Additional tutorial: Learning impulses for species knowledge [03.08.23]
For students interested in biodiversity, KomBioTa was able to offer an additional tutorial in the summer semester 2023. Every Tuesday, students of all faculties had the chance to improve their know-how.
In the species knowledge tutorial offered by KomBioTa during the 2023 summer semester, students from all faculties were able to learn how to identify insects like this red speedwell sand bee. (Photo: David Becker)
Using hand traps, landing nets, yellow trays, and rapping umbrellas, the participants of the species knowledge tutorial traced insects and learned how to identify insects. What to look for? Which characteristics are relevant? What mistakes should be avoided when monitoring insects? They explored questions like these together with the two Master's students Jasmin Lepper and David Becker, who provided technical support for the tutorial. During the excursions, wild bees such as the May longhorn bee or the Red speedwell sand bee, butterflies such as the Hauhechel's blue butterfly, the Checkerboard and many other beetle and dragonfly species could be observed.
Anyone who wants to become an insects expert also needs knowledge about the plants that are the breeding ground for the pollinators. Therefore, an essential component of the tutorial was the identification of plants. Explorations in the Hohenheim gardens led the group to protected species such as the knotweed saxifrage or the spotted hemlock, which is one of the most poisonous native plant species. Besides, the participants learned how to create a herbarium to preserve plants and keep them as important scientific evidence.
The observations were recorded digitally via the nature observation platform observation.org and could thus be used for the ICA Biodiversity Challenge of the University of Hohenheim. In this way, the tutorial primarily conveyed species knowledge, but at the same time supported the university in its goal of winning the Challenge and bringing the title of "Europe's most biodiverse campus" to Hohenheim.
We thank the two Master's students for conducting the tutorial and all students for their participation and contribution to biodiversity research.
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