Instruction to group project in ecosystem management

Transcription

1 Instruction to group project in ecosystem management Aim The purpose of the project is to describe and, most importantly, critically analyze the management of a specific ecosystem type and a group of species at the Swedish national level (minor outlooks to other countries are encouraged). The aim of the written report is to convey important knowledge to your fellow course participants and it will be used as basis for an individual assignment synthesizing the three reports. Procedure The group gathers information from reports and scientific publications and by interviewing ecosystem managers and stakeholders. It is important that you explicitly organize the partitioning of this work within the group (individual work, subgroups). You must then within the group report to each other, analyze and discuss the results before writing a text about the findings. You will be aided by a supervisor during the process. The work will result in a written report in English approximately words long, and you will present your main findings at a seminar. Finally, after the seminar each student will produce an original report on their own (in English or Swedish) comparing the management of ecosystems and organisms from different perspectives, using the three group project reports as sources, but also the students knowledge gained during previous education (including the present course). Topics Each project group will work with one of three different ecosystems: Boreal forests, freshwater ecosystems, and agricultural lands. In the first morning of the course you will get the opportunity to state your opinion on which of these ecosystems you want to work with, but it is not certain that you will get your choice (there must be about equally many students in the groups and there must be Swedish speakers in all groups). Schedule and supervision In the afternoon of Friday March 30 you will first be collectively introduced to the work and then meet with your supervisor and your project group. On this occasion you will get help to get the project started. For example, you will get some initial readings from the supervisor and a suggestion on a species groups to work with, which are connected to your ecosystem. In the course schedule you find four more occasions when you will meet your supervisor. You may change the exact timing of these meetings if it fits you and your supervisor. On the first of these meetings the supervisor has read your time plan and will give comments and suggestions. In the latter three of these meetings you will get feedback on report texts you have written. The deadlines for text submissions are indicated in the course schedule. Make sure to bring up problems and questions with the supervisor and take good care of her/his comments and advice. Take notes during and between the meetings to ensure that all questions and problems are addressed adequately. Between the meetings the group has the full collective responsibility to pursue the work. After the written examination of the theory part of the course on May 14, there are nine days completely reserved for the group project, until submission of the final report, followed by reading of the reports 1

2 produced by the other groups, preparing and doing an oral presentation of your own work and an opposition on the report of another group, and writing the synthesis assignments using the three reports. Time plan The first assignment for the group will be to agree on a time plan for the work. The time plan should include a schedule with the time slots you plan to use and an approximation of how much time will be spent on each of the main activities, such as reading, discussions, interviews, writing, meeting with supervisors, rewriting etc. There are 14 days in the schedule devoted to project work before Friday May 28, when the final report is distributed to your fellow students. The time plan must be submitted for approval to the supervisor on Tuesday April 3. Sources of information The sources of information for your work is the scientific literature and other written sources (in some cases in Swedish and therefore there will be students knowledgeable in Swedish in all groups). You will be provided with some literature by your supervisor, but you also have to search literature to answer specific questions or interests. You should also interview a number of people representing a selection of interests (authorities, NGOs, companies, land owners) relevant to the ecosystem and/or the species group you are working with. Such interviews are a good way to get a picture of how ecosystem management and conservation is actually done in the real world, and to gain knowledge on attitudes and controversies. These interviews should be booked relatively early on to ensure that the persons you want to talk with are available. Prepare the interviews well and present and discuss them with the rest of the group both before and afterwards. Coverage of your topic Below is a list of headings each followed by a number of topics and questions that should be considered in the process of writing your group project report. Depending on your ecosystem type and organism group, you may spend more space to address some questions than others. In all sections of the report, you should: make sure to focus on your ecosystem and group of organism at all stages. How is the topic you are dealing with relevant to them? ask yourselves in what way ecologists are or should be involved in the processes. critically evaluate the scientific underpinning! Is there a scientific basis for patterns and processes described, priorities made, and conservation and management actions taken? 2

