A central part of the course is ecological theory and how ecological knowledge may be used to solve today’s major environmental challenges e.g. global warming, losses of biological diversity and the spreading of organic pollutants. The course will also give a picture on how an ecological approach and methods may be used to investigate different environmental questions.
Independent group assignments in the field around different ecological questions will be the link between theory and practice.
The overall aim of the course is to provide in depth knowledge about ecology and the human impact on ecosystems. The course should also show on the use of ecological knowledge for different sectors in society.
After the course the student should be able to:
- Use ecological knowledge in order to understand the distribution of individuals, populations and different distribution of species in ecosystems.
- Discuss different theories that may explain biological diversity and threats towards biological diversity.
- Understand the importance of different ecosystems services for technology, society and environment.
- Explain the ecological background to the most important environmental problems in the world.
- Use some common ecological methods and applications.
- Scientific methods used for ecological studies.