Overview of research projects

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: 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

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

Project Details:
Harbour porpoises are representatives of marine mammal top predators 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 the protection of harbour porpoises, since a high density of mother-calf groups was found in this area. As part of the reorganization of the Federal-State Marine Programme (BLMP), a programme for the joint monitoring of marine mammals was agreed in January 2011, which meets the requirements of monitoring in accordance with the relevant European directives and international conventions. The Schleswig-Holstein National Park Administration (NPV) in the Schleswig-Holstein State Agency for Coastal Protection, National Park and Marine Conservation (LKN) is responsible for organizing, implementing and financing the acoustic monitoring of harbour porpoises in this programme. The acoustic surveys for the NPV are carried out by the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) as part of the joint marine mammal monitoring within the BLMP. For this purpose, measuring stations are operated at four defined locations in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea (Lister Tief, Meldorfer Bucht, Rochelsteert and Westerland). Since this year another measuring station was deployed in the Elbe estuary. The measuring stations are equipped with click detectors (C-PODs), which record the echolocation activity of harbor porpoises. The C-PODs are serviced and data downloaded at regular intervals. The obtained data is evaluated against the background of the optimization of the acoustic monitoring as well as necessary extensions for a permanent operation of the measuring stations. The data from this long-term study will provide information on the possible pattern and tidal dependency of harbor porpoise detections throughout the day and over the course of a year.

Results:

The data analysis showed that harbor porpoises have been detected at all 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 documented. 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 harbour, also showed very high detection rates, with an increasing trend in the summer months. The modelling 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 end of July. During this period, increased detections were only detected at station MB. Approximately two months after breeding begins the mating season of harbour porpoises in the North Sea. 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 feeding independently on solid food, in the form of small shrimp-like crabs (Euphausiidae, e.g., North Sea shrimp), with the age of approximately five months. During this stage, an increase in detection rates was documented at Station LT. It is conceivable that juvenile harbour porpoises visit shallow water areas, such as the area at station LT, to forage on 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 throughout the day.

The tidal effect is more pronounced than diurnal patterns 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 tide and a minimum during high tide. 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, wheras a maximum during high tide was present at stations WL and RS.

Harbour porpoises were also detected at the measuring station in the Elbe estuary. The data does not yet allow for modelling over the entire year, as the station was just deployed in summer. However, the tidal effect with a maximum of harbour porpoise detections at high tide and lower detections at low tide has already been documented.

The Wadden Sea monitoring has so far generated robust and continuous long-term data sets up to ten years of harbour porpoise click activity. With these unique data sets, it is possible to generate models that provide information on harbour porpoise presence in the Wadden Sea and the effect 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 effect of abiotic factors on harbour porpoises. The assessments of harbour 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: Nationalparkverwaltung "Nieders. Wattenmeer" Wilhelmshaven, 38.752 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is a survey of the local grey seal population in the entire Lower Saxony and Hamburg Wadden Sea during the birthing season (November-December) and at the time of the fur change (March-April).
On five trilaterally coordinated dates (three during the birthing season; two during the fur-change period), 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. In order to determine the number of young born as well as 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., Meise K., Schop J., Siebert U., Teilmann J., Bie Thøstesen C. & Klöpper S. (2021) EG-Marine Mammals grey seal surveys in the Wadden Sea and Helgoland in 2020-2021. Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

https://www.waddensea-worldheritage.org/sites/default/files/Wadden%20Sea_Grey_Seal_Report_2021_0.pdf

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur Volkswagenstiftung, 75.000 EUR

Project Details:
Various studies have already shown effects of chemicals from everyday products on the environment and health. The European Green Deal therefore aims to better assess the risks of hazardous chemicals and in particular very persistent chemicals in a timely manner. Pollution from persistent and mobile chemicals is closely linked to prevailing production and consumption patterns and is determined by the lack of appropriate technical options. These chemicals also challenge regulators to develop and enforce effective policies. The project aimed at increasing knowledge on health and environmental effects on aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. In addition to developing solutions for monitoring, a better understanding of the accumulation of these chemicals in the environment, in line with the EU call with the planned research project, should also help to proactively prevent negative impacts of persistent and mobile chemicals on humans and the environment.
The project serves to build and consolidate a project consortium to ensure the project application and a joint timely application in this EU funding programme. The involvement of many European countries in the project consortium should make it possible to write the project proposal with experienced scientists from the fields of toxicology and health and to submit it on time with an external professional office for EU project applications.

Results:

In the project, a project consortium was established to ensure a project proposal and a joint timely application in this EU funding program. The involvement of many European countries in the project consortium made it possible to write the project application with experienced scientists from the fields of toxicology and health and to submit it on time with an external professional office for EU project applications.

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: 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: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 97.745 EUR

Project Details:
The ongoing dispute over the future of livestock has enormous economic relevance in a state like Lower Saxony; in the livestock-rich regions, the issue is also becoming socially explosive. The issue is a major concern for society.
The aim of the project is to objectify the debate and contribute to a deeper understanding of the positions. The core of the project consists of analyzing the content and positions of animal husbandry and relating them to their own ability to engage in discourse.

Results:

The project locates and analyzes reasons for moments of failure and escalation in the farm animal discourse. At the same time, perspectives for its improvement are identified in order to point out possible turning points towards a more peaceful, respectful and constructive discussion about so-called farm animals.

The main results of the project are a discourse path as a suggested outline and a flyer with rules for discussion, which can be viewed on the website https://wiemenschenuebertierestreiten.jimdofree.com/.

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 89.827 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the joint project between the TiHo and the MHH is to initiate an OER collection on the topic of "animal welfare and ethics" on the Lower Saxony OER platform. Based on preliminary work in the past three years, OER's on the topic "Alternatives to animal experimentation" will be started for the development of this collection.

Results:

As part of the project, an OER collection on the topic of "Alternatives to animal testing" was created with the following OER contributions:

(1) Discussing ethical issues

(2) What is an animal experiment?

(3) 3R International: USA

(4) 3R International: Israel

(5) Animal interests and animal rights positions

(6) Anthropocentrism, pathocentrism, biocentrism?

(7) The moral status of animals (with subtitle)

(8) The moral status of animals (without subtitle)

(9) Animal experimentation ethics: an introduction

(10) The 3Rs concept

(11) The epiCS test (with subtitles)

(12) The epiCS test (without subtitles)

(13) The LDH test (with subtitle)

(14) The LDH test (without subtitles)

(15) EU Directive 20210/63, Animal Welfare Act, Animal Welfare Experimental Animal Ordinance

Cooperation Partners:

Medizinische Hochschule Hannover

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