Research

Funding: Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung, 50.000 EUR

Project Details:
In this pilot study, the importance of permanent landscape elements such as ditches, roadsides and hedges as well as additional measures such as flower strips and fallow land for the spatio-temporal behavior of different predator and prey species will be comparatively investigated.
Studies on hare and pheasant show a strong, negative influence of predators, especially during the breeding and rearing phase. Thus, predation is of great importance for the population structure during the course of the year as well as with regard to the current population situation and long-term population development. In this context, the importance of permanent landscape elements as well as of additionally created measure areas, which are also used by hare and pheasant, for the space-time behavior of different predator species (e.g. red fox, stone marten, raccoon dog, domestic cat) will be investigated in more detail. In comparison to the space-use behavior of prey species (e.g. brown hare, pheasant) in the same hunting grounds, this can provide valuable insights into overlaps between the staging areas of predators and prey.
To test the feasibility of a larger-scale follow-up study, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and brown hares (Lepus europaeus) will be studied as model organisms for the predator and prey species. For this purpose, the animals will be equipped with different telemetry transmitters to record space use as well as diurnal behavior, disturbance, injury and killing potential. From this, first statements on the probability of encounter and effects on habitat selection between predators and prey can be made.

Results:

Abschlußbericht 2021

https://www.tiho-hannover.de/fileadmin/57_79_terr_aqua_Wildtierforschung/79_Buesum/downloads/Berichte/2021_Praedatorenbericht.pdf

Funding: Bundesamt für Gewässerkunde, Koblenz, 16.588 EUR

Project Details:
In this project dead otters from Lower Saxony will be autopsied and examined. In this context, the parameters age, sex, nutritional status and primary cause of death will be determined, as far as the conservation status allows. In addition to a macroscopic examination, histological sections of the livers in particular will be prepared and examined in order to determine any changes. Furthermore, homogenized sample material from the removed liver tissue will be provided by the BFG for chemical analyses and fat determination. Furthermore, the BFG will be provided with already processed otter liver samples from the otter mortality monitoring Schleswig-Holstein, for chemical analyses and fat determination.
A summary of the diagnostic findings and the discovery data, i.e. location and date of discovery, conservation status, and, if applicable, information on the cause of death, will be provided in report form.

Results:

Report on the commission "Provision of tissue samples from otters from Lower Saxony for chemical residue analyses".

https://www.tiho-hannover.de/fileadmin/57_79_terr_aqua_Wildtierforschung/79_Buesum/downloads/Berichte/Fischotterbericht_Rodentizide_Dez_2020_Gewebeproben_BfG.pdf

Funding: BfN (Deutschland) Der deutsche Beitrag war Teil einer Aufstockung im Projekt TopMarine Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Dänemark) Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Schweden), 28.908 EUR

Project Details:
Joint survey by Denmark, Germany and Sweden
The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is the most abundant cetacean species occurring year-round in both the North Sea and Baltic Sea. In the Baltic Sea region and the North Sea, three distinct populations of harbour porpoises are recognised: (1) the Baltic Proper population in the inner Baltic Sea, (2) the Belt Sea population in the western Baltic Sea, Belt Sea, the Sound and southern Kattegat, and (3) the North Sea population, which occurs from the northern Kattegat, through Skagerrak to the entire North Sea. The three populations are genetically and morphologically distinct. Furthermore, satellite telemetry and passive acoustic monitoring studies have demonstrated limited exchange and geographic overlap between the North Sea and Belt Sea populations, and between the Belt Sea and the Baltic Proper populations. These findings have led to the suggestion of defined summer management borders, which should be used when monitoring the Belt Sea population.
In the EU, the Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43/EEC) demands that all member states protect the harbour porpoise in its entire natural range, and designate Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) as part of the Natura 2000 network. Furthermore, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) (Directive 2008/56/EC) emphasises the need for cross-border monitoring of a wide-ranging species, such as the harbour porpoise. Consequently, management programmes will have to include monitoring not only of porpoise abundance within the designated Natura 2000 sites, but also of the entire biological population to detect any changes in absolute abundance. In order to assess and report on the status of the population in time with the six-year reporting cycle of the Habitats Directive and also of MSFD, the abundance and distribution surveys should be conducted approximately every six years.

