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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 how management of the parks affects insects. We will monitor flying insects (bees, hoverflies and butterflies) through transect walks, moths with light-traps, and soil-emerging insects through piramid traps. Several different thesis/internship topics are available in the winter period, and they all include identification of insects in the lab. |
| Used skills | Field work, species identification, statistics, project management |
| Requirements | Insect identification skills are beneficial |