BB528: Climate change biology (5 ECTS)

STADS: 04010921

Level
Bachelor course

Teaching period
The course is offered in the spring semester.

Teacher responsible
Email: dec@biology.sdu.dk

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

Prerequisites:
None

Academic preconditions:
An understanding of first year course material

Course introduction
This course is designed to introduce the students to current thinking on how climate change is influencing the biology of the planet. We will explore  ecosystems ranging from the land to the sea. During the course, the students will be asked read and critically analyze current scientific literature on specific topics related to climate change biology. The students will be asked to present at least one topic to the class in a formal presentation and to lead a discussion stemming from the presented material.  Through the course, the students will explore key issues related to the biology of climate change, and importantly, the students will learn to critically evaluate the scientific literature.

Expected learning outcome


Subject overview
The course will be divided into 5 main parts. The first part begins with an exploration of the physics behind climate change. We will explore how greenhouse gases lead to global warming, and how climate models work to produce climate-change predictions. We will also look at the content of the IPCC report on climate change. In the second part we will explore the influence of climate change on the marine environment. We will look at how climate change influences both the physics and the chemistry of the oceans, and how these factors influence marine ecosystems. For example, we will look at ocean acidification and its influence on marine diversity as well the influence of climate change in general on the diversity and distribution of populations ranging from fish to coral reefs. We will also explore the role of climate change in influencing coastal hypoxia as well as the extent and importance of oxygen-minimum zones. In the 3rd part, we will look at Arctic environments and the role of climate change in on sea-ice distribution and sea-ice communities, as well as other animal and plant populations in Arctic environments. We will also explore the role of climate change in affecting permafrost and methane release. In the 4th part we will look at terrestrial environments. We will explore the relationship between climate change and changing weather patterns, and how these changes influence terrestrial ecosystems ranging from rain forests to grasslands. We will also explore how CO2-manipulation experiments have influenced our understanding of climate change biology. Finally, in the 5th part, we will explore climate-change management. We will look at the politics of climate change and cost-benefit analysis for both local and global climate change considerations.

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
None

Assessment and marking:
Written exam. Danish 7 mark scale, internal examiner. (3 ECTS) (04010902)

Mandatory assignments. Danish 7 mark scale, internal examiner. (2 ECTS) (04010912)

reexam after 4th quarter

Expected working hours
The teaching method is based on three phase model.
Intro phase: 8 hours
Skills training phase: 40 hours, hereof:
 - Tutorials: 20 hours
 - Pratice-based project: 20 hours

Educational activities

Language
This course is taught in Danish or English, depending on the lecturer.

Remarks
The course will involve a large amount of self-learning. Each student, in groups of two, will deliver at least one lecture on an assigned topic to the class. This will form the basis of grade for their "mandadtory assignment". This lecture will be followed by discussion led, first, by the students and then by the instructors.

Course enrollment
See deadline of enrolment.

Tuition fees for single courses
See fees for single courses.