832308 Introduction into wildlife research methods

Type
Lecture and exercise
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Nopp-Mayr, Ursula , Schöll, Eva Maria
Organisation
Offered in
Sommersemester 2025
Languages of instruction
Deutsch
Content

Working hypotheses, reasonable questions, methodology and material; scientific honesty and good practice; methods of recording; focus animals and groups of animals; activity budgets, supply and use; questions of parameterization; data collection from maps, planning documents and air survey photographs; data on climate and weather, structural photographs; optical equipment and night sight devices; range finders (coincidence telemeter, electronic and other telemeters), altimeters and arboreal altimeters; methods of position finding in the landscape (incl. GPS); catching and marking of wildlife animals; immobilization (stuffed preparations and devices); use of radio devices, radio telemetry: basic principles, transmitter, receiver, antennae, working methods (bio-radio-telemetry, radio tracking, radio telemetric localization, automatic registration, GPS and satellite telemetry); legal questions concerning catching and marking game; radio telemetry, immobilization etc. photo and video traps in the visible a well as in the IR range and others.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

The course aims at students of higher semesters, working for their final diplomas, their theses (forest-managers, agriculturists, landscape-designers, zoologists, biologists and the like) who want to work with wildlife species. The course should present different methods of research and of monitoring in the field to the attending students. Students should learn about basic technical principles of miscellaneous methods and devices (e.g. night viewer devices, data collection from maps and air survey photographs, position finding and surveying measurements in the landscape, structural photographs, collection of climatic data, radio telemetry and the like). In addition to that, students will be informed about the numerous legal conditions for the different devices and methods. The exercises aim at practical use of the different devices and equipment. In that way students are supposed to lose their fear of using technical equipment and of performance characteristics. Students should be encouraged to choose suitable methods and equipment as well as reasonable data accuracy and they should practice checking and adjusting measuring devices.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.