D.Asaw's blog

Discovering Beetles Online

D.Asaw — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Dan Asaw is the BioLinks Project Officer for the South East and helped create the FSC's 'Discovering Beetle Online Course' along with Caroline Uff and the rest of the BioLinks Team.

Last month marked the end of the first run of the FSC Discovering Beetles Online course, part of the lottery-funded BioLinks project, aiming to promote and inspire the study of often neglected invertebrate groups.

So what is this 'Discovering Beetles' course?

Discovering Beetles is one of our first entomologically based online training courses, which emerged in response to being unable to host events across various venues in the UK. So with the help of Caroline Uff, the county beetle recorder for Shropshire, we decided to bring the joy of beetles online through the use of text, videos, interactive quizzes and live webinars- where I, as tutor, can directly address learners, give feedback and join in with discussions between learners all from the comfort of our own homes.

Who is this course aimed at?

Discovering Beetles is aimed at those who have an interest in beetles and don’t really know where to start, but also anyone who wants to look less at strict identification skills and more about what makes beetles ‘tick’, in some cases quite literally! The course is suited to beginners at the start of their beetle journey, those wanting some tips on collection methods or those wanting to learn more about beetles lifestyles and how integral they are to the ecosystems they inhabit.

So this isn’t a traditional identification course then?

Instead of the traditional approach of getting straight into ID resources, we look more at the basic biology of the group, their ecological roles and the behaviours they exhibit. We also have a whole topic on how to find, catch and handle live beetles. The focus is less on species identification and more on grouping beetles by the ecological roles they have, which allows for learners to have a better starting point of groups they may find in particular habitats. That being said, there are a few cheeky tips for beginners and the last week focuses on what information should be recorded to maximise the possibility of gaining an accurate identification. Beetle families are incredibly diverse and in some cases unfathomably large, sometimes it's much easier to look at where you are finding them or what they are doing to gain vital clues on what they actually are. This course is really the first stage before getting into traditional ID skills but gives learners the skills necessary guidance to instil good identification practice.

Below: A Table showing the technical terms for various diet ranges in beetles and other invertebrates. Which is used in the Beetle Ecology section of the course.

So how does the course work?

The course is run on our online learning platform, Moodle, and uses videos, workbooks and tailor-made diagrams to display content in an informative and entertaining way. Its been built to cater for all kinds of learning styles, so everyone can get something out of it! Discovering beetles is split into four weekly topics, each with its own content to work through, activities to complete and culminating in an interactive webinar. Each webinar is different and can be tailored to the needs of the learners, for example by focusing on a concept that learners have raised questions on. My favourite weeks are 2 and 4, which have a homework-style field assignment where learners are expected to get outdoors and look at what can be found in their garden or local area! Each section is marked and the assignments graded by the tutor, which allows for some really cool submissions, tailored feedback for users and face to face discussions with the tutor -something I’ve not seen in other online courses.

Heres an example of some video content from the course

So how long would this course take me to do?

As a rule, we estimate this course to take around 20 hours to complete (around 5 hours per week), some people like to spend a little longer though so it really depends on your learning style. Some weeks need to have some time factored in for outdoor assignments, although we try to let people know ahead of time and there is some degree of flexibility if required because we know how life can be!

So the ‘outdoor assignments’…?

We have two of these, week two is all about beetle ecology, so we get learners to get out into their local green spaces and really look at the resources available to a variety of beetle groups and the habitat niches they inhabit. It’s amazing how varied beetles lifestyles and dietary requirements are and learners are amazed at the list of potential beetle habitats and resources found in the average garden. I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the submissions and it's clear that everyone had fun. The great thing was it prepared them for the last weeks assignment where they actually have to go out and find an example of a beetle!

The last assignment was my favourite to mark and uses all the knowledge gained from the previous weeks content. This means learners can split beetles from similar groups with confidence, know key places where to look, and behaviours they may exhibit (which could hinder capture or observation). Learners are also shown the types of observations that can aid identification, sometimes even years after they are made!

The submissions were incredible, and we had some great discussions about them in our last webinar. Because of the quality of the observations we were able to collectively begin to identify some of them from simple diagrams and sketches, which was amazing to see. Some even had a go at handling live specimens to help with their observations, something I didn’t master until 2 years of studying beetles! The enthusiasm and engagement were incredible and they made me proud as their tutor!

So what's next?

