Faunistics and Floristics

The course gives an introduction to the biological kingdoms, and their evolution and taxonomic classification. This is done by concentrating on knowledge of species and taxons through exercises and use of keys. The main emphasis is put on characteristic groups and species of local ecosystems, and adaptations to the environment and behaviour of the species are integrated parts of the course. Lectures and obligatory laboratory lessons with practical demonstrations alternate during the first eight weeks. Natural history collections at the nearby museum and botanical garden is presented to the students. Day excursions and field courses follow, covering altogether 28 days.

The candidate will acquire knowledge required to map biodiversity of plants, animals and fungi in Norwegian ecosystems. In some cases this will be limited to an higher taxonomic level (order/family/genus), whereas for other taxa it will extend down to species level (plants, vertebrates and some common invertebrates). Biodiversity can be measured in terms of species richness, functional biodiversity, and phylogenetic biodiversity. Quantification of all those measures requires collection of biological material, and the students will learn basic field methodology for such collections in different ecosystems during field excursions and field courses. At the same time, the candidate gets a basic understanding of species diversity and where the various organisms live.To enable mapping of species richness students will learn how to apply existing literature for identification of organisms. Extensive training in this skill will be given both through lab course, lab activities associated with field courses, and online testing tools. To enable mapping of functional biodiversity the students will also acquire knowledge about morphological traits and life history traits that characterize different taxa. To enable mapping of phylogenetic biodiversity the students will acquire knowledge about phylogenetic trees that show hypotheses about evolutionary relatedness, how these can be constructed using information about phenotypic and/or genetic characters, and how these show the evolutionary relatedness among organisms.

The course is mainly practical and requires a large participation, the total workload is estimated at around 450 hours.

• Lectures/active learning classroom: 48 hours
• Laboratory course: 90 hours, mandatory
• Field course: Day excursions, field course at the coast and in the mountains, total of 28-29 days.
• Assessment part 1: Several theoretical tests before the day excursions, counts 20 %.
• Assessment part 2: Practical exam after the field course, in August, counts 80 %. Duration is estimated to 5 hours, but may vary.
• The laboratory course and the field course must be approved before taking the practical exam.

Admission to this course is restricted