This course presents a broad overview of the key processes structuring ecological populations and communities, with a particular focus on understanding and managing global change impacts.

This introductory lecture in ecology covers basic ecological concepts and the most important levels of complexity in ecological research. Ecological concepts are exemplified by using aquatic and terrestrial systems; corresponding methodological approaches are demonstrated. Threats to biodiversity and the appropriate management are discussed.

This course is for students needing further ecological background. Topics covered include population growth, species interactions, the movement of energy and nutrients through ecosystems, and ecological responses to environmental change will be covered. Applications of ecological concepts to conservation and restoration will also be covered.

The colloquium “Challenges in Plant Sciences” is a core class of the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center's PhD program. The colloquium introduces participants to the broad spectrum of plant sciences within the network. The course offers the opportunity to approach interdisciplinary topics in the field of plant sciences.

The organization and functioning of academic research as well as academic publishing are introduced and applied: students critically review two term papers written by their student colleagues. Based on the reviews, the authors of the papers write reply letters and revise their own term papers. They finally present their topic during an in-house "mini-conference" with a talk.

Individual writing of an essay-type review paper about a specialized topic in the field of ecology and evolution, based on substantial reading of original literature and discussions with a senior scientist.

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.

In diesem Praktikum wird untersucht, wie die Artenzusammensetzung der Wiesen von der Bewirtschaftung und abiotischen Faktoren abhängt. Studierende erlernen Methoden der Vegetationsforschung sowie die Durchführung und Auswertung von Feldexperimenten. Sie verstehen, wie Wiesenpflanzen auf unterschiedliche Nutzung reagieren und wie dieses Wissen in der Praxis umgesetzt wird.

This class focuses on ecological processes involved with plant life, mechanisms of plant adaptation, plant-animal and plant-soil interactions, plant strategies and implications for the structure and function of plant communities. The discussion of original research examples familiarises students with research questions and methods, and how to evaluate results and interpretations.

This course aims at developing research skills in environmental biology. Students carry out small research projects in terrestrial and aquatic ecology, ecological genetics, and population biology. Students analyse their data statistically and present the results both orally and in written reports.

This course presents leading problems in plant ecology and the quantitative tools to address them. Example topics include plant population models to assess population viability; quantifying invasive species spread; and assessing the robustness of biological networks to perturbations. Exact topics depend on emerging problems in the field and existing expertise within the Plant Ecology Group.