3 ECTS credits
90 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1020555ANR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.
Nature is spatially structured at different scales.: from the microbiota in our guts, the islands and continents in the oceans to the mosaic of nature reserves in our urbanised landscapes. It is therefore essential to explicitly consider this spatial context to understand the processes that govern the distribution of species.
Populations can exist as metapopulations that interact via migration of individuals and exchange of alleles. Species have distributions that can be continuous or discontinuous which can shrink or expand over time. Biological communities vary in space, both at the micro-scale within ecosystems, at intermediate scales within landscapes and at large scales among climatological regions and across continents.
Despite the wealth of theories at our disposal, it is remarkable how poorly we are able to predict where species occur, let alone where they might occur in the future under different circumstances. What is more, all too often patterns in nature are attributed to directional deterministic processes while the importance of stochastic processes remains largely overlooked. Therefore, it is clear that there are still important challenges in this research domain.
The course spatial ecology contains an overview of the different subdomains of ecology that study spatial patterns and processes: from landscape ecology to invasion biology and processes that vary between habitat fragmentation of rainforest to the intercontinental migration of migratory birds. The goal of this course is to gain insight into how species and individuals interact with the landscapes in which they occur and how processes of fragmentation, dispersal and migration affect colonisation-extinction dynamics, diversity patterns and ecosystem functioning.
The course consists of interactive lectures (HOC) which are accompanied by two supporting scientific papers which form the self study component of this course (ZELF).
The course deals with set of more advanced themes and problems that focus predominantly on spatial processes and to some extent builds further on the typical content of an introductory ecology course and is complementary with the course "Ecosystem ecology". The course, however, is also accessible for students without prior training in ecology. The course is strongly recommended for students who aim for a career in ecological or biodiversity research, bio-monitoring or nature conservation. The specific link between landscape and biota also renders this course useful for students with a background in Geography.
Specific contents:
-We analyse whether general laws can be formulated in ecology analogous to, for example, the fields of physics and mathematics, and we explore the limitations of predictions at different scales.
- We discuss different theories and models that try to explain spatial and temporal variation in the occurrence of species: e.g. island biogeography, metapopulation ecology, metacommunity ecology, network theory.
- Starting from the foundations of island biogeography and niche theory, we develop an integrated view on the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic processes in nature and the consequences for the conservation of species and the management of ecosystems.
- We offer an overview of the different types of mathematical models that our used in ecology and learn how to understand and use them to solve fundamental and applied problems. We also experiment with simple models in the R programming environment.
- We consider the complex concept of biological diversity of species and traits and investigate which indices and analysis methods we can use to study spatial variation in diversity.
- We analyse the pro's and cons of connectivity in relation to conservation measures such as the establishment of corridors and the construction of ecoducts.
- We analyse the consequences of habitat fragmentation for the functioning of ecosystems.
Study material
Powerpointpresentations
Competences & study outcomes
The student acquires the following competences:
- The student knows and understands a broad range of ecological theories and can apply these both in a fundamental and in an applied context.
- The student knows the most important paradigms in ecology that are relevant for spatial patterns (island biogeography, metapopulation biology, metacommunity ecology, network analyses).
-The student can analyse an ecological problem or pattern and explain this based on argumentation while considering confounding factors and limitations.
-The student can understand and interpret ecological models.
- The student can predict distribution patterns off species using spatial models that can select suitable habitat (e.g. maximum entropy models).
- The student can use different methods to simulate spatial processes in an artificial environment in R and detect traces of spatial processes in empirical field survey data (e.g. Moran's eigenvector maps, variation partitioning).
- The student can make a synthesis of a scientific paper from a high quality journal.
- The student develops a critical attitude towards interpreting patterns in nature.
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 evaluation consists of the following categories:
The content of the lectures (HOC) and the self study component (ZELF) is evaluated in an oral examination with written preparation.
The final grade is calculated as 70% HOC + 30% ZELF
This course offer isn't part of a fixed set of graduation requirements. Hence, it is a free elective.