Læringsutbytte

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

Innhold

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 climate change
• Ecological changes in alpine areas as a result of climate change
• Methods in biodiversity research
• Measurement of biodiversity
• Variation in alpine biodiversity in relation to environmental variables
• Gradients in alpine plant diversity
• Use of numerical methods in vegetation ecology
• Changes in species richness and distribution patterns as a result recent of climate change

Arbeids- og læringsformer

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

36 h lectures, 20 h with computing exercises.

The candidate will have to submit an individual report (essay) on a selected subject where the candidate will have to present results based on several recent scientific papers. This review also has to be presented in public.

Vurderingsformer

The report and presentation account for 25%; written 4-hour final examination account for 75%. To pass the course, both the report and the examination must satisfy grade B or better.

Det tas forbehold om mindre justeringer i planen.