Research

Funding: Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, 50.000 EUR

Project Details:
The projects`main question is if, why and how the welfare of farm animals is connected to the idea of sustainability and if animals`interests are playing a role in the present discussions on sustainability.

Results:

In current sustainability concepts, animals and animal welfare are only indirectly addressed in places, although this preliminary study has shown that their inclusion is socially desirable or even demanded. The extent to which the anthropocentric sustainability goals and the welfare of farm animals can be meaningfully linked will be the subject of a follow-up project.

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 116.300 EUR

Project Details:
Neozoa are alien or non-native animal species that have been directly or indirectly introduced into a new habitat by humans. Intentional and unintentional introductions pose a threat to biodiversity worldwide. One prominent example is the raccoon. This problem is well known and is taken into account in Germany, for example, in the Federal Nature Conservation Act and the National Biodiversity Strategy. However, it is often unclear how introduced animal species should be dealt with. Prevention is the top priority. The aim is to prevent new species from being introduced and spreading. However, depending on the species and the invasiveness assessment by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, animals are also removed and killed. This leads to a conflict between animal welfare, species protection and environmental protection. Although animal-related issues are usually discussed very emotionally, this problem has so far only been partially recognized by the public. For this reason, this area of conflict will be addressed during the project and discussed with various interest groups. The focus will be on two projects of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, which deal with the introduction of the nutria, originally from South America.

Results:

Gethöffer, F.; Kirberg, S.; Schöttes, F.; Siebert, U. Der Umgang mit Neozoen: ein gesellschaftlicher Diskurs. Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung 2022, 54 (6), 30-36. https://doi.org/10.1399/NuL.2022.06.03.

https://doi.org/10.1399/NuL.2022.06.03

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 49.945 EUR

Project Details:
Modul 1: Online-Betreuungsmodul im Lernmanagementsystem Moodle
- Moderiertes Forum und online-Frage-Sprechstunden
- Studierende können Fallbeispiele aus ihrem Praktikum hochladen, die vom Betreuer geprüft und beantwortet, kommentiert und dann bei Eignung dem gesamten Kurs zur Verfügung gestellt werden
- Selbstlernangebot durch Bereitstellung von begleitenden Materialien (Skript, Gesetzestexte, Bildmaterial, Fallbeispiele, Anleitung zur Reflexion und Achtsamkeit und zu Resilienztraining)
Modul 2: Offline-Betreuungsmodul unter anderem vor Ort im Schlachthof
-Fokusgruppengespräch mit Studierenden (Bedarfsermittlung)
-Besuch der Studierenden in ihren Praktikumsstätten über einen Zeitraum von 8 Monaten (diverse Schlachthöfe)
-Leitfadengestützte Interviews mit Studierenden im Schlachthof (Situationen und Fragestellungen werden aufgearbeitet und dokumentiert)

Funding: Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie, 113.000 EUR

Project Details:
Ziel des Projektes ist die Erlangung von Erkenntnissen,
- ob die Laichfischbestände in KHV Risikogebieten nachweislich latent mit KHV infiziert sind,
- ob die Infektion serologisch nachweisbar ist,
- wie das Virusgenom eingeordnet werden kann (ggf. Genomsequenzierung),
- ob bei infizierten Laichfischen das Virus auch in den Geschlechtsprodukten (Eier und Spermien) nachweisbar ist,
- inwieweit latent infizierte Laichkarpfen bzw. Laichkarpfen aus Seuchenbetrieben (Kat. V) das KHV über natürliche Laichverfahren an die Nachkommenschaft übertragen,
- inwieweit die Brut von latent infizierten Karpfen bzw. von Laichkarpfen aus Seuchenbetrieben (Kat. V) eine gesteigerte Resistenz für die Erkrankung aufweist bzw. eine Infektionsgefahr für nicht infizierte, Karpfenbestände darstellt

Cooperation Partners:

Sächsische Tierseuchenkasse, Fischgesundheitsdienst

Sächsisches Landesamt fü Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie, Referat Fischerei

Funding: Drittmittelprojekt, gefördert durch die Dr. Eberhard Lienhop Stiftung., 9.600 EUR

Project Details:
Within this project, silages are investigated as a potential source of Listeria monocytogenes entering the food chain. Different silages are collected and classified chemically and sensorically. Subsequently, the silages are analyzed for the occurrence of pathogenic and apathogenic Listeria spp. Additionally Listeria-specific bacteriophages are isolated. Aim of the study is the characterization of the matrix silage as well as testing the efficacy and stability of individual bacteriophages against Listeria field strains in vitro.

Results:

Publikationen:

1. Poster Abstract: Nievert L, Becker A, Kittler S, Plötz M, Visscher C Untersuchungen zur Silagequalität und -mikrobiologie in norddeutschen Rinderbetrieben.61. Arbeitstagung des Arbeitsgebietes Lebensmittelsicherheit und Verbraucherschutz 2021, Garmisch-Patenkirchen

Funding: University of Iceland's Research Center in Húsavík, 43.611 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of this project is to assess hearing abilities and adaptations in marine animals as a part of a broad, comparative study examining how animals use acoustic signals and cues. In cooperation with the University of Iceland’s Research center the hearing of stranded, wild caught and aquarium-housed fishes, birds, marine mammals and turtles will be measured. In order to assist in assessing hearing capabilities and possible impairments, the measurements will be determined in rehabilitation facilities, research facilities and in the field. In addition to aiding treatment decisions, this work will assist the understanding of how these animals use and are affected by ocean noise.