3 REPORT HEADINGS AND TOPICS TO BE COVERED Abstract Summarize your most important findings in no more than 350 words. Table of contents and author contributions Headings used in the report and the starting page for each section. For each chapter in the report, you should also state who did what: Tell the readers explicitly what each of you contributed to the final product. Example: Introduction: AA, BB and CC read the literature, AA, BB, CC and DD discussed the contents, and CC and DD wrote the text. Introduction This section should be relatively short. Do not spend too much time on it. Define your ecosystem! How can it be characterized? What is its areal extent in Sweden and at larger spatial scales? What types of human activities have affected it and to what extent? Briefly define your organism/organism group (e.g. taxonomy, ecology, diversity and geographical distribution)! Which are the major environmental problems in your ecosystem? Which are the main threat factors for your organism group? Who is responsible for the conservation and management of the ecosystem and the species (role of authorities etc)? Are there other actors important for the conservation and management (NGOs etc)? Inventories and prioritization This and the next section should constitute the main part of the report. Which methods or efforts have been used to identify areas to manage or protect? What types of areas and populations/species have traditionally been most highly prioritized (e.g. representative or unique ones)? Has any type of valuation of areas in terms of importance for conservation been done? Are there management plans for landscapes or regions for your ecosystem? Have your organism(s) been evaluated for red listing? If so, what characterizes those that have become red-listed? Describe the red-listing process for your organism(s). Are there specific recovery plans (åtgärdsprogram) for species in your group living in your ecosystem? If so, why have these been produced? 3

4 Implementation and management This and the previous section should constitute the main part of the report. Describe the methods that may be used for mitigation, restoration, management, and protection of your ecosystem and species! Are the actions concentrated to specific types of areas or species? What is the scientific underpinning of the actions? Who is responsible for the actions? What is known about the relative effectiveness of different management and restoration actions? Is the current management and conservation sustainable and enough to conserve species and ecosystems in the long run? What additional actions are needed? Evaluation of management efforts How is the status of your ecosystem/species group currently developing? Is there any monitoring conducted? If so, what is monitored and how is this done in practice? What is the evidence that monitoring provide relevant information? Which actors are responsible for monitoring and evaluations? FORMAT OF THE REPORT Font Georgia 11 pt, Line spacing A Title page with: TITLE Name of the authors Course Department Date Abstract and table of contents on the following page The remainder of the report with main headings according to the table of contents, with subheadings as you find suitable. Length of the report should be between and words excluding title page, figure legends, tables, and references. Illustrations are helpful to convey your message. Make sure to explain the figure in a figure legend where you also give the source of the illustration, and cite the figure at least once in the main text. The illustration together with the legend should be fully understandable without reference to the text. 4

5 References in the text should be in the following format: One author (Andrén 1994) Two authors: (Boutin and Hebert 2002) Three authors or more (Dettki et al. 2000) You may also write Johansson et al. (2007) argued that... Reference list with examples of different types of sources: Björkman, A Slut eller förbi en terminalupplevelse. Västerbottens-Kuriren, p Department of Ecology and Environmental Science. 2012: Research, restoration ecology. Accessed Lind, M A. Phenotypic plasticity and local adaption. PhD thesis, Department of Ecology and Environmental science, Umeå University. Lind, M B. Gene flow and selection on phenotypic plasticity in an island system. Evolution, 63: Naturvårdsverket Ädellövskog. Förslag till skydd och vård. SNV PM Öhman, L Oral discussion. CEO, SSAB Retzer, A. D Studies of dust storms from satellite. I: Cracknell, A. P. (red.): Remote sensing in meteorology. Blackwell, London, Retzer, A. D. och Barry, R. G Arctic and alpine environments. Methuen, London. 997 sidor. Make sure to list all your sources in the reference list. Consult your supervisor for how to cite things not covered by the above examples. 5