Research

Funding: UKSH, Institut für Toxikologie und Pharmakologie für Naturwissenschaftler, Kiel, 8.404 EUR

Project Details:
Samples of bycaught common eiders from the danish Baltic Sea, which undergo post-mortem examinations at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, are provisioned for toxicological analysis at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel.
At the Institute for Toxicology and Pharmacology for Natural Scientists, organ samples of liver, kidneys, muscle, brain and fat as well as bile are analysed for residues of explosive compounds of dumped munition. These are 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) and its derivates, which have been detected in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) in other studies. The examination of common eider tissues will allow to draw conclusions about possible accumulation in the trophic chain.

Results:

https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12152002

Funding: Aarhus University, DK, 4.451 EUR

Project Details:
On behalf of Aarhus University (Denmark), data on abundance and distribution of marine mammals have been collected annually since 2012. Five Natura 2000 sites in the Danish North Sea and Skagerrak were surveyed in 2021. The main target species was the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). The flight surveys were conducted by Aarhus University and followed the line transect survey method. ITAW was commissioned to quality assure and evaluate the data collected.

Results:

For the individual study areas, densities and abundances of harbour porpoises could be estimated and the inaccuracies (95% confidence intervals and coefficient of variation (CV)) associated with the estimation were determined. The processed data and results were submitted to the client.

Funding: Bundesamt für Gewässerkunde, Koblenz, 29.583 EUR

Project Details:
Dietary analysis of otters found dead are the subject of this study. Relevant otters where dissected as part of a previous project that aimed at investigating anticoagulant rodenticides (rat poison) in predators. During necropsies, all stomachs and the intestinal content of otters was sampled, if available. Continuing, all remains found in the gastrointestinal tracts of the otters were specially prepared to allow identification of prey species. Two methods will be used therein: hard part analysis, which targets visible bones, scales etc., and metabarcoding, which identifies prey species genetically. In combination, both methods together will create a realistic overview of the prey spectrum of otters from Lower Saxony. All results will be presented as a short report.

Results:

The results of the hard component analysis confirm fish as the most frequently eaten prey class of otters in Lower Saxony. Furthermore, components of amphibians, plants, arthropods, and very sporadically of birds, mammals and molluscs were detected in the stomachs. The Cyprinidae family was the most frequently identified fish family. That otters are opportunistic predators that feed on a variety of fish species depending on availability in their range (Kruuk, 2006; Buglione et al., 2020) was confirmed by the metabarcoding results. The study was able to show that the combination of hard component analysis and metabarcoding is suitable to break down and describe the feeding ecology of otters in Lower Saxony. While metabarcoding could identify fish species that would otherwise have been overlooked, hard component analysis could provide estimates of the number of prey eaten.

Funding: Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS), 4.994 EUR

Project Details:
The Quality Status Report (QSR) is commissioned by the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS). The report is published at regular intervals and provides information on the current status of the Wadden Sea. In order to be able to present the human impact on this sensitive ecosystem, the latest results from science and research are compiled. The authors are experts from different research disciplines from the three countries over which the Wadden Sea extends - Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. There are different reports on the various main topics. ITAW coordinated the report for the state of marine mammals.

Results:

https://qsr.waddensea-worldheritage.org/reports/marine-mammals

Funding: Aarhus University, DK, 9.736 EUR

Project Details:
In 2021, data on the abundance and distribution of marine mammals were to be collected as part of an environmental impact assessment. The study area is located in the Kattegat near the Danish island of Hesselø. A new offshore wind farm is to be built there. The main target species of the present survey was the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).
The flight surveys were conducted by Aarhus University and followed the line transect method. In total, the area was surveyed three times in 2021. ITAW was commissioned by Aarhus University to accompany the planning and organisation of the new survey and to quality assure and evaluate the collected data.

Results:

For the three surveys of the study area, densities and abundances of harbour porpoises were estimated and the inaccuracies (95% confidence intervals and coefficient of variation (CV)) associated with the estimation were determined. The processed data and results were submitted to the client.

Funding: MELUND, 19.177 EUR

Project Details:
Since 2002, ITAW has been conducting flight-based surveys for harbour porpoises in the EEZ and the 12sm zone of the North Sea. A dedicated monitoring of harbour porpoises in the North Sea and Baltic Sea has been carried out in projects of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) since 2008. Within the framework of this survey and monitoring, valuable data series on the spatio-temporal occurrence and density of harbour porpoises could be collected including the area of the whale sanctuary in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park.
ITAW also has proven expertise in bioacoustics and acoustic monitoring of cetaceans. Click Detectors (C-PODs) have already been used in numerous projects to study harbour porpoise habitat use and the effects of offshore wind farm construction and operation on harbour porpoises. The LKN POD monitoring has been operated by ITAW since 2011 and valuable data on acoustic harbour porpoise activity could also be collected in the area of the whale sanctuary in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea.
The aim of the project is to evaluate the whale sanctuary in terms of occurrence, abundance, seasonality and importance of the whale sanctuary as a habitat for harbour porpoises for feeding and as a calving and breeding area.
For this purpose, the following data sources are to be evaluated in depth:
a) Dedicated visual surveys to record harbour porpoise abundance in the German North Sea (12 nm plus EEZ);
b) Modelled density area maps to determine model-based abundance;
c) Acoustic monitoring of harbour porpoises using stationary click detectors (C-PODs) in the Wadden Sea.

