Learning outcome

After completing the course, the students should have the following qualification regarding knowledge, skills, and general competence:

• Have knowledge about how biodiversity and species richness can be quantified
• Have knowledge about variation of species richness in Scandinavian mountains
• Be able to quantify relationships between species richness and measured environmental and variables
• Be able to perform numerical analyses of vegetation data
• Be able to interpret results of ordination analyses
• Be able to use plants as environmental variables by the use of plant indicator values

Course Description

The following topics will be covered:

- Present climate and temperature measurements

- Models of global climatic change

· Holocene vegetation and climate history

· Relation between forest limits and climate

· Phenology as an indicator of climatic change

· Ecological changes in alpine areas as a result of climatic change

· Methods in biodiversity research

· Measurement of biodiversity

· Variation in alpine biodiversity in relation to environmental variables

· Gradients in alpine plant diversity

· Changes in species richness and distribution patterns as a result recent of climatic change

Teaching and Learning Methods

Lectures, computing courses, seminars with student presentations and a mandatory report (essay). The computing courses are mandatory.

36 h lectures, 20 h with computing exercises.

Assessment Methods

Group project (report), 25%; individual, written 4-hour final examination 75%

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean