Monitoring changes in species diversity and size of breeding bird populations
Full title: Monitoring changes in species diversity and breeding bird population size in response to implementation of wetland management measures
Field of study: Nature conservation
Supervisor: Mgr. Marie Kotasová Adámková, Ph.D.
Official entry:
Birds are among the most conspicuous animals of wetlands. Wetlands provide them with suitable nesting sites, numerous food sources, and they become important wintering and staging areas before migrations. Various management activities applied to maintain wetlands, such as grazing or mowing, can influence birds in several ways. The most important of these is the creation of new habitats and food sources. Past evidence has shown that bird populations respond differently to grazing and mowing, which are implemented to suppress homogeneous reed beds. These differences are determined by the characteristics of specific habitats and their geographic conditions, and it is likely that the specific parameters of the practices implemented also contribute significantly. These may include, for example, the intensity of grazing, the timing, or the type of mowing. Another interesting topic is the development of bird populations in revitalized wetlands in the long term. The student's task will be to participate in the on-going collection of data on the status of bird populations at the project site of the Spálený potok floodplain. The main objective of the work is to evaluate the impact of the implemented management measures on the changes in the size of nesting populations of individual species and on their nesting productivity based on already collected and new data. The outcome of the work will be an assessment of the adequacy of the implementation of specific measures to promote the biodiversity of avifauna, with emphasis on specially protected species.