Plant Biodiversity: Latin America as a study case
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Contents
The course consists of a long session in the classroom to present a lecture on plant biodiversity—based on a ppt-presentation and discussion of 1-2 articles. Secondly, there will be a field trip to Leipzig Auwald Forest. The objective is to learn a widely-used plant diversity sampling protocol: the famous Gentry transects and compare the floristic diversity and structure of two contrasting sites, restored, not restored.
Didactic aim / competencies gained
Students will become acquainted with i) the different facets of plant diversity and field sampling protocols of plant biodiversity; ii) practice quantitative analyses for the description of alpha diversity and forest structure in plant communities; iii) discuss results from fieldwork in the context of known patterns of plant diversity; iv) practice data-based discussion.
Didactic elements
This course includes multiple different parts: a lecture and discussion, a field trip to Leipzig Auwald to collect data and to conduct a survey, processing the data in a lab and a final discussion.
Visiting scholar from Stanford University on sabbatical at iDiv. Expertise in Conservation and Biodiversity Science, Defaunation and cascading consequences on ecological processes and service
E-mail: rdirzo@stanford.edu