We are already planning to build on these courses, to allow a natural progression into the diverse world of beetles and begin to foster identification skills, this is just the start and we are keen to work with others to make the study of beetles more accessible for those who show even a glimmer of interest! I’m hoping these will feed into some place-based courses in the upcoming months. We just want everyone to know how great beetles are and how important they are to our way of life and all the essential jobs they have keeping our ecosystems in equilibrium.

So let's see what the first cohort had to say about the course...

Fancy joining in the fun?

Bookings are open for our next run at a limited offer subsidised rate, spaces are limited so click here to book now to avoid disappointment

Published by A. Bhambra 10 June 2021

Project Splatter: Revealing the truth about UK roadkill through citizen science

D.Asaw — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 15:28:09 +0000

Sarah is a NERC GW4+ funded doctoral researcher with Project Splatter and based at Cardiff University. She completed her MSci Biology degree at University of Nottingham. Her research is focusing on assessing how road mitigation affects animal behaviour and mortality, and how it could be used to aid conservation efforts.

How often do you notice animals that have been a victim of wildlife vehicle collisions (WVC) along your daily commute or on the way to the shops? Have you ever wondered what the most recorded animals killed on UK roads are? Do you want to help contribute to scientific research into the effects of roads on wildlife?

According to the Department for Transport, there are approximately 247,500 miles of road in the UK and 38.4 million licensed vehicles. It is, therefore, no surprise that roads can have a huge impact on wildlife. Road ecology is an area of research aiming to investigate how, where and to what extent roads affect things like animal behaviour, habitat connectivity and wildlife contaminants. Roads reach all corners of the UK and it is not possible for researchers to directly collect data on such a huge scale. This is where citizen science and Project Splatter come in.

What is Project Splatter?

Project Splatter was set up in 2013 at Cardiff University with the goal to collect roadkill reports from volunteers across the UK. The project relies upon members of the public submitting sightings of any wildlife they spot dead along roads, including details on the species or taxa of the animal, the location of the sighting and the date. Volunteers can also send in photos if they are unsure of their identification skills, though roadside safety is hugely important so no risks should be taken to get a picture! To date, the project has received over 81,000 reports from over 2,600 contributors. Researchers, like myself, can analyse these reports to look at both temporal (time related) and spatial patterns in roadkill, and investigate the different factors affecting the type and number of animals being reported.

So what happens with the data?

Using this volunteer data, the team has already published research on predicting habitat-specific hedgehog mortality risks on roads, long-term patterns in pheasant mortality in relation to management decisions, and the urban-rural gradient of roadkill risk across the UK. Additionally, weekly summaries are published on social media with totals for commonly reported species, as well as any unusual sightings – these can range from herons and long-eared owls to an escapee wallaby! Annual roundups of the top five species reported as roadkill are also released, for instance, in 2020 these were badgers, pheasants, hedgehogs, foxes and rabbits (Figure 1). One recent and exciting area of research involves looking at the seasonal patterns of WVC for the most reported species, using data spanning six years from 2014-2019. We have found that some species appear to have one or two seasonal peaks in roadkill each year, highlighting the need for targeted mitigation when these species are most at risk (In Review).

So what have you found?

The past year and the associated nationwide lockdowns due to COVID-19 have offered an interesting, and possibly once-in-a-lifetime, opportunity to monitor the impact of traffic reduction on animal behaviour.The first major lockdown in March 2020 saw a large reduction in human movement, including the use of roads and transport – this decrease in activity has been coined the ‘anthropause’. Some of the effects of these lockdown periods have already been reported, including a decrease in seismic noise caused by everyday human activity and a distinctive but temporary drop in pollution levels. At Project Splatter, we are currently investigating whether this reduction in traffic impacted upon the species being reported as roadkill compared to previous years (watch this space!).

Research into wildlife-human conflict is an important aspect of helping design appropriate and cost-effective solutions for conservation. For road ecology, these solutions could involve research into wildlife bridges and fencing, to enable animals to safely cross over roads and to provide a link between habitats. Alternatively, modifications to the design of roads or cars could provide a solution to the problems caused by noise pollution and installing signage (e.g. Figure 2) at hotspots could warn drivers to slow down near key crossing areas. Educating the public about both the dangers to wildlife and to humans in WVC is an important part of what Project Splatter does, with the overall aim to work towards reducing and mitigating these potentially fatal interactions

So, how do I get involved?

We are always in need of more volunteers and are happy whether people report one or many roadkill sightings. It is really easy to get involved: visit our website where you can download our reporting app. You will then be able to send us vital information about where and when you have seen roadkill, and what species. Follow us on Twitter to receive weekly updates, notifications of any new publications and to take part in our occasional roadkill-related quizzes.

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First Published 19th April 2021