Summer School on Blue-Green Biodiversity

Abstract

This summer school highlights how an integrated approach that considers the ecological, evolutionary, and social dimensions of freshwater (blue) and terrestrial (green) ecosystems benefits the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity. It is aimed primarily for PhD students to bring themselves up to date with the latest research and to reflect on their own work with an interdisciplinary lens.

Objective

Students will be able to: • describe and discuss the linkages between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and the interdependencies between social and ecological systems. • analyze the current and future blue and green ecosystems from a scientific, nature conservation, management, and socioeconomic perspective. • assess their own scientific work with respect to other disciplinary methods and the benefits of interdisciplinary approaches in their field.

Content

The course will cover a diverse set of topics, from the ecology and evolution of blue-green ecosystems to ecosystem services and governance. It will combine lectures, field excursions and group work to present and discuss state-of-the-art knowledge and practices. The content of the summer school will be based around these questions: •How do evolutionary and ecological processes differ in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems? • What are the characteristics of species interactions and ecosystem processes, such as carbon recycling or toxin production, across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems? • How will blue-green ecosystems and their biodiversity respond to climate change and other anthropogenic drivers? How will the differences in ecological processes lead to divergent responses to human impacts across ecosystems? •How should conservation strategies and urban development be aligned to best preserve both aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in Switzerland? •How should socio-ecological interdependencies and existing knowledge and attitudes of stakeholders and the public be considered to optimize the outcome of ecological restorations? •How can an evidence-based understanding of biodiversity be used to improve policy and decision making?

Resources