Getting Started in M.Sc. Ecology and Biodiversity

From the module handbook, module “General Introduction”

Getting Started: Basic topics of Ecology and Biodiverstiy will be worked out in small student teams. Beside the scientific focus, it contains significant skills-oriented elements such as intercultural team building, project management, and presentations training (posters and oral presentations). The results of the teamwork are presented in the seminar. Presentation of the results may include both, talks and posters. Lectures; The lecture series Ecosystems provides a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between organisms and their environment within ecosystems. Students will explore how abiotic factors interact with organisms at individual and population levels, shaping community structure and ecosystem function. It will also provide students with an understanding of the diverse and dynamic nature of biotic interactions within ecosystems. This part of the lecture series conveys the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem integrity and resilience. The lecture series Organisms explores the interplay between evolutionary processes and ecological adaptations in exemplary taxonomic groups (e.g. algae, higher plants, protists, arthropods, birds). Students will gain knowledge of how these organisms have evolved diverse morphologies, physiologies, and life histories to thrive in various ecological niches. The course integrates evolutionary theory with ecological principles to understand how these organisms interact with their environment and contribute to ecosystem function. •Abiotic Factors and the Environment, e.g. physical and chemical factors and their interrelationships with organisms and ecosystem processes, disturbance regimes (e. g. fire, floods, grazing) and their ecological consequences, nutrient cycling (e. g. carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus), global change and its impact on ecosystems (e. g. climate, landuse). •Organism-Environment Interactions, e.g. physiological adaptations of organisms to environmental factors, behavioural ecology and resource acquisition strategies, species interactions: competition, predation, mutualism, herbivory. •Community Ecology, e.g. assembly rules: how species co-occur in communities, niche theory and resource partitioning, species diversity and its ecological drivers (productivity, disturbance), ecosystem function: food webs and energy flow through ecosystems. •Biodiversity and Ecosystem Resilience, e.g. importance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning and stability, threats to biodiversity (e. g. habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation), conservation biology principles and practices, ecosystem services and their value to humans. •Phylogeny and Comparative Approaches, e. g. evolutionary history and diversity of selected groups of organisms, phylogenetic reconstruction, comparative ecology, case studies that demonstrate the power of combining evolutionary and ecological perspectives for understanding organismal success (e.g., convergent evolution in similar environments, adaptive radiation within a group). •Functional Ecology, e. g. linking form and function (how the morphology, physiology, and behaviour of organism influence their ecological roles and interactions within ecosystems), resource acquisition and allocation (how organisms acquire resources and allocate them to growth, reproduction, and defence based on their life histories and ecological strategies), community assembly and functional diversity (the role of functional traits in community assembly and the importance of functional diversity for ecosystem stability and functioning).