Thesis supervisor: Ádám Egri
Location of studies (in Hungarian): HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Aquatic Ecology Abbreviation of location of studies: H-REN
Description of the research topic:
"This research focuses on the behaviour of twilight-swarming mayflies. We will measure the effectiveness of the two very first mayfly protecting beacon light system that was installed on two Danube bridges recently. We determine how much percent of the swarming Danube mayfly (/Ephoron virgo/) individuals can be saved by the beacon lights from being mass perished at the public lights of illuminated bridges. In field larval samplings we also examine whether in the downstream vicinity of bridges the sex ratio of the Danube mayflies are slightly female-biased, which was confirmed for the typically daylight-swarming Tisza mayfly (/Palingenia longicauda/). In field experiments we measure the proportion of mayflies that can get through the optical barrier formed by an unlit bridge. in other words, we test whether bridges act as optical barriers for the swarming mayflies, which was previously confirmed for the Tisza mayfly. Finally, in laboratory experiments, we test if the spectral properties of the environment has an effect on the triggering of the emergence of certain twilight-swarming mayflies (e.g. /E. virgo/ and/or /Electrogena lateralis/). The candidate will participate in performing the field and laboratory experiments and the data analysis as well.
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Required language skills: English Further requirements: Basic knowledge in programming