Results:

Abschlußbericht im Auftrag des Landesbetriebes für Küstenschutz, Nationalpark und Meeresschutz Schleswig-

Holstein (LKN.SH) und des Ministeriums für Energiewende, Klimaschutz, Umwelt und Natur

(MEKUN)

https://www.tiho-hannover.de/fileadmin/57_79_terr_aqua_Wildtierforschung/79_Buesum/downloads/Berichte/Walschutzgebiet_Bericht_ITAW_20221012_final.pdf

Funding: Ministerium für Energiewende,Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, 62.000 EUR

Project Details:
The project carried out for the Ministry for Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitalisation (MELUND) aims to record the development of the health status of wild harbour seals in Schleswig-Holstein. A distinction is made between live and dead monitoring.
In the course of the live monitoring, the State Agency for Coastal Protection, National Park and Marine Conservation (LKN) finances seal captures on the Lorenzensplate. Here, the seals are caught alive, fixed in tube nets and measured lengthwise for an approximate size reference. In addition, blood and swab samples are taken from the seals for further examination. After the examination and sampling, the animals are released.
For the monitoring of dead seals, seals found dead or killed for animal welfare reasons are brought from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the ITAW in Büsum, where they are autopsied. The autopsies serve to record data on morphometry and population structure as well as to examine the health status of the individuals. In addition, the causes of disease and, if possible, the causes of death are recorded. After the macroscopic examination, organ samples are also examined histopathologically. In addition, samples are taken for further examinations, which include bacteriology and virology, but also toxicology and screening for microplastic particles.
Since ITAW has been monitoring both live and dead seals for several years, the investigations described above provide a good overview of the current health of the seal populations in the North Sea and Baltic Sea and how it compares to previous years. In addition, the studies serve to address a wide range of other questions. For example, human influences on the marine mammals can be investigated or the occurrence of important infectious and potentially dangerous zoonotic pathogens can be monitored.
The cooperation of the ITAW staff with the so-called seal hunters is fundamental to the existence of the project. These work on a voluntary basis for the state of Schleswig-Holstein and are often the first people to contact when sick seals are found on the beach. They are trained by the ITAW in cooperation with the administration of the Wadden Sea National Park and the Friedrichskoog Seal Station so that they can decide independently whether the seals need help. If there is no prospect of recovery and a further life in the wild for the seals due to serious illness or injury, the seal hunters can release the animals from their suffering.

Results:

Untersuchungen zum Gesundheitszustand von Seehunden

in Schleswig-Holstein im Jahr 2021

Bericht an das Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung des Landes Schleswig-Holstein und den Landesbetrieb für Küstenschutz, Nationalpark und Meeresschutz Schleswig-Holstein

https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/fachinhalte/A/artenschutz/Downloads/seehundbericht2021.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2

Funding: Industry (Feed manifacturing) , 22.000 EUR

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur (MWK), 50.000 EUR

Project Details:
One of the key evolutionary events of life on earth is the emergence of organisms that use multiple cell types for the division of labour. How this occurred and how multicellular organisms (metazoans) establish and maintain an organized architecture is yet poorly understood. As a consequence, malfunctions of epithelial tissue organization and architecture, like cancer growth, are even more poorly understood. Modern technical innovations and the synergy of multiple scientific fields, including evolutionary biology, space research and cancer genetics have recently opened completely new opportunities to address the genetic control of tissue organisation in metazoans and to better understand regulatory malfunctions, including the origin of cancer cells in humans.
The key biological tool to generate normal epithelial architecture is through the control of asymmetry at the cell and organism level. This is coordinated by a highly conserved set of proteins known as cell polarity regulators. Importantly, the cell polarity complexes Scribble, Par and Crumbs complexes are considered to be a metazoan innovation with apicobasal polarity and adherens junctions believed to be present in all animals. As disorganisation of tissue architecture is a hallmark of epithelial cancer and its repair is critical for organ regeneration, a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms regulating tissue architecture should provide key insights into human health.
We have been developing the simplest of all metazoan animals, the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens,into a powerful model system to study the genetics behind cell polarity regulation in vivo and in full depth. In Trichoplax the genetics underlying cell polarity regulation is substantially less clouded than in humans, e.g. the number of to be tested regulatory gene interactions is more than 800 times smaller (although all principal gene families for building epithelial tissue polarity are already present in Trichoplax). Preliminary experiments have shown that we are able to experimentally disrupt polarity orientation in growing Trichoplax by removing gravity as the physical stimulus in a micro-gravity chamber. We have thus brought together an international team of experts for (i) the model system Trichoplax adehaerens, (ii) cell polarity genetics, (iii) microgravity space science, and (iv) cancer research. Our initial experiments indicate that as a team we will be able to experimentally introduce cell polarity loss in space flights, identify the genetic control of the off-set of cell polarity, experimentally test candidate regulatory gene interactions for polarity offset, rebuild protein effectors and test these in human cancer cell lines. Clearly the synergy of biological, physical and medical science approaches is more than the sum of the components. Here it can not only lead to a better understanding of the organisation of tissue architecture but it can also prepare the grounds for sensitive assays of cell malfunctions leading to cancer. As a long-shot even the development of vaccines against cancer in humans seems in range.

Cooperation Partners:

1) Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum (DLR);

2) LaTrobe University, Medical School, Melbourne, Australia

3) Yale University, Yale Genomics Center, New Haven, USA

4) Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain

5) Université de Lyon, Centre de recherche en cancérologie, France

Funding: Industry (Veterinary pharmaceuticals/Vaccines), 489.252 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.