The waters inhabited by the Belt Sea population were so far assessed few times and in irregular intervals since the 1990s. The first dedicated survey of the population was carried out in 2012 and was termed MiniSCANS. In 2020, Germany, Denmark and Sweden conducted a dedicated large-scale aerial survey (MiniSCANS-II) for harbour porpoises in the area of the Belt Sea population. The Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (Germany), Aarhus University (Denmark) and the Swedish Museum of Natural History Stockholm (Sweden) were involved in the planning and realisation of the survey. The survey used the same protocol and methodology for aerial surveys as implemented in the previous SCANS surveys, as well as in the national monitoring surveys conducted in German, Dutch and Danish waters to derive unbiased absolute abundance estimates. The results of this study allowed for estimating abundance and potential trends to monitor progress in achieving favourable conservation status under the Habitats Directive and good environmental status (GES) as demanded by the MSFD.

Results:

https://www.tiho-hannover.de/fileadmin/57_79_terr_aqua_Wildtierforschung/79_Buesum/downloads/Berichte/20210913_Report_MiniSCANSII_2020_revised.pdf

Cooperation Partners:

Centre for Environment and Energy, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Frescativägen 40, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden

Funding: Verein der Förderer der Wildtierforschung an der Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover e. V., 2.100 EUR

Project Details:
Aufgrund der ersten vielversprechenden Ergebnisse der Pilotstudie wird angestrebt, die erhobenen Daten zur Raumnutzung von Katzen zu verifizieren. Dazu sollen weitere Katzen mit GPS Halsbändern ausgestattet werden. Insgesamt wird eine Individuenzahl von mindestsens 20 weiteren Katzen angestrebt, um eine ausreichend große Datengrundlage zu schaffen und die Raumnutzung der Hauskatze umfassender beurteilen zu können.
Die gewonnenen Daten werden mit verschiedenen statistischen Methoden analysiert und modelliert

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 40.000 EUR

Project Details:
Eine Gemeinsamkeit aller Krebszellen ist ihr erster Schritt der Entartung, d. h. der Verlust der Zellpolarität, welcher sich in veränderten ("anormalen") Genexpressionsmustern manifestiert. Ein detailliertes Verständnis dieser genetischen Grundlagen ist notwendig, um entartete Zellen frühzeitig detektieren und ggf. wieder ins rechte Lot rücken zu können. In menschlichen Zelllinien sind die genetischen Interaktionen mit anderen regulatorischen Prozessen auf Zellebene zu kompliziert, um die notwendigen Details der "Entartung" (Polaritätsverlust) in akzeptabler Zeit entschlüsseln zu können. Das einfachste aller tierischen Modellsysteme jedoch, das Plattentier Trichoplax, hat vergleichsweise nur wenige Zellen und Zelltypen und eine übersichtliche genetische Komplexität mit sehr geringem Hintergrundrauschen. Kürzlich haben wir bewiesen, dass der polare Trichoplax faszinierenderweise Homologe aller relevanten und prinzipiellen Zellpolaritätsgene des Menschen besitzt, und somit völlig neue Möglichkeiten für eine Entschlüsselung der genetischen Regulationsmechanismen der Zellpolarität schafft.
im Mai 2021 startet die erste Forschungsrakete ("sounding rocket") vom DLR mit unserem Plattentier Trichoplax an Bord ins Weltall, wo dem Tierchen die Schwerkraft und somit das Signal für die Polaritätsorientierung seiner Zellen genommen wird.

Cooperation Partners:

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

2) Charles University, First Faculty of Medicine, Czech Republic

3) Vilua Health GmbH Braunschweig (Industriepartner)

4) Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum (DLR) Köln

5) LaTrobe University, Medical School, Melbourne, Australia

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

Funding: Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung (MELUND, Kiel), 91.738 EUR

Project Details:
The native grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) population developed increasingly positive after official protection and following recolonisation of the Wadden Sea. This can be seen as a good sign for the effectiveness of the implemented protective measures regarding the population development.
However, the positive population development also creates challenges from the management point of view. There is an increasing demand of suitable habitat as well as ressources, which is mostly associated with an enhanced conflict potential. This is especially connected with several tourism, fishery and energy industry stakeholders utilising the North Sea area.
The gain of a preferably comprehensive understanding of the target species concerning biology, health, habitat demand and connected population development is a fundamental requirement for the implementation of an effective and future-oriented management. Beside the value for the future local management concept, this knowledge is increasingly requested within the framework of international treaties.
The Heligoland dune plays a superior role for the German grey seal population. Up to 68% of the German population can be found there. Due to this presence, Heligoland is especially suitable as model region for further scientific studies in order to promote an understanding on national level beside the local situation.
Therefore, following aspects shall be processed in the context of this project:

° Detailed evaluation of beach use by grey seals on the Heligoland dune

° Analysis of collected data from the Schleswig-Holstein stranding network in order to gain a better understanding of marine mammals stranded on Heligoland (species, quantity, age, diseases)

° Support of public relations work for the management of potential human-wildlife conflict

° Feasibility studies concerning the investigation of long-term development and habitat use of the native grey seal population via telemetry under consideration of mortality, fertility and site fidelity as essential parameters for population development

Results:

In close cooperation with the Jordsand Association and the municipality's own dune rangers, existing count data were aggregated, sifted and evaluated.

