The course module aims to provide the students with a theoretical-practical approach to the game species conservation and sustainable management. It also provides the tools needed to game planning for sustainable harvesting. At the end of the course, students will be able to carry out quantitative estimates of game populations (size and density), assess and predict the population trend, to plan sustainable yield and numerical control, formulate habitat suitability models by the most advanced methods and to draw up game plans for hunting and conservation. All of this is aimed at making students able to identify management options that lead to the conservation of game populations and to their sustainable and wise use of game species for harvesting purposes.
Course Prerequisites
Fundamentals of general and systematic zoology and of Animal Population Ecology
Teaching Methods
The teaching uses lectures and exercises. Power Point presentations are used for lectures and are made available to students in the related section on KIRO platform. During the exercises, students are guided in the organization, analysis and interpretation of data and case studies.
Assessment Methods
Learning is verified through a written exam including different types of questions: • Questions that ask you to indicate the meaning or defininition of specific terms, aimed at verifying your understanding of the terminology used during the lessons. • Questions that require a brief description of a problem and/or a study method, aimed at verifying language proficiency, synthesis ability, and understanding of theoretical concepts. • True/False test, to verify the student's ability to answer specific questions relating to the topics covered in class. At the end of the course module, an in-progress test is scheduled.
Texts
“Ecology - From Individuals to Ecosystems” By Begon & Townsend. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. 5th ed. 2021. Chapters of interest: 4, 5, 10, 14, 15. “Ecological Census Techniques. A Handbook” by W.J. Sutherland. University of Cambridge. 2nd ed. 2006. Chapters of interest: 1, 2, 3, 9, 10. “Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management” by J.M. Fryxell, A. R. E. Sinclair, G. Caughley. Wiley-Blackwel. 3rd ed. 2014. Chapters of interest: 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20.
Contents
The course deals with the main aspects of conservation and sustainable harvesting of game populations. The general management problems of the main game groups are described, deepening the most problematic species. Game management is treated at the species and population level, with particular attention to the sustainable use of harvested populations. The methods of management, population monitoring, census techniques, releases (reintroductions, restocking, translocations), the determination of sustainable yield, and wildlife planning (wildlife maps, wildlife plans, habitat suitability assessments) are described . In addition, strategies for habitat improvement are also dealt with by using tools linked to EU agricultural policy and Rural Development Plans.
