This course focuses on the interactions of global change, ecosystem processes, land use practices, politics, and society. Impacts of global change on forests and agro-ecosystems that will strongly affect sustainable resource use across the 21st century and responsible and smart solutions are addressed.

The course introduces basic concepts and applications of dynamic vegetation models at various temporal and spatial scales. Different modeling approaches and underlying principles are presented and critically discussed during the lectures. In the integrated exercise parts, students work in a number of small projects with some of the introduced models to gain practical experience.