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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Data collected by enthusiastic volunteers can be extremely useful for researchers, particularly when studying Britain’s little understood mammals. At the ‘Ecology Across Borders’ conference in Ghent, Belgium this week, researchers will share their experience of working with members of the public to create a network of motion-sensing camera traps for wildlife monitoring.
From red foxes, roe deer and badgers to rabbits and grey squirrels, the team has amassed over 160,000 volunteer-captured wildlife images to date, providing valuable information on the diversity and distribution of mammals, many of which are nocturnal.
Mammal Web is a citizen science platform led by Durham Wildlife Trust and ecologists from Durham University, and supported by the British Ecological Society, which was launched in northeast England in 2015 and has since had photo contributions from volunteers in Scotland, Sussex and Oxfordshire.
Citizens even provided data leading to the capture of a non-native invasive species in Sunderland and that helped inform plans for a Local Nature Reserve in County Durham. Informing and influencing local conservation policies is a key part of this large-scale study.
Project co-leader Pen-Yuan Hsing from Durham University says: “Mammals can be very elusive. They often come out at night and in small numbers, which makes it hard to monitor their populations. There are only so many ecologists in the field and they cannot afford to sit in one spot until an animal passes by. Citizen scientists can make a real contribution and help us fill in some of the gaps.”
“Camera traps are a discreet and affordable tool to observe mammals over long periods of time. The images tell us a lot about how animals are distributed and how they behave. Over time, we can use the data to study daily, seasonal and annual changes, and to better understand the animals’ relationships to each other and their habitat.”
Members of the public can contribute in several ways. ‘Trappers’ set up their own cameras to monitor wildlife in the woods or fields near their homes. Once the photos are uploaded to www.mammalweb.org, ‘Spotters’ collectively classify the animals to ensure the data is accurate.
“Many participants were surprised by the kinds of animals that show up in their neighbourhoods in the middle of the night, which encouraged them to continue camera trapping. Initiatives like ours increase the public’s awareness of their local wildlife and enhance civic engagement, which is unlikely to have been achieved with classroom learning.”
Pen-Yuan Hsing will talk about the team’s work at the ‘Ecology Across Borders’ annual meeting in Ghent on Tuesday, 12 December 2017.
This year’s conference is jointly organised by the British Ecological Society, Gesellschaft für Ökologie (the Ecological Society of Germany, Switzerland and Austria), and Dutch-Flemish Ecological Society (NecoV), in association with the European Ecological Federation, bringing together 1,500 ecologists from around 60 countries to discuss the latest advances in ecological research across the whole discipline.
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Notes to Editors
Links to ressources:
MammalWeb: http://www.mammalweb.org
Joint annual meeting of GfÖ, BES, NecoV and EEF:
http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/annual-meeting-2017/
For information about this study and/or to arrange an interview with the speaker, please contact:
Pen-Yuan Hsing, Durham University, Email: penyuanhsing@posteo.is; Mobile: +44 (0)7447 658 113
For more information on the meeting, high-resolution images or to request press access, please contact:
Juliane Röder, Press Officer, Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Email: presse@gfoe.org, Tel: +49 (0)6421 28 23381, Mobile: +49 (0)179 64 68 958
High-resolution images are available on request.
The ‘Joint Annual Meeting: Ecology Across Borders’ is taking place at ICC Ghent, Belgium from 11-14 December 2017. The full programme is available here: https://eventmobi.com/eab2017/
Follow the event on social media #EAB2017
About the Gesellschaft für Ökologie
The Gesellschaft für Ökologie e.V. (GfÖ) represents ecologists working on basic research, applied aspects and education, mostly from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was founded in 1970 to support exchange among ecologists working on a wide range of topics and positions. The diversity of the society’s over 1,150 members is reflected in the GfÖ’s specialist groups, publications and annual meetings. gfoe.org @GfOe_org
About the British Ecological Society
Founded in 1913, the British Ecological Society (BES) is the oldest ecological society in the world. The BES promotes the study of ecology through publishing a range of scientific literature, organising and sponsoring a wide variety of events, education initiatives and policy work. The society has over 6,000 members from nearly 130 different countries. britishecologicalsociety.org @BritishEcolSoc
About the Dutch-Flemish Ecological Society
The Dutch-Flemish Ecological Society (NecoV) was created by the merger of two ecological associations in the Dutch-Flemish language region, and aims to promote fundamental and applied ecology in the Netherlands and in Flanders, to promote national and international cooperation between ecologists, and to promote responsible management of the biosphere. NecoV organises meetings, symposia, seminars, courses, thematic working groups and other ecologically oriented activities. necov.org
About the European Ecological Federation
The European Ecological Federation (EEF) is the umbrella organisation representing the ecological societies within Europe and associated members. Instead of an individual membership, application process membership is granted automatically to members of a national society already represented in the EEF. The European Ecological Federation enables cooperation between ecological societies in order to promote the science of ecology in Europe. europeanecology.org @EuropeanEcology
http://www.mammalweb.org
http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/annual-meeting-2017/
https://eventmobi.com/eab2017/
The camera traps are working in the night, too. In this case capturing two arguing foxes.
Photo: MammalWeb (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Citizen scientists learned to set up and operate camera-traps by themselves.
Photo: MammalWeb (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten, Wissenschaftler
Biologie, Gesellschaft, Pädagogik / Bildung, Tier / Land / Forst, Umwelt / Ökologie
überregional
Forschungsergebnisse, wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung
Englisch
The camera traps are working in the night, too. In this case capturing two arguing foxes.
Photo: MammalWeb (CC BY-SA 4.0)
None
Citizen scientists learned to set up and operate camera-traps by themselves.
Photo: MammalWeb (CC BY-SA 4.0)
None
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