Course - Freshwater Ecology - BI3037
Freshwater Ecology
Choose study yearAbout
About the course
Course content
The course covers properties of water and the significance of these properties for the structuring of plants and animals on the individual-, population- and community level. The course covers spatial and temporal variation in natural ecosystems, including effects of human activity and climate change. Important topics include an overview over the most important groups of organism, community structure, and control of communities through top-down (predator control) and bottom-up mechanisms (available food).
Learning outcome
KNOWLEDGE:
- Basic limnology and water quality.
- Overview of major functional groups of organisms in freshwater
- Effects of land use, climate change and other anthropogenic sources of influence on freshwater ecosystems
- Effects of abiotic factors on eco-physiology and life history of freshwater organisms
- Effects of abiotic factors on trophic interactions, with emphasis on competition, predation and parasitism
- Phenotypic responses to trophic interactions
- The role of bottom-up vs. top-down regulation in freshwater food webs
SKILLS AQUIRED:
- Critical evaluation of primary literature
- Applying key methods for fish and zooplankton surveys
- Use of the program R for analyses of data
- Conducting laboratory experiments using aquatic organisms
- Analysing and reporting data from lab- and field studies of aquatic organisms
GENERAL COMPETENCE:
- The course gives a special competence linked to environmental problems in freshwater and the regulatory mechanisms for management of freshwater
Learning methods and activities
Lectures: 18 hours
Field course: 3 days
Lab experiments : 10 hours
Seminars: 24 hours
Experimental work: 20 hours
Analyzing and reporting experimental results: 10 hours
Total expected workload: ca. 225 hours
Compulsory assignments
- Field Report
- Lab Report
Further on evaluation
Final exam counts for 100% of the total grade of the course. Only students with approved mandatory activities will be allowed to take the exam.
Retake of the final exam for improvement of grade can be done the following semester. In this case, the written exam can be changed to an oral exam.
Mandatory activities from previous semester may be approved by the department.
Credit reductions
| Course code | Reduction | From |
|---|---|---|
| BI2035 | 7 sp | Autumn 2011 |
Subject areas
- Biodiversity
- Biology
- Zoology
- Ecology