Course for international guest/part time students
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- Organization
- TTK Department of Plant Taxonomy and Ecology
- Code
- okogy1sb17tm
- Title
- Ecology practicals I. PR
- Usual semester
- Spring
- Published semester
- 2025/26/2
- ECTS
- 6
- Language
- en
- Learning outcomes
- The course assumes a basic-level knowledge of ecology. The objective of the course is to provide an advanced-level understanding of the most important topics in ecology.
- Course content
- The course consists of an animal ecology part and a plant ecology part. Animal ecology: Estimation of population size by using the mark-recapture method. Comparison of the arthropod communities of two shrub species via the branch beating method. Investigation of grassland arthropod diversity and the relationship between habitat area and species richness using quadrats. Plant ecology: Quantitative study of the canopy of a deciduous forest: determination of the leaf area index (LAI) by measuring the amount of light filtering through the canopy. Determination of the amount of understory and canopy by estimating cover and using an exact point sampling series. Determination of the smallest sampling unit (minimum area) that faithfully reflects the species composition of the plant community in a steppe. Search for the relationship between soil depth and plant species occurrence in a rocky grassland by using point sampling. Comparison of the growth of two canopy-forming oak species (Quercus cerris and Q. pubescens) in a scrub forest: covariance of the relationship between tree height and trunk circumference. Mapping and quantitative assessment of old trees, standing and lying deadwood in a mixed beech forest that has long been removed from economic cultivation. Determining the dispersal of old trees using the nearest neighbour method.
- Assessment method
- practical mark (5) (1 failed, 5 excellent) Evaluation is based on the students’ individual performance. The students prepare and submit field reports from their research individually. The quality of the report and the activity of the student are the basis of evaluation.
- Bibliography
- Task descriptions and other handouts provided by the course instructors (pdf)
- Recommended bibliography
- Krebs, C. J. 1989: Ecological methodology. Harper & Row Publ., New York. Magurran, A. E. 1988: Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton. Southwood, T. R. E., Henderson, P. A. 2000: Ecological methods. 3rd ed. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.