Dear Colleagues,
If you are attending the 13TH EWDA Conference and would like to expand your knowledge on biomonitoring in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) we hope you will consider attending the following Workshop:
“Marine Priority Habitats and species: Applied biomonitoring in Marine Protected Areas and the special-case of Marine Mammals”
Attendees will gain a broad overview of Marine Protected Areas, while developing a greater appreciation for marine mammal biomonitoring issues.
Description of the Workshop
The Workshop will be organized in four sessions, namely:
- Session 1: Marine Priority Habitats and Species (Dr. Chryssanthi Antoniadou)
A thorough overview of marine habitat types and species presenting baseline and applied information on terminology, structural/population features, geographic distribution/extension range, and conservation status in the Hellenic Seas. The latter will address issues related to legal frameworks, conservation status assessments by IUCN and concept of ecosystem-based management approaches.
- Session2: Applied Biomonitoring in MPAs (Dr. Alexios Lolas)
The most prominent applied survey techniques and tools will be presented including habitat mapping using GIS and acoustic data, biodiversity assessment within priority habitats, structural and functional features for each habitat type, population surveys with emphasis on non-destructive techniques, visual census for sessile biota and fish, surveys of permanent plots, mark-recapture techniques.
- Session 3: Guidelines for surveys on marine mammals (Gregory Karamitros)
This section will cover all the essential technical issues applied to acoustic and visual surveys on marine mammals. Throughout, the attendee will be familiar with the last trends of technical equipments (hardware and software) for Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM), using logger software, such as GIS and PAM.
- Session 4: Marine Mammals biomonitoring; From theory to practice (Gregory Karamitros and Dr. George Gkafas)
At the last session all attendees will analyze data files, using real logger databases from scientific surveys via computing systems. Several different cases of acoustic data (sperm whale and dolphin species) will be implemented using basic features of PAMGuard software. All the outputs will be discussed with respect to the conservation and management of the species in question.
Workshop registration includes training materials, light lunch, coffee and refreshments as well as the transportation to Department of Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment in the city of Volos.
This all day workshop will be held on Monday, August 27th, 2018 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM with a maximum of 50 participants.
Speakers:
- C. Antoniadou (Dept of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
- A. Lolas (Post-doctoral researcher, Dept of Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly)
- G. Karamitros (PhD Candidate, Dept of Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly)
- G. Gkafas (Assistant Prof., Dept of Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly)
Organizers: Professor D. Vafidis (Dept of Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly), and Dr. A Exadactylos (Associate Prof., Dept of Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly
Many thanks for considering this and we hope to see you at the Workshop.