Ecology courses

Soil biota play an important role in regulating and controlling many of the processes which support these five soil functions. Therefore we need to know which biological methods to apply, to be able to understand the role of soil biodiversity in soil functions. It is also important to know how these biological measures relate to the varying chemical and physical conditions found in soils and the effect of management and climate. This course will provide the participants with an overview of a range of methods related to the five soil functions and will provide detailed practical training in a subset of measures. The training will be a combination of lectures, laboratory and field sessions (interactive lectures and practical sessions each day). Assessing a range of measurement types, from simple visual assessments in the field, to training in microscope identification techniques for nematodes and earthworms, and functional measures in the lab such as MicroResp. All methods described in the course will be made available to participants as well as advice on how to analyse the data.

This course focuses on theoretical concepts, such as autocatalytic loops and positive and negative feedbacks between organisms in ecological networks as well as the importance of non-trophic interactions by ecosystem engineers. The course will address how these principles can be used to link communities to ecosystems enabling a better understanding of how environmental changes affect community and ecosystem dynamics. Students will construct ecological networks of their own study system or based on literature data and analyse these using structural equation modelling.

The main goal of the course will be achieved if the participants acquire novel ideas and techniques for their own research. The course is primarily aimed at PhD level students, but is also open to advanced Master level students with interest in microbial ecology.