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Project properties |
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| Title | MSc thesis or internship: The contribution of solar parks to insect biodiversity conservation |
| Group | Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Timea Kocsis, Thijs Fijen |
| Examiner(s) | Thijs Fijen |
| Contact info | thijs.fijen@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2022/03/01 |
| End date | 2025/10/31 |
| Description | The highly needed transformation towards renewable energies requires drastic changes to the landscape as we know it now. Next to numerous wind turbines, we need large solar fields to meet ever increasing energy demand. Such solar fields mgiht be a way to also increase biodiversity levels, as they are frequently located in agricultural landscapes. In this project, we will study how these solar parks contribute to insect biodiversity levels, by looking at which factors of solar parks correlate well to insect biodiversity (e.g. orientation of the panels or distance between panels), how management of the parks affects insects and whether solar parks can deliver important ecosystem services such as pollination and pest control. We will at least monitor flying insects through transect walks, and soil-emerging insects through piramid traps, but other methods are considered. Several different thesis/internship topics are available. |
| Used skills | Field work, species identification, statistics, project management |
| Requirements | Field work experience and driving licence are both highly beneficial |