Wildlife studies

tier3 field studies on wild birds and mammals can be either generic studies, acute and/or long-term effect monitoring studies or studies on residues in food items.

In generic studies, crop-specific focal species or parameters for a species of concern are determined. Typical parameters are PT (the proportion of an animal’s daily diet obtained in a habitat treated with a plant protection product; PPP) or PD (the composition of the diet obtained from treated area). These studies deliver essential regulatory data, especially for theoretical risk evaluations.

Acute and long-term effect-monitoring studies are conducted to assess the potential impact of specific PPP use (or any other environmental impact) on birds or wild mammals over any length of time. During the registration process, results from these studies can be used as a higher tier assessment or as confirmatory data to support a risk evaluation. These studies can be combined with in situ exposure measurements or the use of biomarkers.

We regularly conduct ecotox residue studies to investigate substance residues on the food items of birds and mammals in order to quantify oral exposure of wildlife following substance applications under conditions of realistic use.

Our expertise

Our bird and mammal experts, along with their carefully chosen expert support teams, have extensive experience conducting risk assessment studies. This high skill level is particularly essential to the success and meaningful interpretation of these studies.

The repertoire of methods we regularly employ in field studies with birds and mammals include the following:

Population monitoring (demography/demographic changes)

Bird studies:

constant effort mist netting for bird trapping and ringing
trapping with other species-appropriate trap types as needed
Line- and point transect counts, territory mapping

Mammal studies:

capture-mark-recapture (CMR)
trapping with species-appropriate trap types
individual marking of trapped animals with PIT tags

Behaviour and movement of individuals over time

Bird studies:

radio-tracking
scan sampling
individual behaviour observations with spotting scopes

Mammal studies:

radio-tracking
nocturnal behaviour observation with thermographic cameras

Remote monitoring (e.g. nest monitoring)

Bird studies:

monitoring with motion-triggered photo- or video cameras

Mammal studies:

monitoring with motion-triggered photo- or video cameras, including thermal imaging techniques

Reproduction monitoring

Bird studies:

constant effort mist netting for bird trapping and ringing to assess reproductive activity and the proportion of juveniles at the population level
nest and chick survival
chick development
species comparisons

Mammal studies:

monitoring of reproduktive performance with regular CMR trapping to assess reproductive activity and the proportion of juveniles at the population level

Blood sampling for later analysis

Bird studies:

blood sampling from wild birds for later analysis (e.g. immunohistochemical analysis to assess exposure to a PPP)

Mammal studies:

blood sampling from wild mammals for later analysis (e.g. immunohistochemical analysis to assess exposure to a PPP)

Diet analysis

Bird studies:

faeces analysis
stomach flushing
behaviour observations of foraging

Mammal studies:

analysis of stomach contents or faeces
behaviour observations of foraging

Carcass collection for later analysis

Bird studies:

carcass search and -storage for analysis (e.g. residue analysis or immunohistochemical analysis)
use of radio-tracking to follow and determine the fate of individual birds

Mammal studies:

carcass search and -storage for analysis (e.g. residue analysis or immunohistochemical analysis)
use of thermo-sensitive radio tags to find dead mammals in subterranean burrows

Tailormade studies

This selection of methods can be combined to create novel approaches that are tailored to specific needs. For example, radio-tracking could be combined with blood sampling and/or diet analysis to show exposure levels and/or diet of individuals that were observed to spend a known amount of time in target areas.

Potential study species include all small mammals (e.g. voles, mice and shrews) but also larger mammals (e.g. rabbits and hares) and all bird species (e.g. as diverse as Sardinian warblers, skylarks, carrion crows and grey partridges).

In addition to studies on PPPs, we also offer the same spectrum of studies to test the unintended effects of biocides on non-target wildlife as well as studies that test the intended effects of rodenticides on the target mammals.