Ecology of aquatic communities in lentic and lotic water. Adaptations and distribution patterns due to competition, predation and isolation. Applied case studies of different Swiss lakes and rivers.

This course combines Limnology (the study of inland waters in its broad sense) with ecological and evolutionary concepts. It deals with flowing and standing waters.

This course introduces the students to interdisciplinary field work in aquatic systems. The aim is to learn modern sampling and analysis methods, to acquire informative data and to analyse the results to answer questions regarding the state and the relevant processes in a given river, lake or groudndwater system.

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.

The course will give an overview of the structure, function and dynamics of wetland and groundwater ecosystems, introduce selected wetland (marine and freshwater) and groundwater types, and use examples from wetlands and ground waters to illustrate central ecological themes. Conservation, restoration and management issues will also be discussed. The course comprises lectures and a field trip.

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