Field methods in ecology

The UE will consist of a case study to which the students will have to respond. The teaching staff of the UE will represent the management of design offices responsible for carrying out impact studies following a development project.

The students will play the role of experts from the consultancy firms, and will have to carry out analyses of the project area. They will have to provide a report on their impact study, in which they will have identified the ecological issues and ranked them according to their importance. They will also have to give an oral presentation of their study.

The UE will be structured around 6 2-hour TD sessions at the beginning of the semester, during which the following points will be covered:

TD1: Introduction to the EU, presentation of what an impact study is and what is expected of such a study (this part will be carried out by a professional whose job it is to check impact studies), presentation of the status of the areas studied: ZNIEFF, Natura 2000.

TD2 to 6: Presentation of analysis methods for different groups of organisms (plants, arthropods, herpetofauna, avifauna and chiropterans, soil fauna, etc.).

For the remainder of the EU, students will be asked to propose study protocols for estimating the potential impacts of the planned project. The protocols set up will have to enable impacts to be assessed as closely as possible, and the studies will have to budget their interventions. They will then be given time in the field to set up their protocol, collect data and analyze it. The teaching team will tutor the groups to guide them in their work. They will write a dissertation based on specifications provided by the teaching team. This deliverable must be supported by field data and bibliographical data. They will defend their work in front of the teaching team during an oral presentation.

Several study areas were targeted in Montpellier: Triolet Campus, Mosson River, Parc de la Vallet, Montpellier Center, Parc Méric, Rives du Lez, Garrigues de la Lauze...

- Ecological basics covered throughout the degree course

- Statistical basics covered throughout the degree course

- English

- Basic field ecology

- Basics of sampling strategy

- Field technology

- Analysis method

- Writing and summarizing

- Time management, initiative-taking, group work