hidden - assigned by the advisor, waiting for guarantor's approval
Date of registration:
13.11.2017
Date of assignment:
13.11.2017
Date of electronic submission:
08.08.2019
Date of proceeded defence:
10.09.2019
Opponents:
RNDr. Radek Lučan, Ph.D.
Preliminary scope of work
Previous studies on the assessment of tropical bird communities include one or a combination of these methods: point counts and mist-netting. Each method comes with strengths and weaknesses, especially when discussing their efficiency in species richness and abundance assessment. While point counts are widely used to study local species richness and are efficient for recording more conspicuous or vocal birds, mist nets have been proved efficient in assessing the birds’ activity patterns rather than diversity, although they also may reveal smaller and more secretive species that are hardly ever detected by point counts. My aim is to process and analyse data that had been collected using the two methods on Mt. Cameroon between the years 2011 and 2016, but my main focus will be on the use of mist nets. First, I will discuss the pros and cons of each sampling method, and provide a comparison analysis of their use in different elevations and, where possible, in different seasons. Furthermore, I will focus on the ecology of the recorded birds. I will study species accumulation curves and the altitudinal gradient of community composition and richness, with a focus on foraging guilds. This will lead to the assessment of resource use and availability, population growth rates between the years, and dispersal measurements, to find out whether there is a positive correlation between range sizes and abundance in local populations. Finally, as part of my practical input, I aim to join the expedition to Cameroon in 2018 to conduct a pilot study on the use of elevated mist nets, and collect data from missing elevations.
Preliminary scope of work in English
Previous studies on the assessment of tropical bird communities include one or a combination of these methods: point counts and mist-netting. Each method comes with strengths and weaknesses, especially when discussing their efficiency in species richness and abundance assessment. While point counts are widely used to study local species richness and are efficient for recording more conspicuous or vocal birds, mist nets have been proved efficient in assessing the birds’ activity patterns rather than diversity, although they also may reveal smaller and more secretive species that are hardly ever detected by point counts. My aim is to process and analyse data that had been collected using the two methods on Mt. Cameroon between the years 2011 and 2016, but my main focus will be on the use of mist nets. First, I will discuss the pros and cons of each sampling method, and provide a comparison analysis of their use in different elevations and, where possible, in different seasons. Furthermore, I will focus on the ecology of the recorded birds. I will study species accumulation curves and the altitudinal gradient of community composition and richness, with a focus on foraging guilds. This will lead to the assessment of resource use and availability, population growth rates between the years, and dispersal measurements, to find out whether there is a positive correlation between range sizes and abundance in local populations. Finally, as part of my practical input, I aim to join the expedition to Cameroon in 2018 to conduct a pilot study on the use of elevated mist nets, and collect data from missing elevations.
- assigned by the advisor, waiting for guarantor's approval