BB510: Ecology (15 ECTS)

STADS: 04011601

Level
Bachelor course

Teaching period
The course is offered in the autumn semester.

Teacher responsible
Email: hsj@biology.sdu.dk

Timetable
Show entire timetable
Show personal time table for this course.

Prerequisites:
None

Academic preconditions:
The the first year curriculum ia assumed knowned

Course introduction
To give the student a thorough insight in general ecological theories within the areas: ecosystem structure, function and development, Cycling of water, nutrients and energy in ecosystems, including knowledge to mass balances and simple ecological models.

Expected learning outcome
At the end of the course, the student is supposed to be able to:

• Analyse the physical-chemical conditions in soils and explain their importance for soil development and for vegetation
• Analyse the physical-chemical conditions in aquatic ecosystems and explain the relationship between these and the environmental condition
• Explain the water cycle
• Explain cycling of elements, including nutrients and limiting factors for primary production in freshwater and marine environments
• Explain the importance of abiotic factors for biological processes and biological structures in ecosystems
• Explain and analyse the species composition of communities in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
• Explain the importance of flora, fauna and microorganisms for production and decomposition of organic matter and nutrient cycling in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
• Analyse the environmental condition of specific ecosystems using general ecological knowledge
• Analyse data according to the EU Water Framework Directive

Subject overview
The following subjects will be read and discussed:

1. Description of communities in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
2. Importance of flora, fauna and microorganisms for production and decomposition of organic matter and nutrient cycling in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
3. Physical and chemical conditions in soils and their importance for soil development
4. Cycling of water
5. Cycling of elements (including nutrients), and limiting factors for primary production in freshwater and marine environments.
6. Importance of abiotic factors for biological processes and biological structure in the pelagic zone and in sediments.
7. Based on environmental reports different cases will be discussed
8. The EU Water Framework Directive is illustrated with examples from Odense Fjord. NOVANA data, the national water plans and a data set regarding restoration potential of eelgrass will be treated. GIS and simple ecological models will be used in the analysis.

Literature
There isn't any litterature for the course at the moment.

Website
This course uses e-learn (blackboard).

Prerequisites for participating in the exam
Compilation of reports on the terrestrial and aquatic practicals. Should be passed in order to register for the oral exam. (04011612)

Assessment and marking:
Oral examination after the second quarter, which counts 15 ECTS. External examiner participate in the evaluation after the 7-point grading scale. (04011602)

Re-examination after 4th quarter. The form of re-examinations may be different than the regular exam

Expected working hours
The teaching method is based on three phase model.
Intro phase: 40 hours
Skills training phase: 70 hours

Educational activities Study phase: 42 hours

The teaching will consist of 40 hours of lectures, 70 hours of training phase divided between 50 hours consisting of lab and field practical and 10 hours of theoretical exicises and a 8-hour introductory course to GIS. There are 42 lectures scheduled for the study phase for groupwork.

Communication between teachers and students concerning lecture notes, assignments, etc. will be through SDU's e-learning system.

Language
This course is taught in Danish.

Course enrollment
See deadline of enrolment.

Tuition fees for single courses
See fees for single courses.