Lecture: Dynamic Vegetation Ecology (B8a) (00764)

SS 2018
Th.: 08:00-10:00, S 36 (NWI)

Steven Higgins

2 ECTS

Learning Objective (Module B8): The module’s aim is to teach students about the drivers that influence earth’s vegetation distribution as well as to communicate the role of terrestrial vegetation in earth’s ecosystems. Students will gain the skills to critically assess and interpret dynamic vegetation models.  

Course Content: The Lecture focuses on the most important ecological processes regarding terrestrial vegetation. The lecture stresses that the knowledge of biophysical laws is as crucial as the evolutionary history of individual sites to understand vegetation patterns. Major topics are for example the carbon-storage of leaves, carbon allocation in plant crowns and vegetation stands, birth and mortality as well as the structure of plant communities and ecosystems