In strict nature reserves and core zones of protected areas hunting and forestry operations are often restricted or banned. However, regarding the management of Wild boar, such hunt-free zones are discussed controversially and can lead to conflict. Hunters whose areas border no-hunting zones (and who have to reimburse farmers for crop damages caused by Wild boar) are concerned that the boars may evade effective population management by staying within the limits of the no-hunting zone, and farmers fear increased crop damage in the surroundings of such areas. Some conservationists are also concerned because Wild boars increasingly root protected habitats and can cause damage to rare plant assemblies. The three-year project Wild boar problem in the vicinity of protected areas by the Game Research Institute (Wildforschungsstelle) at the Centre for Agriculture Baden-Württemberg (LAZBW) aims at investigating if and how no-hunting zones might affect Wild boar activity, movement patterns, home range size, and habitat use, as well as crop damage caused by boars, by comparing these aspects between hunting-free zones and unprotected areas. Although there have already been a number of telemetry studies on Wild boar, including space use in the context of hunting activity, to date there is no study that has specifically investigated spatial and ecological aspects in and around protected areas. My dissertation Ecology of Wild boar Sus scrofa in the vicinity of protected areas is being carried out within the scope of the Game Research Institutes project and apart from the aims outlined above, further aspects of Wild boar ecology will be investigated, especially the role of Wild boar as bio-engineer and habitat creator for other species vs. unwanted damages at protected sites. Twenty-seven Vectronic GPS-GSM satellite collars with integrated activity sensors are available to tag Wild boars in three study areas: the non-protected Altdorfer Forest near Aulendorf with regular hunting activity and forestry, the nature reserve Wurzacher Ried with its ca. 700 ha core zone that is a strict reserve with no human activity, and the Biosphere Reserve Swabian Jura, especially in the surroundings of the former military training area near Münsingen and the 170 ha no-usage-area Föhrenberg.
Ecosystem changes in response to climate change include pole ward shifts in geographical distribution. These changes are largely driven by environmental temperature in combination with other threats, such as decreasing oxygen levels in the world oceans. It might explain the recent findings of king crabs in Antarctic waters. Eggs and planktonic larvae, which are instrumental in shaping contemporary species distribution, are likely the most vulnerable life stages to such (geophysical, biochemical) changes. In addition to ocean warming the recent increase of hypoxic areas (dead zones) around coastal regions further compounds the problem by reducing the availability of soluble oxygen and higher temperatures in the oceans. Higher temperatures increase the oxygen consumption of marine animals and at the same time there is less oxygen dissolved in warmer sea water. The understanding of how early life stages will respond to these changes at a cellular and ecosystem level are crucial for predicting temperature and/or low dissolved oxygen (DO) induced Antarctic invasion of new species and shifts in species distribution in general. Given the paucity of studies investigating these aspects, this project will therefore investigate physiological reactions of varying life stages with special focus on eggs and early larvae considering the often neglected important issue such as parental investment and resulting ontogenetic variability in lipid and protein contents and its implications for larval fitness. In order to test the temperature and hypoxia tolerance in varying life stages and its implications for Antarctic invasion, I propose the following working hypotheses using reptant decapod species as a model group:1) The thermal tolerance window of eggs, measured from the cellular to the organismic level, is smaller in comparison to larvae, males and egg carrying females. Therefore, the life stage 'egg' will determine the distribution limits of the species.2) The thermal tolerance of eggs and larvae will be decreased by low DO in sea water3) The parental investment is dependent on temperature and low DO levels negatively affect the development and fitness of hatching larvae.4) The environmental conditions during egg development have an impact on larval fitness and recruitment in the field. The proposal aims to identify the most sensitive life stage of a species and will allow the first viable measurement of the relative vulnerability of early life stages (eggs and hatching larvae) to synergistic effects of temperature and low DO. It is expected that the external stress due to climate change will affect egg development and result in deceased larval fitness forcing species to shift their distribution limits pole wards and invade Antarctic waters.
Die Küsten- und Schelfmeerregionen unserer Erde unterliegen einem ständigen globalen Wandel. Die zunehmende wirtschaftliche Nutzung dieser Regionen in Verbindung mit Veränderungen der natürlichen Umwelt, beispielsweise dem globalen Meeresspiegelanstieg, stellt unsere Gesellschaft vor neue Herausforderungen. Dies bedarf neuer Strategien zur nachhaltigen Nutzung und Entwicklung der Küsten- und Schelfmeerregionen. Entsprechende Planungen erfordern eine interdisziplinäre und internationale Zusammenarbeit in den verschiedensten betroffenen Wissenschaftsfeldern, um die Veränderungen in der natürlichen Umwelt und in der Gesellschaft der Küstenregionen zu analysieren, zu verstehen, vorherzusagen und - wenn nötig - abzumildern.
Das deutsch-neuseeländische Graduiertenkolleg wird zu dieser Aufgabe beitragen, indem es junge Graduierte zu fachlich qualifizierten, selbstständig und interdisziplinär denkenden sowie in die internationale Forschung eingebundenen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern ausbildet. Neben Schwerpunkten aus den Naturwissenschaften sollen auch assoziierte Fragestellungen aus dem Bereich der Sozial- und Rechtswissenschaften bearbeitet werden. Neben dem fachspezifischen Wissen werden diesen jungen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern zusätzliche Fachkenntnisse und Erfahrungen im Projektmanagement zur weiteren Berufsqualifikation vermittelt.
Im internationalen Graduiertenkolleg arbeiten 13 junge Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler an verschiedensten Themen aus dem Bereich der Meereswissenschaften an der Universität Bremen. Diese Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden werden aber auch ca. ein Drittel ihrer dreijährigen Promotionszeit an der Universität Waikato in Neuseeland verbringen. Dies ermöglicht es ihnen, mit einigen der besten Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler auf ihrem Arbeitsgebiet zu arbeiten, zu lernen und zu publizieren. Im Austausch werden die neuseeländischen Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden für ca. ein Jahr an der Universität Bremen forschen.
Ziel des Graduiertenkollegs ist es, eine neue Generation international ausgerichteter junger Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler auszubilden, die über ihre eigene Disziplin hinausblickend für die Herausforderungen der Zukunft und den Arbeitsmarkt vorbereitet sind.