NATF330 Wildlife Management

Credits (ECTS):10

Course responsible:Leif Egil Loe

Campus / Online:Taught campus Ås

Teaching language:Norsk

Course frequency:Annually

Nominal workload:Lectures: 18 hours. Student lectures/seminars: 20 hours. The students' own effort - preparation for seminars and own presentations, writing of semester assignment, reading for exam: 210 hours.

Teaching and exam period:This course starts in Autumn parallel. This course has teaching/evaluation in Autumn parallel, .

About this course

The course covers important contemporary topics within Norwegian wildlife management. Leading experts from universities and management agencies in Norway lectures on their field of expertise. This could be a senior advisor from the Norwegian Environment Agency who sits with the decision of whether or not to take out a wolf after predatory events on livestock, a researcher active in the discussion of ban of lead ammunition, or a researcher in the Norwegian scientific committee for food and environment evaluating the strategies for preventing a further spread of chronic Wasting disease. Ahead of each lecture the students and the course responsible discuss two scientific papers, central for the upcoming lecture (often co-authored by the lecturer). The students also write a popular science essay of a topic they decide themselves.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

After completion of the course students should have acquired indepth knowledge on a selected range of topics of high contemporary importance within Norwegian wildlife management. The subjects may vary among years depending on accessibility of lecturers and changing news picture, but include topics such as

  • Laws and regulations in Norwegian wildlife management
  • Large carnivore management - balancing politics and nature management
  • Conservation biology in practice - the case of the Scandinavian Arctic fox and wild reindeer
  • Managing populations through hunting - to which extent are different harvesting strategies at the root of the decadal increase in red deer and decrease in willow grouse?
  • Using seabirds as ecological indicators to monitoring the health status of marine ecosystems

Skills

Upon completion, the student should understand and be able to discuss scientific literature and to write a scientific essay on the subjects wildlife ecology and management.

Generel competence

Upon completion, the student should be able to synthesize information within important conflict areas in Norwegian wildlife management, such a large carnivore conflicts, conservation of threatened wildlife species and assessing the threat of invasive species. The student should be able to use this knowledge to advice solutions to problems within wildlife management.

  • Lectures are given (in Norwegian) by invited professionals within each topic of discussion. In addition, there is 1 semester assignment, discussion groups and individual studies.
  • Students learning supported by supervision of the scientific essay
  • NATF230, ECOL200 and ZOOL210.
  • Oral examination (30 minutes) counts 60% of the grade. Popular science essay counts 40%. Both of the evaluated elements in the course must be passed to pass the course.
  • An external examiner evaluates the oral examination and scientific essays.
  • Oral presentation of the semester thesis and 1-2 scientific articles
  • Lectures: 18 hours. Student lectures/seminars: 20 hours.
  • Letter grades
  • Special requirements in Science