Wildlife Surveying

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Appreciate the ecological concepts and principles that drive changes in species, habitats and ecosystems and the biotic and abiotic factors (including land use) that affect the size, genetic diversity and viability of wildlife populations
2. Gain insight into methods to collect and analyse data on habitats, animal abundance, genetic diversity, and animal behaviours.
3. Appreciate the need for biological recording schemes, understand and apply appropriate sampling strategies and techniques for a range of species and habitats.
4. Undertake surveys, present and analyse their data. Reporting results to appropriate scientific standards.

This module covers ecological principles but has a strong emphasis on practical skills relevant to careers in applied ecology and conservation. It will involve different surveying projects with an emphasis on efficient study design, data collection and interpretation to generate robust evidence for effective conservation.

The module aims to provide students with key skills to effectively monitor animals, plants and communities in a conservation and management context. Through field surveying and workshops, students will gain practical insights and skills for wildlife assessment and Conservation. They will then be able to place these within the context of ecological and evolutionary processes underpinning natural systems.

This module covers ecological principles but has a strong emphasis on practical skills including species identification as part of field surveys. A background on modern themes in habitat ecology and changes in communities and populations over time are discussed. Communities are not static, but change, often in apparently predictable ways. They may be directed by the sequence of species present (autogenic) or driven by environmental conditions that change over time (allogenic). The main processes that have contributed to a breakdown of many natural systems are considered including Perforation; Dissection; Fragmentation; Shrinkage and Attrition. Within these habitat canvasses exist an array of wildlife that have adapted or are acclimating to their environment. Conservation explores the viability and safeguarding of such biodiversity within them. Using this this context we will explore four field focussed projects developing wildlife surveying skills. Each will explore an environmental problem with a focus on monitoring, understanding species and their interactions. The aim will be to collect, analyse, interpret and report data leading to practical solutions to optimise biodiversity either via intervention or non-intervention management.

This module is at CQFW Level 5