Experimental Plant Ecology

Abstract

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.

Objective

- To become familiar with various experimental approaches and instruments for plant ecological research, incl. advantages and disadvantages - To gain practical skills by carrying out and evaluating ecological plant experiments

Content

Experiments in plant ecology are a fundamental tool to learn how plant communities function, and to estimate impacts of global changes - such as through biological invasions and climate change - on community processes. In this course, principles of experimental plant ecology will be given in lectures, demonstrations, excursions, study of literature and with experiments conducted by students. In a theoretical part, the advantages and disadvantages of various experimental approaches, methods and instruments will be discussed. The practical part will comprise experiments at various levels. Groups of students, under guidance, will develop experiments. This includes asking clear questions, searching the literature, setting up and maintaining the experiments, making measurements, performing statistical analysis and interpreting the results, and presenting results in a talk. Research interests in the Plant Ecology group, which will form the basis for potential experiments, include (a) effects of species interactions (e.g. pollination, seed predation, herbivory, mycorrhizal fungi) on plant community dynamics; (b) tree seedling recruitment under changing climate; (c) impacts of climate extremes (drought, frost) on individual performance and community dynamics; and (d) mechanisms of coexistence.

Resources