Plant Ecology

The course covers plant ecology at an advanced level. The course deals with plant life history and functional traits, demography, and interactions between plants, between plants and animals, and between plants and the remaining ecosystem.

On completion of the course the students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of:

• Advanced topics in plant life history and reproduction strategies (incl. seed and pollination ecology)
• Functional traits related to population, community, and ecosystem level
• Interactions between plants and the abiotic and biotic environment
• Diversity and distribution of plants
• Restoration of plant communities
• Conservation of plants and plant communities
• Plants and climate change

Skills:

• The student can analyze the current theories, methods, and interpretations within the field of plant ecology, and work independently on practical and theoretical problem solving with respect to plant responses in terms of functional traits, life history, demography, and ecosystem interactions in different environments.

General competence:

• The student can understand, present, discuss, and critically evaluate scientific advanced literature

• Lectures/Seminar: 40 hours, mandatory
• Project work: The student must choose a topic within plant ecology and write a review article on the topic