Exercise course: Experimental Ecology (GCE:B2) (24022)
SS 2024
Mo.: 14:00-16:00, tbc
Anke Jentsch, Svenja Wanke, Peter Wolff
5 ECTS
Preliminary Meeting: tba
Starting date:
tba. - Introduction
tba. - Lecture
tba. - (Interim colloquium ; 10 min presentation by each group)
And additional dates where we work and study outside at the ÖBG.
Learning Objective (Module B2): The learning outcome of the module Experimental Ecology is to reach an overview over recent experimental approaches in community ecology. In particular, globally coordinated, geographically distributed experiments such as HerbDivNet, BioDEPTH, EVENT, SUSALPS, DroughtNet or NutrientNet have proven to be very stimulating for understanding design and analysis of standardized experiments and testing ecological theory. Goal of this module is an in-depth look at the relationship between biodiversity and ecological functioning, understanding the scientific approaches and findings on impacts of climate change and land use change on ecosystem services. This course will be composed of several elements including theoretical instruction on experimental design and analysis, participation in ongoing field campaigns as well as collecting and analyzing own data. At the conclusion of this module, students will have a thorough understanding of experimental ecology.
Course Content: General concepts of experimental ecology will be introduced initially using ongoing field experiments as model ecosystems. Here, the focus of interest are effects of global change drivers om biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Guided by instructors, students will develop their own hypothesis within an ongoing research activity, collect and evaluate their own data. In doing so, students will learn about the potential and limitation of experimental approaches. Thus, students will become familiar with different methods of collecting and evaluating data in experimental ecology.
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