For the evaluation, count data collected almost daily from 2016 to 2019 could be used. As expected, there is seasonal variation in the number of grey seals present. Thereby, the time of the fur change (March, April), as well as the birth phase (November, December) are the periods of the year when the most animals are sighted on the dune. This observation also shows that a significantly larger proportion of female animals is present on Helgoland during almost the entire course of the year. A further insight, which can be derived from this representation, refers to the time of the coat change. Here it is evident from the proportional distribution that female grey seals change their coats earlier (peak: ~end of February) than males (peak: ~mid-April).

Looking at the use in consideration of the individual beaches, it is noticeable that the beaches are used very differently. For grey seals, the north beach plays an important role as the main berth throughout the year. In the period from June to July alone, there are more grey seals on the southern beach than on the northern beach. The Aade, on the other hand, plays a rather subordinate role during the course of the year and is only increasingly used at the time of the change of coat, as well as during the birth phase.

In order to support the local public relations work, as well as to continue the important transfer of scientific knowledge to the population, several posters were created within the framework of this project, which contain general information about the biology of the seals on Helgoland, but also recommendations for the behavior towards the grey seals as well as current research results.

For an assessment of the long-term development of a population, it is essential to have a deeper understanding of space use and habitat requirements of juveniles. These parameters are difficult to determine for marine mammals because observing behavior at sea is nearly impossible. Satellite-based telemetry provides one method to record the distribution and behavior of juveniles after they leave their birthplace.

In order to gain further insights into the spatial distribution on the open sea as well as the use of feeding areas by means of the generated position data, further evaluation methods were used.

Special focus was put on Bayesian data analysis using so-called "Hierarchical state space models".

On the basis of the specific behavior of the transmitted grey seals, a recorded track can be divided into different uses. This shows that, in addition to the moorings in the coastal area, areas far "offshore" are used intensively by the animals. The generated dive data provide a further basis for evaluating the use of the available habitat. Thus, it can be shown that individuals frequently undertake benthic dives, reaching depths of up to 50 meters.

In summary, it can be said that with the methods shown and tested, a solid and reproducible analysis procedure could be established, which, despite the use of relatively simple equipment, allows a more in-depth assessment of the habitat use and distribution of the animals.

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

Funding: Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr, 160.051 EUR

Project Details:
The impact of anthropogenic underwater noise can have negative effects on marine mammals. For protecting marine mammals it is essential to have knowledge on occurrence and seasonal distribution of marine mammals already in the planning period of sonar use in the frame of marine training scenarios.
The North Atlantic and mainly the north-eastern region like the waters of the North- and Baltic Sea are the main training territories of the German navy. The aim of this project is to enhance already acquired knowledge of modelling cetacean species in the North Atlantic Ocean. In detail the occurrence prediction on species level (as possible) will enhance the knowledge on whale species distribution. Some whales respond sensitively to underwater noise, while others the noise could have cumulative negative effects. Cetacean survey data from four projects conducted from 1987 to 2016 from the Central and Northeast Atlantic are available and being evaluated in the project. Surveys have different spatial and temporal coverage, the surveys available for this study are: the North Atlantic Sightings Survey (NASS) series from Museum of Natural History (Faroes Islands), Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (Iceland), independent Norwegian surveys (NILS) from Institute of Marine Research (Norway), the Small Cetacean Abundance in the North Sea and Adjacent waters (SCANS) from Sea Mammal Research Unit at University of St Andrews, and ObSERVE Programme from Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and University College Cork. To evaluate drivers of cetacean distribution different environmental variables are use in modelling including static (relief), physical and biological oceanographic variables. Furthermore for determination of different species at sea an identification key is planned to be developed. Already existing appliances and any further digital based supports will be assisted by this identification key.

