The Rum red deer project

The Rum red deer project is based on the Isle of Rum in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland.
Its broad aims are (i) to investigate the regulation of population density and the effects of density independent factors on reproduction and survival; and (ii) to identify the environmental factors, individual characteristics and genetic factors affecting reproductive success and its main components (fecundity or mating success, offspring survival and longevity) in both sexes.
This population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) has been the focus of an individual based study in the North Block on the Isle of Rum in the Inner Hebrides since 1971. Since then, over 95% of individuals that use the North Block Study Area have been collared and/or tagged. They have been followed throughout life with information on birth date, birth weight, parental identity, death date and breeding attempts, both successful and unsuccessful, collected. Individual data are also collected on genotype at up to twenty loci / individual and on space use with up to fifty censuses being conduced each year. Detailed weather records and exact estimates of population size and structure exist for each year.