Daniel Egger, BSc

Room 513

csap4509@student.uibk.ac.at

Already since my early days I have been fascinated by nature and wildlife. Spending time outside while observing animals and their interactions always gives me feelings of both excitement and relaxation, since nature always provides fascinating things to discover.

During my Bachelor’s study, I started to more intensely explore the animal diversity in Tyrol, which complemented my passion and fascination for birds perfectly. While for my bachelor thesis I studied interactions between honeybees and wild bees during their nectar and pollen-collecting activity on a specific plant, in my Master thesis project, together with Master’s student Alina Wolfbauer, I study the potential effects of human influence on the Blackbird/Amsel (Turdus merula) in the city of Innsbruck.

By studying areas with different levels of human influence (“hemeroby”) ranging from highly sealed surfaces (roads, buildings, industry…) to near-natural outskirts of the city, we – along this gradient – investigate the potential effects on morphological traits and genetic structures as well as on the feeding habits of blackbirds that inhabit these areas. The results from this study will hopefully be useful for further efforts in the management of preserving wildlife in urban areas.

Research topics
Conservation biology
Ornithology
Population genetics and genomics
Urban ecology