title: Personal messages reduce vandalism and theft of unattended scientific equipment.
abstract: Scientific equipment, such as animal traps and autonomous data collection systems, is regularly left in the field unattended, making it an easy target for vandalism or theft. We tested the effectiveness of three label types, which differed in their information content and tone of the message, that is,personal,neutralorthreatening, for reducing incidents of vandalism and theft of unattended scientific field equipment. The three label types were attached to 20 scientific equipment dummies each, which were placed semi-hidden and evenly distributed in four public parks in Munich, Germany. While the label type had no effect on the severity of the interactions with our equipment dummies, thepersonallabel reduced the overall number of interactions byc. 40-60%, compared with the dummies showing theneutralorthreateninglabel type. We suggest that researchers, in addition to securing their field equipment, label it with personal and polite messages that inform about the ongoing research and directly appeal to the public not to disturb the equipment. Further studies should extend these results to areas with different socio-economic structure.
authors: Sensory Ecology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany.
authors: B-Markus
authors: BM
authors: Clarin
authors: Munich Graduate Program for Evolution, Ecology and Systematics, Department of Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Großhaderner Straße 2, 82152, Martinsried, Germany.
authors: Eleftherios
authors: E
authors: Bitzilekis
authors: Sensory Ecology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany.
authors: Björn M
authors: BM
authors: Siemers
authors: Sensory Ecology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany.
authors: Holger R
authors: HR
authors: Goerlitz
keywords: crime prevention; damage; equipment protection; information; message; mode of address; public information; scientific field equipment; signage