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Biogeochemistry and Sustainable Management
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:29:28
Abstract
This course focuses on the interactions between ecology, biogeochemistry and management of agro- and forest ecosystems, thus, coupled human-environmental systems. Students learn how human impacts on ecosystems via management or global change are mainly driven by effects on biogeochemical cycles and thus ecosystem functioning, but also about feedback mechanisms of terrestrial ecosystems.
Objective
Students will analyse and understand the complex and interacting processes of ecology, biogeochemistry and management of agroecosystems. They will use their theoretical knowledge in two flipped classroom exercises, but also set up a small weather station and program a data logger to collect meteorological variables, analyze large meteorological and flux data sets, and evaluate the impacts of weather events and management practices on the ecosystem greenhouse gas exchange. Thus, students will expand their computational competences. Moreover, students will be able to coordinate and work successfully in small (interdisciplinary) teams.
Content
Agroecosystems play a major role in all landscapes, either for production purposes, ecological areas or for recreation. The human impact of any management on the environment is mainly driven by effects on biogeochemical cycles. Effects of global change impacts will also act via biogeochemistry at the soil-biosphere-atmosphere-interface. Thus, ecosystem functioning, i.e., the interactions between ecology, biogeochemistry and management of terrestrial systems, is the science topic for this course. Students will gain profound knowledge about biogeochemical cycles and greenhouse gas fluxes in managed grassland and/or cropland ecosystems as well as expand their computational competences. Responses of agroecosystems to the environment, i.e., to climate and weather events, but also to management will be studied. Two flipped class-room exercises include the assessment of an ecosystem disturbance and the experimental design of an own study. Dataloggers will be programmed, and a small weather station will be set up. Different meteorological and greenhouse gas flux data will be analysed (using R) and assessed in terms of production, greenhouse gas budgets, and carbon sequestration. Thus, students will learn how to collect, analyse and interpret data about the complex interactions of a coupled human-environmental system. Students will work in groups (3-4 persons per group) with data from a small weather station (dedicated to the course), as well as data from the long-term measurement network Swiss FluxNet and from global databases. Data from the intensively managed grassland site Chamau will be used to investigate the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of CO2, H2O, N2O and CH4. Functional relationships will be identified, greenhouse gas budgets will be calculated for different time periods and in relation to management over the course of a year.
Resources
Lecture Notes
Handouts will be available in moodle.
Learning Materials (Links)
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise |
Biogeochemistry and Sustainable Management
In addition to the regular lecture, data (measurement) tasks take place on following Mondays (08:15-12:00):
30.09.2024
07.10.2024
11.11.2024
On 28.10.2024, an excursion to the Waldlabor (
) will take place in the morning.
|
|
2 h weekly |