Research

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

Funding: Landesbetrieb f. Küstenschutz, Nationalpark u. Meeresschutz Schleswig-Holstein, Tönning, 51.769 EUR

Project Details:
Harbor porpoises are representatives of the top predators from the group of mammals in the North Sea and Wadden Sea. With the amendment of the National Park Act in 1999, part of the national park was explicitly dedicated to harbor porpoise protection, as a high density of mother-calf groups was found there. As part of the reorganization of the Federal-Länder Marine Program (BLMP), a program for joint monitoring of marine mammals was agreed upon in January 2011, which meets the requirements of monitoring according to the relevant European guidelines and international conventions. In this program, the Schleswig-Holstein National Park Administration (NPV) within the Schleswig-Holstein State Agency for Coastal Protection, National Parks and Marine Conservation (LKN) has the task of organizing, implementing and financing the acoustic monitoring of harbor porpoises. The acoustic surveys for the NPV are conducted by the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) as part of the joint marine mammal monitoring under the BLMP. For this purpose, monitoring stations are operated at four specified locations in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea (Lister Tief, Meldorfer Bucht, Rochelsteert, and Westerland). The monitoring stations are equipped with click detectors (C-PODs), which record the echolocation activity of harbor porpoises. The C-PODs are maintained and read out on a regular basis. The data obtained will be evaluated against the background of the optimization of the acoustic monitoring as well as necessary extensions in case of a permanent operation of the monitoring stations. The data of this long-term study provide information about a possible rhythmicity as well as tidal dependence in the porpoise detection over the day and over the course of a year.

Results:

The analysis of the data showed that harbor porpoises have been recorded at all four monitoring positions over the study period to date. However, spatial (between stations) and temporal differences (individual years, over the course of a year, over the course of a day) in detection rates were noted. At the station Lister Tief (LT), on the eastern side of Sylt, the lowest detection rates were recorded. The station Westerland (WL), west of Sylt in the whale sanctuary, has the highest detection rates (maximum per day) over the study period. The station Meldorfer Bucht (MB), which is located in the immediate vicinity of Büsum harbor, also showed very high detection rates, with an increasing trend in the summer months. The modeling of the individual stations could clearly show that there is a strong seasonality in the harbor porpoise detections. All stations show a maximum in detections in spring, in the period from mid-March to mid-April. This period is just before the phase of the highest birth rate, which lasts from mid-June to the end of July. During this period, increased detections were only detected at station MB. Approximately two months after the birthing phase, the mating season of harbor porpoises in the North Sea begins. Within this period, an increased detection was observed at Rochelsteert station (RS) in contrast to all other stations. This could be an indication that the area around the station is used for mating. The calves are suckled for about 10 months, but start eating solid food, in the form of small shrimp-like crabs (Euphausiidae, e.g., North Sea shrimp), at about five months of age. During this stage, an increase in detection rates was noted at Station LT. It is conceivable that juvenile harbor porpoises visit shallow water areas, such as at station LT, to seek benthic first solid food.

 

Time of day had little effect on detection rates over the entire study period. However, a pattern in diurnal rhythms with more frequent detections in the morning hours was observed at Station LT. A similar pattern was also evident at station RS, with slightly higher detections, spread throughout the day.

The influence of the tide is more pronounced than the diurnal rhythmicity and could be observed at high tide or in the phases between high and low tide. Station LT shows increased detection rates just before low water and a minimum during high water. When comparing stations WL and RS with MB, an opposite effect is observed. Station MB shows a minimum in detection rates shortly after high tide, which translates into a maximum during high tide at stations WL and RS.

 

The Wadden Sea monitoring has so far generated robust and continuous long-term data sets of nine years of harbor porpoise click activity. With these unique data sets, it is possible to build models that provide information on harbor porpoise presence in the Wadden Sea and the influence of possible environmental parameters. The increase of the data base over the years has shown that the models provide an increasingly clear picture of the influence of abiotic factors on harbor porpoises. The assessments of harbor porpoise presence required by international agreements (MSFD and trilateral agreements) can currently only be carried out on a temporal scale using the acoustic data generated within the project with click detectors. In order to further expand the data base and thus improve the quality for assessment, it is necessary to continue the Wadden Sea monitoring every year.

Funding: Verband der Binnenfischer und Teichwirte in S.-H., 43.924 EUR

Project Details:
In the follow-up project, exit options for otters from fish traps that have already been developed for stillwaters will be tested under current exposure. The ITAW will provide technical support for a practical test of the exit options under fishing conditions. With the help of the knowledge gained, these exits could then be used in fisheries to protect the otter.

Results:

https://www.tiho-hannover.de/fileadmin/57_79_terr_aqua_Wildtierforschung/79_Buesum/downloads/Berichte/Abschlussbericht_2020_ITAW_ReusenausstiegePraxistestStroemungsexposition.pdf

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), 8.400 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of this project was to establish an international cooperation between German and Costa Rican scientists specialized in the fields of veterinary medicine and public health. The main topic was animal husbandry and its importance in the development of antibiotic resistance, with a first focus on aquaculture systems in Costa Rica, which are used for the production of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

Results:

The full proposal was written and submitted.

Cooperation Partners:

Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen

National University of Costa Rica

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 45.000 EUR

Project Details:
Das Projekt soll tierärztliche Praktiker in den Ethik-Unterreicht einbeziehen und dezidiert Praxis und Theorie eng miteinander verzahnen. Ziel von PEP ist es, ethische Konflikte aus den tierärztlichen Handlungsfeldern bereits im Studium der Tiermedizin aufzugreifen, diese ethisch zu reflektieren und so zu beleuchten, dass ethische Konflikte von zukünftigen Tierärzten und Tierärztinnen besser bewältigt werden können. Vertretbare Antworten auf moralische Anfragen werden entwickelt und das dazu nötige theoretische Wissen daraufhin ausgewertet. Das Projekt bietet einen hohen Reiz für die Angewandte Ethik, weil es allgemein nach den Möglichkeiten der Verbindung zwischen bottom-up- und top-down-Modellen in der Ethik fragt. Sollte sich das Format bewähren, lässt es sich in andere Konstellationen (z.B. Ethik in der Humanmedizin und in Technischen Fächern) adaptieren.

Results:

xx

xx

Funding: Fonds de recherche Nature et technologies Québec, 75.000 EUR

Project Details:
The goal of the proposed project is to understand the influence of glycosylation patterns on the efficacy of influenza viral vaccines and to use these insights to glyco-optimize vaccines. Specifically, we propose: (1) to propagate influenza viruses in different host systems and to analyze the glycosylation patterns of the viral glycoproteins; (2) to screen for virus variants with optimal (i.e. highly immunogenic) glycosylation patterns using in vitro and in vivo assays; and (3) to glyco-engineer host cell lines as a first step towards tailor-made glyco-optimized viral vaccines.

Funding: VolkswagenStiftung, 119.700 EUR

Project Details:
By means of the Planning Grant, preliminary work will be carried out for a full proposal in the VW Foundation's Kurswechsel program. The goal is to develop a qualification concept that enables young researchers to use networks, big data analytics, pervasive connectivity and computing, and artificial intelligence in a meaningful way for the welfare of farm animals.

Results:

The full proposal was completed, but not successful.

Cooperation Partners:

Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institut für Datentechnik und Kommunikationsnetze