For further information about the project visit http://confobi.uni-freiburg.de/.
For further information about the opportunities, email to Marco Basile.
Best retention forestry practices aimed at bird conservation. Literature review
This review will explore how different degree of retention forestry
mitigate the impact of forest harvest on bird populations. By applying
modern meta-analysis techniques, it will be assessed if the response of
birds to retention forestry follow a gradient or is threshold-dependent.
The suitable student or intern will have an interest in
forest-wildlife-related topics and a willingness to read lot of papers.
The student is expected to be motivated and capable of working
independently. The suitable student or intern will learn how to read
papers properly and dig for useful information.
The influence of landscape structures on occupancy and abundance of forest specialist owls. Field research.
The tawny owl (Strix aluco), the Tengmalm’s owl (Aegolius funereus)
and the pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum) are secondary cavity nesters,
such as they rely on natural holes for nesting. They are true forest
specialists as their typical nest site is only found in forests where
several factors occur: the presence of old and dead trees; the presence
of woodpeckers. Indeed, the presence of open habitat in the surrounding
landscape can increase their reproductive performance, since they can
increase predation on mammals (e.g. voles).
The suitable student or intern will have an interest in
forest-wildlife-related topics and a willingness to work during night
and in bad weather conditions (sometimes) in remote places of the Black
Forest (Autumn 2016). The student is expected to be motivated and
capable of working independently. It is preferred some previous
knowledge about the Black Forest. The suitable student or intern will
learn owl ecology and some bird sampling techniques.
Multi-scale assessment of bird-forest relationships. Field research
Forest passerines, woodpeckers and other forest specialist birds will
be surveyed during Spring 2017 (late-February/mid-June) in the Black
Forest. The thesis will give to the interested student or intern the
possibility to develop an individual research topic and to learn about
bird ecology and field methods. Interested students or interns are
kindly asked to email Marco Basile.