The specific objectives of this study include:
1.Conduct field-based, in-air evoked potential audiograms to address the initial sensitivity, and potential species differences of three Auk species.
2.Establish the in-air psychophysical (behavioral) audiograms of 1-3 Auk species.
3.Establish the underwater psychophysical (behavioral) audiograms of 1-3 Auk species.
4.Compare psychological and behavioral methods, and underwater vs. air results to evaluate the best means to quantify Auk hearing, setting the foundation for future noise-exposure studies
5.Determine the levels at which Auks show temporary threshold shift (TTS) responses to sonar.

Results:

Hansen, KA, Hernandez, A, Mooney, TA, Rasmussen, M, Sørensen, K and Wahlberg, M. 2020. Common murres (Uria aalge) react to underwater noise. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 147: 4069-4074. doi: 10.1121/10.0001400 

https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0001400

Cooperation Partners:

University of Iceland's Research Center in Húsavík, Dr. Marianne Rasmussen

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur (MWK), 49.976 EUR

Project Details:
Ein neuartiges virtuelles Lehrmodul zum selbstgesteuerten Erlernen von Bestandstiermedizin auf Milchkuhbetrieben wird für Studierende der Veterinärmedizin der Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover entwickelt und erprobt. Auf dem virtuellen Milchkuhbetrieb werden die Studierenden in der Rolle des bestandsbetreuenden Tierarztes mit Hilfe von Learning Nuggets (Mikrolearning-Formaten) wichtige Grundlagen der Bestandstiermedizin aus den Kernthemenbereichen Haltung, Fütterung, Tiergesundheit und betriebliches Management erlernen können, um praxisrelevante Fragestellungen zu lösen.

Funding: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 41.976 EUR

Project Details:
In this project, the activity fluxes of indicator virus aerosols are measured under different parameter settings in gas flow apparatus.

Funding: DZIF, 200.000 EUR

Project Details:
Die Impfstoffentwicklung gegen COVID-19 ist von höchster Dringlichkeit, wofür es jedoch zunächst einiger prä-klinischer Experimente bedarf, bevor Studien im Menschen angewandt werden können. MVA-SARS-CoV-2 Impfstoffe sollen hierfür im Tiermodell auf Sicherheit und Immunogenität getestet werden. Dabei soll das Hamstermodell im Vordergrund stehen, da Hamster ein ähnlich aufgebautes ACE-2 Protein exprimieren und sich darüber hinaus schon in der SARS-CoV-1 Forschung als Tiermodell bewährt haben.

Funding: Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung, 42.766 EUR

Project Details:
Two populations of harbour porpoise occur in the coastal waters of the German Baltic Sea, of which the "Western Belts Sea population" is significantly larger than the "Central Belts Sea population", which is considered to be in danger of extinction. The habitat of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea is intensively affected by human activities and factors that can have a negative impact on harbour porpoise populations. These include commercial shipping, tourist recreational activities, seismic surveys, military activities, fishing, offshore construction, blasting of munitions waste, chemical and pharmaceutical pollution and marine litter. Due to the desired energy turnaround and the accompanying expansion of wind energy, numerous wind farms have already been built in German sea areas in recent years and many more are still planned. There are still large quantities of munitions from the Second World War in the Baltic Sea. In order to exclude any danger to people and machinery, these munitions are often blasted in a controlled manner. These blasts generate very high sound energy levels in the low-frequency range, which can propagate over long distances and have a negative effect on marine mammals. The reception of high sound levels, e.g. during pile driving or blasting, can lead to disturbances in the porpoise's feeding activity or even to hearing injuries. In the Baltic Sea in particular, harbour porpoises continue to be threatened by fishing with gillnets, in which harbour porpoises can end up as unintentional bycatch. In order to warn harbour porpoises of set gillnets, acoustic warning devices are increasingly being used in the German Baltic Sea to warn harbour porpoises of nets. These warning devices (Porpoise Alert = PAL) simulate the communication sound of porpoises. Whether these devices lead to a reduction in bycatch has not yet been conclusively investigated. There is also currently no accompanying research to investigate whether these devices lead to a displacement of harbour porpoises.
Harbour porpoises from the North and Baltic Seas are likely to be in poorer health than animals from Arctic waters, which are currently hardly exposed to anthropogenic factors, as a result of high pressure from human factors. Studies on reproductive capacity and age structure have shown that the mean age at death of female harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea is only 3.67 (±0.3) years, although harbour porpoises can live 20-25 years. Since females do not reach sexual maturity until they are 4.95 (±0.6) years old, early mortality is serious in terms of population development. Only through continuous monitoring can trends in the occurrence of harbour porpoises be detected.
The aim of this study is to investigate the habitat use of harbour porpoises in the western part of the Baltic Sea by means of "passive acoustic monitoring". For this purpose, harbour porpoise click detectors (C-PODs) will be deployed at a total of four positions to detect the presence of harbour porpoises. The measuring positions are to cover the area of the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic Sea that has not been covered by continuous monitoring so far.

Results:

Report only German

https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/fachinhalte/A/artenschutz/meeressaeuger