IMPRS-gBGC core course: Terrestrial Biosphere
This course will focus on processes important in biosphere-atmosphere exchange of greenhouse gases as well as methods used to scale these exchange processes to understand their importance in global biogeochemical cycles.
The emphasis will be on plants since soils are covered in a separate course.
If you are an IMPRS student with limited background knowledge in biology and ecology, this is the right course for you.
1. When & where
- July 08-12, 2013
- Start at 09:00 in seminar room B0.002, MPI for Biogeochemistry
- Thursday afternoon: Visit to the Jena Experiment (>> location in google maps)
2. Registration
Click here to register before June 27, 2013.
3. Outline
preliminary agenda
Legend
L = lecture, D = demonstration, P = practical, E = excursion
| Day | Slot | Type | Content | Who |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Important processes – basics of ecophysiology | Henrik Hartmann, Jan Muhr | ||
| 09:00-12:00 | L | - Intro (>> video) | ||
| p.m. | D/P | measurements of photosynthesis (individual plant) and respiration Make sure to wear weather-adapted, insensitive clothing. | ||
| Tue | Plants interacting with their environment | Henrik Hartmann, Jan Muhr | ||
| 09:00-12:00 | L | Temperature effects, water relations (>> video), role of nutrients (>> video), symbiosis (mycorrhizae), synthesis (>> video) | ||
| p.m. | D/P | - measurements of NEE and ecosystem respiration - calculation of GPP - looking at water relations (leaf water potential) | ||
| Wed | Plant traits and modeling plant/soil | Jens Kattge, Carlos Sierra | ||
| 09:00-12:00 | L | - biogeochemical cycles in general & models of BGC cycles (>> video) - traits as characteristics of plants (including their relevance for determining soil properties) | ||
| 14:00-17:00 | P/D | building a simple biogeochemical model in 3 steps of abstraction (visual representation, mathematical representation, working model) for this part, please bring a laptop with a current version of R and RStudio installed. You will need the deSolve package for solving differential equations. The model will be presented in a way that you can follow without knowing R. | ||
| Thu | Biodiversity – plants interacting with each other and higher trophic levels topics include - What determines biodiversity? - Why do we conduct biodiversity experiments? -Productivity from the perspective of plants & interaction with the fauna The focus will be on functional biodiversity. | Christiane Roscher, Anne Ebeling, Markus Lange | ||
| 09:00 - ca. 10:00 | L | Biodiversity - an introduction >> slides, (>> video) | ||
| ca. 10:10 - ca. 11:10 | L | Biodiversity on the community level >> slides, (>> video) | ||
| ca. 11:20 - ca. 12:20 | L | Interaction with higher trophic levels (>> slides), (>> video) | ||
| 13:30 - ca. 15:30 | E | field trip to the Jena Experiment (ca. 2 h on site) (how to get there: >> www.vmt-thueringen.de, start: Beutenberg Campus, stop: Jena, Zwätzen Brückenstr. or Jena-Zwätzen (Zug)) Meeting point is at the Jena Experiment, 13:30 Make sure to wear weather-adapted, insensitive clothing. | ||
| Fri | Plants in Landscapes & large scale biodiversity / biogeography | Shaun Levick, Axel Kleidon | ||
| 09:00 - 10:30 | L | Pattern and process at landscape scales - the physical template | Shaun Levick | |
| 11:00 - 12:30 | L | Large scale biodiversity and biogeography | Axel Kleidon | |
| 14:00 - 16:00 | L | Lab exercise - geophysical modelling | Axel Kleidon & Shaun Levick |
4. Feedback by the participants
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