Course - Community Ecology and Eco Systems - BI2034
Community Ecology and Eco Systems
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About the course
Course content
The course introduces community ecological theory and analysis methods and ecosystem processes and services. Central themes are patterns in species richness and biodiversity, methods to describe patterns on community level, ecosystem functions, predation and other interspecific interactions, disturbance effects, succession, and food webs. The links between community and ecosystem processes and services will be described with theory and examples. The course gives a background for conservation biology with examples on management in different landscapes and ecosystems. The students work in groups and during a field course they gather data, during exercises they process their data with different mathematical methods and discuss central themes in community ecology.
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
After completing the course the students should:
Have knowledge about different drivers for community composition.
Know the basic theories about mechanisms important to species distribution and abundance
Have a general understanding if the links between community composition and ecosystem functions.
Be able to understand and interpret methods used to describe patterns in occurrence and distribution of species in natural communities.
Skills:
The student can:
Apply different diversity indices
Understand patterns based on uni- and multivariate analyses
Explain central theories and discuss important ecological mechanisms that influence ecosystems and community ecological patterns in nature.
General competence:
The student can:
To some extent plan, carry out, analyse and report a scientific project
Learning methods and activities
Learning methods and activities
Lectures: 30 hours
Seminars: 40 hours
Written and oral presentation of group project and active seminar participation
4-days field course during the first week of the semester
labwork in addition
Mandatory activities
Approved presentation of project work
Seminar and exercise participation
Approved field course participation
Compulsory assignments APPROVED
Examinations can be held orally outside teaching semester
Compulsory assignments
- Approved fieldcourse
- APPROVED
- APPROVED
Further on evaluation
All assessment components included in the course must be passed. In the case of 'fail' or 'retake' , the final written examination needs to be taken again. Appeals for reassessment apply to the final written examination only. The individual components will not be graded and assessment consists of an overall final grade. The written exam can be changed to an oral exam in the semester when the course is not taught.
Please refer to these supplementary regulations UTF §5-6 at NTNU for information on re-sit examinations (oral and written) in science courses.
1. Final examination in each semester -for courses with prefix BI, IT and KJ a final examination is held during the examination period every semester.
2. New assessment incase of fail - please refer to the course description for details on which components of the course need to be retaken in case of re-assessment.
Recommended previous knowledge
The course builds on BI 1003 and also knowledge of plant and animal taxonomy.
Credit reductions
| Course code | Reduction | From |
|---|---|---|
| MNKBI234 | 7.5 sp | |
| MNKBI230 | 6 sp |
Subject areas
- Biodiversity
- Biology
- Botany
- Zoology
- Ecology
Contact information
Course coordinator
Lecturers
Department with academic responsibility
Examination
Examination
Ordinary examination - Autumn 2020
Oppgave
Home exam (1)
Submission 2020-11-30 Time Release 09:00
Submission 13:00 Duration 4 hours Exam system Inspera Assessment
- Other comments
- 1) Merk at eksamensform er endret som et smittevernstiltak i den pågående koronasituasjonen. Please note that the exam form has changed as a preventive measure in the ongoing corona situation
Ordinary examination - Spring 2021
Oppgave
Home exam (2)
Submission 2021-05-27 Time Release 09:00
Submission 13:00 Duration 4 hours Exam system Inspera Assessment
- Other comments
- 2) Merk at eksamensform er endret som et smittevernstiltak i den pågående koronasituasjonen. Please note that the exam form has changed as a preventive measure in the ongoing corona situation.