The University of Pavia and the Alpine Wildlife Research Centre of the Gran Paradiso National Park organize a Summer school on: “Advances in Species distribution modelling for ecological studies and conservation” (Pavia and Cogne, Italy 12-18 September 2011).
The summer school is organized by Prof. Giuseppe Bogliani (University of Pavia) and Dr. Achaz von Hardenberg (Alpine Wildlife Research Centre, GPNP) Invited lecturers include: Jane Elith (University of Melbourne, Australia), Gurutzeta Guillera-Arroita (University of Kent, UK), Marc Kery (Vogelwarte Sempach, Switzerland), Francesco Rovero (Trento Science Museum, Italy) and Roberto Sacchi (University of Pavia, Italy) Content: Accurate estimates and prediction of species distribution is essential for the conservation and management of wildlife. Occupancy, defined as the proportion of sites occupied by a species, is a variable commonly used in ecology for the modelling of habitat relationships, metapopulation studies and wildlife monitoring programmes. However species detection is rarely perfect, leading to occupied sites erroneously classified as unoccupied based on survey data. If not accounted for, these false absences lead to underestimates of occupancy. Recent years have seen a great development of occupancy models that take account of imperfect detection of species, using replicate surveys at samples sites for the simultaneous estimation of occupancy and detectability. On the other hand, large databases exist for presence data only, which contain potentially useful information for conservation and management. The aim of the summer school is to present the most advanced developments in the modelling approaches used to study species distribution, including the handling of presence only data (MaxEnt), the analysis of presence/absence data taking into account imperfect detection and Bayesian hierarchical approaches. The summer school will be structured in a mix of frontal lessons and computer practicals using real example data provided by the instructors or brought in by participants. An introductory facultative module of 4 hours on the use of the open source statistical environment “R” will be delivered on the first day. Frontal lessons and computer practicals will be held in Pavia, a pleasant and well connected university city rich in cultural and historic attractions, in Northern Italy. The summer school includes also field activities in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Cogne, Aosta Valley), aimed at delivering to the participants an understanding of appropriate field techniques and study designs for the collection of data amenable to the analysis with the presented statistical techniques. Learning Outcomes: Participants at the end of the school are expected to have gained a broad overview and an understanding of the most up-to-date methods available for modelling species distribution. They are also expected to have gained a working knowledge of the available software packages currently available for modelling occupancy both taking into account imperfect detection as well as handling presence only data. Prerequisites: The school is open to graduate students (Master and PhD level), Researchers, consultants and staff of governmental agencies interested in the application of species occupancy models in ecological studies, conservation and management. Application deadline: 31 July 2011 For more informations about the summer school and the online application form please go to http://www.speciesdistribution.org Dr. Achaz von Hardenberg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Centro Studi Fauna Alpina - Alpine Wildlife Research Centre Servizio Sanitario e della Ricerca Scientifica Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso, Degioz, 11, 11010-Valsavarenche (Ao), Italy E-mail: achaz.hardenb...@pngp.it fa...@pngp.it Skype: achazhardenberg --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
