The course gives an introduction to experimental plant ecology. A wide range of experiments close to applications (especially in conservation biology), to the influence of global change on ecosystems to fundamental research about coexistence of plants in ecosystems will be covered with lectures, excursions, demonstrations and own experiments.

The pedological excursions are field trips to personally inspect the major soil types in our region. The various soil horizons can be seen and assessed in excavated soil pits. The purpose of this excercise is to recognize the important features of these soils and to understand the ecosystem processes at these sites. This unit complements the teaching materials and contents of the courses taught in

Project work in plant ecology, soil chemistry, soil protection, and soil microbiology with the aim of learning and applying field and laboratory methods for the investigation and description of terrestrial ecosystems.

The course is a mixture of lectures, formal presentations by students and discussions based on reading of literature. It addresses selected topics in ecosystem ecology such as ‘ecosystems in a changing climate’, ‘biodiversity and ecosystem functioning’, ‘ecological stoichiometry’, and ‘trophic cascades’. Students are welcome to suggest alternative topics.