Established in 2010, the Department of
Wildlife Ecology and Management is one of Türkiye’s youngest and most dynamic
programmes in natural resource sciences. Its mission is to advance education
and research using state-of-the-art technologies to conserve wildlife and
manage their habitats across ecological, social and economic dimensions.
Organised into two core divisions, Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management,
the Department provides expertise in wildlife and population ecology,
conservation biology, habitat assessment, wildlife health, wetland and forest
ecosystems, game management, freshwater fisheries and ecotourism. Additional
focal areas include habitat restoration and the interactions between wildlife
and forest structure. Ongoing and completed research projects include modelling
bird species richness in agricultural landscapes, studying habitat preferences
of fallow deer, analysing relationships between forest stand structure and bird
communities, assessing the impacts of forestry operations on wildlife and
modelling the distribution of wild mammals. While the undergraduate programme
has not yet opened to enrolment, the Department currently offers a two-year
Master of Science (M.Sc.) programme.
Head of Department
Prof. Dr. Ahmet MERT
Divisions
Division of Wildlife Management
The division conducts education and
research about conservation, monitoring and planning natural ecosystems that
meet the habitat requirements of wild animals, landscape ecology, and
restoration ecology.
Academic Staff
Prof. Dr. Ahmet MERT (Head of Division)
Division of Wildlife Ecology
The division conducts education and
research about wildlife biology, wildlife nutrition, wildlife inventory,
population ecology, conservation biology, and animal behaviors.
Academic Staff
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yasin ÜNAL (Head of Division)
Prof. Dr. Şengül AKSAN
Projects
The staff in the Department endeavor
to conserve and restore natural ecosystems that provide habitat for a number of
wild animals. They conduct research on a wide variety of ecological and
conservation issues. We focus on wildlife ecology, conservation biology, game
management, relations between wild animals and forest structure, rehabilitation
and restoration of wildlife habitats. Some examples of our ongoing or finished
research projects are; i) Modeling bird species richness using landscape
diversity metrics in Agricultural farmlands, ii) The ecology and habitat
preferences of Cervus Dama L., iii) Relations between forest stand structure
and bird species, iv) Effects of forestry operations on wildlife, v) Modeling
distribution of wild mammals, vi) Nature education projects for a wide range of
society.