2019/2020

2019/2020

DM270

BIO/05 (ZOOLOGY)

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

NATURAL SCIENCES

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

2nd semester (02/03/2020 - 12/06/2020)

12

114 lesson hours

Italian

ORAL TEST

MERIGGI ALBERTO (titolare) - 12 ECTS

Acquisition of basic knowledge of Animal Ecology and Ethology;
Use of GIS software, in particular Quantum GIS;
Inferential statistic knowledge, univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses.

The course aims to provide the students with a theoretical-practical approach to the wildlife conservation and sustainable management. It also provides the tools needed to wildlife planning both for conservation and for sustainable harvesting. At the end of the course, students will be able to carry out quantitative estimates of wildlife populations (size and density), assess and predict the population trend, to plan sustainable yeld and numerical control, formulate habitat suitability models by the most advanced methods and to draw up wildlife plans for both hunting and protected areas. All of this is aimed at making students able to identify management options that lead to the conservation of animal biodiversity and to the sustainable use of fauna both for harvesting purposes and for purposes of use without harvesting, following the aims and guideline of the Agenda. 2030, in particular those foreseen under objective 15, in particular points 15.7, 15.8 and 15.a.

The lessons deal with the main aspects of conservation and sustainable management of animal populations. The concepts of: biodiversity, extinctions, conservation at organism-population-ecosystem level, invasions and introductions, reduction of natural biotopes, interventions and their planning, in situ and ex situ interventions, conservation status of the Italian fauna are introduced. The general management problems of the main Vertebrate groups are described, deepening the most problematic species. Wildlife management is treated at the species and population level, with particular regard to the sustainable use of populations subject to harvesting. The methods of management, population monitoring, census techniques, releases (reintroductions, restocking, translocations, introductions), the determination of sustainable yeld, and wildlife planning (wildlife maps, wildlife plans, habitat suitability assessments are described ). The main methods of analysis of wild populations are illustrated, in particular the methods of study of population dynamics, of population viability analysis, trend analysis, study of habitat-population relationships , formulation of environmental suitability models. In addition, strategies for habitat improvement are also dealt with by using tools linked to EU agricultural policy and Rural Development Plans. Finally, a part is dedicated to the health management of fauna.
Program
1) Introduction to wildlife management
- What is meant by wildlife management
- The values ​​of wildlife
- The interdisciplinarity of wildlife management
- The role of correct wildlife management
- The paradigms of conservation
- Design and planning of protected areas

2) Monitoring of populations
- Aims of monitoring animal populations
- Complete censuses
- Census for sampling
- Indirect estimates
- Abundance ratios

3) Analysis of population dynamics
- Growth rate
- Growth curves
- The estimation of demographic parameters
- Density dependence
- Testing for differences between populations and between periods
- Analysis of the population viability
- Trend analysis of populations

4) Population harvesting
- Recreational harvesting
- Commercial harvesting
- Quantitative harvesting
- Culling
- Effects of the harvestingon populations
- Harvesting analyses

5) Population control
- Definitions
- Effects of control
- Purpose of the numerical control
- When to provide the control
- Control methods
- Ethics of control

6) Releases
- Background
- Introductions
- Reintroductions
- Restocking and population reinforcement
- Translocations

7) Habitat use and selection and HSM
- Habitat use and selection
- Methods of habitat selection analysis
- Resource selection functions
- Habitat suitability models
8) Wildlife planning
- Purposes
- Regulation framework
- Structure of the wildlife plans
- The wildlife planning for hunting
- The wildlife plans for parks and protected areas
- Integrations with other land planning tools

9) Habitat improvements for wildlife
- Aims of habitat improvements
- Types of habitat improvement
- Testing the effects on populations
- Improvements and Community agricultural policy


Field exercises
1) Census with different methods
 Spotligth counts
 Call counts of Galliformi (pheasants, grey partridges, red-legged partridge)
 Drive counts of Ungulates (roe deer, wild boar)
 vantage point counts of Ungulates (roe deer, wild boar)
2) Detection of signs of the presence of ungulates and carnivores
3) Radio-tracking on the common hare
4) Visit to the Isonzo Natural Reserve and to areas of wildlife interest in Slovenia (excursion)

Lessons; seminars on specific issues; training on software for population viability analysis, habitat suitability modeling; field excursions.

Wildlife Ecology, Conservation,
and Management
Second Edition
Anthony R.E. Sinclair PhD, FRS
Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada
John M. Fryxell PhD
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph,
Canada
Graeme Caughley PhD
CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
Manuale di gestione della fauna
S. Lovari e F. Riga
Greentime S.p.A. 2016
Ecological Census
Techniques
a handbook
Second Edition
Edited by
WILLIAM J. SUTHERLAND
University of East Anglia
Cambridge University Press 1996, 2006

Oral examination