Results:

Sighting and effort data on cetaceans were available from six series of dedicated line-transect surveys conducted since 1987 over large parts of the central and eastern North Atlantic to estimate abundance for cetaceans: the North Atlantic Sightings Survey (NASS) series, the independent Norwegian surveys (NILS), Small Cetacean Survey in the European Atlantic and North Sea (SCANS), Trans North Atlantic Sighting Survey (T-NASS), Cetacean Offshore Distribution and Abundance Survey (CODA), and ObSERVE. From the available datasets, we summarized the survey effort, where a total of 376,176 km was covered in shipboard and aerial surveys, including 33,465 effort segments not longer than 25 km. Species available were also summarized, specifically for deep divers such as sperm whale, long-finned pilot whale and beaked whales as well as for baleen whales such as fin whale and minke whale. In total, 718 pilot whale groups (14,285 individual), 1,120 sperm whale groups (1,342 individual), 433 groups (1,282 individual) of beaked whales, 3,446 groups (5,013 individual) fin whales and 5,658 groups (5,945 individual) of minke whales were aggregated when combining all datasets. Data from the survey series were used to model the density of the different cetacean species as a function of location (latitude and longitude) or environmental explanatory variables (static-bathymetric and dynamic-SST) using GAMs. The location models in general have higher deviance explained than the environmental models, but the latter ones have a higher resolution of the cetaceans? distribution. The common covariates that best explained the species? distribution were depth and SST summer months, except for the beaked whale model where SST was penalized in the best model. Different drivers for species? distribution were found as expected, but also some similarities such as the usage of deep waters by all the species. This knowledge will help improve understanding of how these cetacean species use this wide area at a large spatial and temporal scale and inform their conservation and management. In addition, this project used a marine area as an example to create an identification key for identifying cetacean species for use in naval exercises for consideration of marine environmental protection measures.

Funding: University of Gedansk, Polen, 1.080 EUR

Project Details:
In this project a full dissection of marine mammals stranded on the Polish Baltic coast will be conducted. This includes an external examination and morphometric measurements , visual inspection and description of the state of internal organs, issue sampling for further analysis, segregation and description and securing of samples. Assessment of the age of dissected individuals, making a test of the parasites and making a report from the section.

Funding: Rijkswaterstaat, Verkeer en Leefomgeving (WVL), Utrecht, 30.113 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is an update of the predicted density maps of harbour porpoises in the North Sea, as previously done by ITAW.
Effort and sighting data collected during dedicated harbour porpoise aerial surveys in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany during the period 2013 until 2018, as well as the international SCANS-III survey from July 2016, will be analysed jointly to produce updates of the spatial density predictions.
Three seasonal maps (for spring, summer and autumn), will be produced from the available survey data.

Results:

This project aimed to update density surface layers for harbour porpoises in the North Sea by enlarging an existing database from the period 2005-2013 (Gilles et al. 2016) with dedicated aerial survey data from 2014-2019. Effort and sighting data collected during dedicated harbour porpoise aerial surveys in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany during the period 2014 until 2019, as well as the international SCANS-III survey from July 2016, was analyzed jointly to produce updates of the spatial density predictions. For summer, the prediction of harbor porpoises showed a hotspot of high porpoise density in the south and south-western part of the study area. In comparison to the summer density surface from the previous period (Gilles et al. 2016), the hotspot off the northern German coast (SAC Sylt Outer Reef) and off the coast of Jutland in Denmark seems to be lower in intensity. The overall model-based abundance estimate of 384,864 individuals (CV=0.08) seems reasonable and is similar to the previous estimate from Gilles et al. (2016) for the period 2005-2013 (361,146; CV=0.20) and the design-based estimate from SCANS-III (2016) for the ICES assessment unit ?North Sea? (345,373; CV=0.18; Hammond et al. 2017). Since the addition of the recent survey data in spring and autumn did not result in a major change of the predicted density surface, probably due to low and restricted effort, we advise to use the predicted density surface layers from Gilles et al. (2016) for spring and autumn, respectively.

Cooperation Partners:

Wageningen Marine Research

Funding: Nationalparkverwaltung "Nieders. Wattenmeer" Wilhelmshaven, 35.965 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is a survey of the local grey seal population in the entire Wadden Sea of Lower Saxony and Hamburg during the birthing season (November-December) and at the time of the fur change (March-April).
On five trilaterally coordinated dates, airborne surveys will be conducted with a single-engine aircraft. During the aerial surveys of the tidal flats, a high-resolution SLR camera will be used to photograph the haul-outs. To determine the number of hatchlings born and the total population, the photos taken are subsequently analyzed on the computer.

Results:

Brasseur S., Carius F., Diederichs B., Galatius A., Jeß A., Körber P., Schop J., Siebert U., Teilmann J., Bie Thøstesen C. & Klöpper S. (2020) EG-Seals grey seal surveys in the Wadden Sea and Helgoland in 2019-2020. Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

https://www.nationalpark-wattenmeer.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2020_Greysealreport-2019-2020.pdf