6 ECTS credits
156 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4012858ENR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.
This course goes in depth into the functioning of plants in relation to light and the elements carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water. The red threat running through the course is ‘ecological stoichiometry’ – the importance of the balance of these elements for plant growth and competitive performance. The course consists of two parts: (i) a series of lectures and (ii) conduction of an own ecophysiological experiment.
The lectures cover the following topics:
1. Resource acquisition; with C3, C4 and CAM pathways of photosynthesis for the acquisition of energy and CO2, the uptake of water and N and P in mineral and organic forms (e.g. root enzyme activities), and symbiotic N fixation.
2. Growth, development and plasticity in relation to light (photomorphogenesis) to different supply levels of CO2, water and nutrients (i.e. quantity gradients), to C:N:P stoichiometry (i.e, the ratio of these elements).
3. Functioning of plants in response to competition with other plants for these resources.
4. Traits of endangered and invasive plant species.
The practical part of the course consists of a plant ecophysiological experiment that students will perform in small groups. The topic of the experiment should have a link to the functioning of plants in relation to ecological stoichiometry, but the experiments are not prescribed. Instead the students have to design, plan and conduct their experiment from A to Z (from the formulation of hypotheses to presentation of the results in a power point presentation). Root enzyme activity – such as phosphatase activity – has proven to be a good subject for such short-term experiments, but students can also come up with own topics as long as they are scientifically sound, promising and logistically possible.
Relevant literature for the experiments will at least partly be searched by the students.
This course is a continuation on the plant physiological and ecological basis established in the bachelor years. It has, however, a much stronger emphasis on recent developments, on experimental approach, and on illustrating how progress in plant science is made. In this course students will gain in-depth insight in how plants acquire their major resources energy, water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and how differences in the quantity and ratio of these resources drive plant growth and performance, and - in turn - how this influences the ecology of plants and communities.
In the practical part students will also practice themselves in all steps of performing a proper plant ecophysiological experiment – and excellent exercise in between the bachelor proof and the master study. This part of the course explicitly contributes to the following competences of the Biology curriculum:
- Independently selecting and applying analytical models
- Independently performing and analyzing experiments
- Communicate scientific results
- Working in a group
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
The student presentation will be evaluated and makes up 33% of the grade. The examination is oral and will be about the contents of the lectures and the students own experiment.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Molecular Biology: Standaard traject
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Biology: Education (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity
Master of Teaching in Science and Technology: biologie (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)