On 15-16 January 2007, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has hosted in the Internationales Kongresszentrum Bonn a national kick-off event of the 7th framework programme. On the first day of the conference high-ranking international speakers incl. German Minister for Education & Research, Mrs. Annette Schavan, and EU Commissioner for R&D, Mr. Janez Potocnik, have presented an overview of all the elements of the new research framework programme. The second day has given the participants the opportunity to take a more detailed look at a variety of topics of the framework programme via individual workshop. and Marie Kolmanová.
The study aimed to recognize whether the activity of a semi-aquatic invasive carnivore – the American mink Neovison vison – is related to the distribution of waterbird colonies. For this reason, we monitored mink occurrence in lake reedbeds and the fate of artificial nests imitating those of the great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus. The location of artificial nests in the grebe colony increased the probability of their survival compared to those placed outside the grebe colony. During the study, mink activity increased over time. In general, it was lower in colonies than outside of them, suggesting that the presence of natural nests does not increase the probability of mink occurrence in lake reedbeds. However, mink activity was negatively correlated with the distance from the lake shoreline and differed spatially according to the presence or absence of natural grebe nests. In grebe colonies, the probability of mink occurrence at greater distances from the lake shoreline was higher than outside, which can be explained by optimizing swimming effort while searching for prey. In conclusion, mink activity in colonies was lower than in areas with no waterbird nests, and nest location in a colony decreased predation risk by mink.