Details

Category: 
Student subject
Function: 
Student (University)
Department: 
Aquatic Ecology
Contact: 
Liesbeth Bakker
Closing date: 
Thursday 11 August 2016

General context

Large herbivores are globally increasingly disappearing in the wild. Apart from the loss of charismatic animals, we may also lose their ecosystem functions. But what are these functions? Currently, large herbivores are increasingly being reintroduced in nature reserves in Europe, so-called rewilding. These projects offer great possibilities to study the impact of large herbivores on ecosystem structure, diversity and functioning.  

Project outline

Several student topics are possible within the context of this project:

  • Field work is possible around the scheduled introduction of water buffalo’s in The Netherlands. Very little is known about these animals and their impact. Within this project their habitat use and behavior can be monitored.
  • An important effect of large herbivores is that they can inhibit colonization of shrubs and trees in grassland to a certain extent. Making use of exclosure set-ups in nature reserves throughout the Netherlands we can measure the encroachment of woody plants in the presence and absence of large herbivores.
  • When introducing large herbivores, the suitability of the herbivore species for the terrain conditions is a central aspect. However, also the question what the expected impact of the herbivores on the landscape is, may be leading which species are most suitable. An analysis of literature and collecting expert opinions will be used to see whether it is possible to identify functional groups of herbivores and their expected impact on the landscape.

Duration (indicative)

4-9 Months.