdonald DW, Moorhouse TP & Gelling M. (2014). The State of British Mammals: A Focus on Disease. Peoples Trust for Endangered Species.

Harrington LA, Moehrenschlager A, Gelling M, Hughes J, Atkinson R, Macdonald DW. (2013) Welfare and Ethics in Animal Reintroductions – conflicting and complementary ethics that can benefit conservation. Conservation Biology. 27(3):486-500.

Gelling, M, Johnson, PJ, Moorhouse, TP, Macdonald, DW. (2012) Measuring animal welfare within a reintroduction: an assessment of different indices of stress in water voles Arvicola amphibius. PLoS ONE. 7(7): e41081. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0041081.

Harrington LA, Gelling M, Simpson V, Harrington A, and Macdonald DW (2012) Notes on the health status of free-living, non-native, American mink, Neovison vison, in southern England. European Journal of Wildlife Research 58, 875 – 880.

Gelling M, Macdonald DW, Telfer S, Jones T, Bown K, Birtles R, Mathews F. (2012) Parasites and pathogens in wild populations of water voles (Arvicola amphibius) in the UK. European Journal of Wildlife Research 58, 615 – 619.

Strachan R., Moorhouse TP & Gelling M. (2011). The Water Vole Conservation Handbook. 3rd Edition. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.

Gelling M, Montes I, Moorhouse TP, Macdonald DW (2010) Captive housing during water vole (Arvicola terrestris) reintroduction: does short-term social stress impact on welfare? PLoS ONE 5(3): e9791. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0009791.

Moorhouse TP, Gelling M, Macdonald DW (2009) Effects of habitat quality upon reintroduction success in water voles: Evidence from a replicated experiment. Biological Conservation 142: 53 – 60.

Gelling M, McLaren G, Mathews F, Mian R, Macdonald DW (2009) The impact of trapping and handling on Leukocyte Coping Capacity in bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) and wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus). Animal Welfare 18: 1 – 7.

Moorhouse TP, Gelling M, Macdonald DW (2008) Effects of forage availability on growth and maturation rates in water voles. Journal of Animal Ecology 77: 1288 – 1295.

Gelling M, Macdonald DW, Mathews F (2007) Are hedgerows the route to increased farmland small mammal density? Use of hedgerows in British pastoral habitats. Landscape Ecology 22: 1019 – 1032.

Moorhouse TP, Gelling M, McLaren GW, Mian R, Macdonald DW (2007) Physiological consequences of captive conditions in water voles (Arvicola terrestris). Journal of Zoology 271: 19 – 26

Mathews F, Moro D, Strachan R, Gelling M, Buller N (2006) Health surveillance in wildlife reintroductions. Biological Conservation 131: 338 – 347.

Mathews F, Macdonald DW, Taylor GM, Gelling M, Norman RA, et al. (2006) Bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) in British farmland wildlife: the importance to agriculture. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 273: 357 – 365.

Mathews F, Orros M, McLaren G, Gelling M, Foster R (2005) Keeping fit on the ark: assessing the suitability of captive-bred animals for release. Biological Conservation 121: 569 – 577.

McLaren GW, Mathews F, Fell R, Gelling M, Macdonald DW (2004) Body weight change as a measure of stress: a practical test. Animal Welfare 13: 337 – 341.