Course for international guest/part time students
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- Organization
- TTK Department of Plant Physiology
- Code
- trofornb22em
- Title
- Ecophysiology of tropical forests L
- Usual semester
- Autumn
- ECTS
- 3
- Language
- en
- Learning outcomes
- Competencies: Knowledge: Understands the functioning and the global level importance of tropical forest ecosystems. Knows the basic concepts of tropical forests, is aware of its terminology, applies them correctly. Understands that tropical forests make up a significant portion of the Earth’s land cover. Knows the location, climatic relations and main plant lifeforms of tropical forests. Is aware of the key role of tropical forests in the preservation of the climatic balance on Earth. Understands the importance of tropical forests in conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem services. Ability: Able to recognize and assess the basic ecological characteristics of tropical forests in harmonized way. Able to apply the acquired knowledge to explain everyday phenomena. Has the ability to reason based on science. Able to express himself/herself professionally in the field of ecophysiology of tropical forests both orally and in writing. Attitude: Requires to integrate the acquired information in his/her biological knowledge. Committed and open to science-based knowledge and an integrative approach. Committed to acquiring new competencies and expanding his/her worldview. Seeks to express a responsible opinion about the relationship between nature and mankind. Demonstrates exemplary environmental and nature-conscious behaviour and encourages others to follow. Autonomy and Responsibility: Able to think about basic ecophysiological issues on his/her own and can report on them. Able to independently review the literature on a given topic, to organize and present the collected information. Feels responsible for acquiring scientifically based knowledge. Feels a responsibility to put as little strain as possible on nature. Expresses opinions on ecophysiological issues responsibly in professional and non-professional circles.
- Course content
- The aim of the course is to provide an integrated presentation of the basic ecological characteristics, concepts, and contexts of grasslands as one of the most important representatives of terrestrial vegetation. The most important topics of the lecture: Main types of tropical forests, their characterisation, role, utilization and destruction. Climatic characteristics of tropical forests, their structure and plant life forms. Trees of the tropical forests. Nutrient cycles and the role of epiphytes. Higher holoepiphytes, hemiepiphytes. Lianas, climbers, vines. The mangrove. Physiological processes of the plants in the tropical forests: water balance, nutrient uptake, photosynthesis, growth and development. Research methods applied in tropical forests.
- Assessment method
- k5 = exam mark (5) (1 failed, 5 excellent) The evaluation is based on oral examination, colloquium done from scientific knowledge gained from scientific papers sent out during the semester and questions on at least two different parts of the course topics in the examination period.
- Bibliography
- Lecture handouts (pdf)