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Project properties |
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| Title | MSc thesis: The role mass-migration of bumblebee queens for bumblebee population dynamics in agricultural landscapes |
| Group | Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Thijs Fijen |
| Examiner(s) | Thijs Fijen |
| Contact info | thijs.fijen@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2024/05/01 |
| End date | 2026/08/01 |
| Description | Bumblebees are enigmatic and important pollinators for wild plants and crops. However, their populations are declining due to landscape simplification and intensive agricultural practices. Surprisingly, some species seem to be able to persist, even in the most intensive agricultural landscapes, despite their reproduction in these landscapes is low. As part of a Veni-research project looking into the role of mass-migrating bumblebees, we are first (2024) establishing the relationship between bumblebee population sizes and habitat choice and land-use intensity. Starting in winter 2024-2025 we are also exploring bumblebee genetics, and strontium isotopes, to unravel the role of mass-migration on bumblebee population dynamics. The fieldwork will involve intensive sampling in ten agricultural landscapes throughout the Netherlands, and offers quite some liberty in the research focus of your thesis. |
| Used skills | Organisation, fieldwork, statistical skills, geo-information science. |
| Requirements | Driving license, affinity with fieldwork |