Fieldtrip to Berchtesgaden with our two new bachelor candidates
Investigation of above- and belowground fauna along an elevational gradient in Berchtesgaden forests within the framework of two Bachelor theses.
In the past week our two bachelor candidates and three PhD students took a trip to the Berchtesgaden Alps to collect fauna samples for their Bachelor theses. The work is a cooperation project between the University of Würzburg and the National Park Berchtesgaden. In total the two students collected 60 samples from 20 sampling sites spread over four different mountain ranges. One candidate focuses on the aboveground fauna while the other is investigating belowground fauna. Aboveground fauna was collected with a suction sampler, which sucks up all animals living in the vegetation and on the soil surface. Soil cores were taken for all animals living in the soil. The samples will be processed in the lab and the data obtained analyzed to gain insight into how elevation affects arthropod communities, particularly with regard to climatic changes.
Special thanks to the “Obere Naturschutzbehörde Bavaria”, the “Landratsamt Berchtesgadener Land” and the “National Park Berchtesgaden” for authorizing the sampling and the use of the national park infrastructure.
