Wildlife-Survey Schleswig-Holstein

The web application Wildlife-Survey Schleswig-Holstein (Wildtier-Kataster, WTK) is introduced which supports distributed acquisition of wildlife related information by hunters/rangers and other people interested in wildlife protection. These data form the basis for scientific evaluations on the wildlife situation in Schleswig-Holstein in addition to official game bag statistics. One subproject, a system for surveying dead vertebrates in landscapes gained wide acceptance by a number of participants. This survey for dead vertebrates (in German: Totfund-Kataster) offers an open system to report all accidents with wildlife via the Web. On a digital map location and additional details can be submitted and then visualized. In addition since May 2012 an iPhone-App “WTK-SH” is available. 1. Overview of Wildlife-Survey Schleswig-Holstein Wildlife-Survey Schleswig-Holstein (in German: Wildtier-Kataster, WTK) was founded in 1995 as a project in long-term monitoring of local wildlife in Schleswig-Holstein (FEHLBERG 1997). Nowadays the project is conducted by the hunting association of Schleswig-Holstein together with the Institute for Natural Resource Conservation of the Kiel University, Department Landscape Ecology, which is responsible for the scientific supervision. The Wildlife-Survey performs bio monitoring of animal living in the wild in Schleswig-Holstein. Results of this project are made available for all interested people on the Web and via other media. In addition to current details about animal biology distribution of local wildlife is presented. The project surveys distribution and populations of wildlife in all landscapes using well-known speciesspecific, biological methods. Additionally, living conditions (habitat types, land use and similar) of various wild life species in permanent reference areas are determined and evaluated. The scientists are working according to countrywide standardized methods. All collected data are stored in a central database and made available for evaluations. The surveys are supported by several volunteers; most contributors in the reference areas are hunters. Without these volunteers a countrywide project like this would not be possible. The framework of the Wildlife-Survey includes a number of subprojects: • Wildlife-Survey: Monitoring of wildlife in normal landscapes (e.g. foxes, martens, badger, pheasants, crows) • Reference system European hare: Monitoring of distribution and population status of European hare, since 1995 • Reference system grey partridge: Monitoring of distribution and population status of grey partridge, started in 2010 1 Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Dept. Landscape Ecology, Projekt WildTierKataster Schleswig-Holstein, http://www.landscape-ecology.uni-kiel.de/, [email protected] 2 DigSyLand – Institute for Digital System Analysis & Landscape Diagnosis, Zum Dorfteich 6, D-24975 Husby, Germany, http://www.digsyland.de/, {hosenfeld|rinker}@digsyland.de • Wildlife conservation project for Montagu's harrier: Conservation and monitoring project for the smallest harrier species of Schleswig-Holstein, since 1995 • Survey of dead vertebrates: Surveying of wildlife accidents and dead animals, especially road kills, started in 2011. 2. Project survey of dead vertebrates The survey of dead vertebrates forms a central subproject within the framework of the Wildlife-Survey. Offering a web application in order to submit details about road kills and other dead animals gained wide acceptance by the supporters of the project. The web application is supplemented by an iPhone app, thus making another method of participation available. 2.1 Idea and background Railways and roads are a great source of hazard not only for humans but also for wildlife, and wildlifevehicle collisions are the most frequent cause of death for some species. In the presented project an open system to survey all accidents with wildlife is offered. Moreover it is also possible to register all animals found dead in the landscape. For further investigation of the causes of accidents it is necessary to collect exact locations of the accident sites and species involved. In the long run, data are collected for prevention of accidents. Planning authorities, ecologists, and wildlife biologists can use these data for research and for prevention of accidents involving deer at known deer crossing points. The fragmentation of landscapes by new and existing roads or railroad tracks and settlements is still expanding. Traffic is also increasing and will be for many years (DESTATIS 2011, 310). Meanwhile, collisions with wildlife are a risk for human’s life and also play an important role for populations of many wildlife species. 2.2 Implementation and Method In Germany hunters will normally be informed by police if an accident with wildlife happens. Germany is divided into hunting districts, and for each district there exists a hunter who is responsible. Hunters have a great experience on road kill, this is of great importance for the project, and for this reason collaboration with hunters is important. The first phase of the project was a survey of all hunting districts of the project area (SchleswigHolstein). All hunters received a questionnaire with a map of their district and were asked to document all places with accidents involving wildlife on this map and in the questionnaire. Information about species, age, gender, date and time of accident, as well as some additional information were requested. For the second phase of the project an internet-based platform using WebGIS for reporting accidents involving wildlife was developed (see figure 3). This system is designed for long term use.