Christopher David Philipson: Katalogdaten im Frühjahrssemester 2020 |
Name | Herr Dr. Christopher David Philipson |
Adresse | Bucheggstrasse 162 8057 Zürich SWITZERLAND |
Telefon | +41765195061 |
Departement | Umweltsystemwissenschaften |
Beziehung | Dozent |
Nummer | Titel | ECTS | Umfang | Dozierende | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
701-0324-00L | Rain Forest Ecology | 2 KP | 2G | C. Kettle, C. D. Philipson | |
Kurzbeschreibung | Tropical rain forests host most of the world's terrestrial biodiversity, are critical to global climate, and support livelihoods of billions of people. This course addresses their ecology with a view to understanding the impact of management and land use change on Forest resilience and capacity to deliver multiple ecosystem services and support sustainable development. | ||||
Lernziel | The course has several learning objectives organised in three sections: Overview of rain forest formations 1. Explore the diversity and functioning of one of the world's most important biomes: tropical rain forests. The ecology and dynamics of rain forest systems 2. Introduce and evaluate competing ecological and biogeographic theories of species coexistence. 3. Understand how interacting ecological processes acting over multiple time and spatial scales can shape patterns of species diversity. 4. Explore how species, functional groups and environment interact to shape rain forest structure and function. Conservation and management of tropical rain forest regions 5. Recognise and understand the complexity of threats facing rain forests and their implications to human wellbeing. 6. Apply ecological theory and ecosystem understanding to current conservation challenges. 7. Understand conservation and land management strategies in the tropics and evaluate the conditions for their success A primary objective of the course is to encourage students to use basic ecological knowledge to infer conclusions and evaluate strategies that address more applied environmental challenges. In so doing students would be encouraged to draw upon the ecological knowledge gained from this course, but also from other courses in ecology, ecological genetics, ecosystem function, conservation, agriculture and land use. | ||||
Inhalt | The course will first address the fundamental ecological processes underlying tropical rain forest form, diversity and function. Building upon this foundation, issues of more applied relevance will be introduced, including threats to rain forests and their biodiversity, and strategies for biodiversity conservation forest protection. This will gradually be developed to incorporate increasingly broader and global considerations that are highly relevant to tropical rain forests including land use in the context of increasing global food demands and the need to reduce global carbon emissions. The course will draw on ecological theory, biodiversity assessment, economic theory, remote sensing technologies, spatial modelling, environmental services, ecosystem management and land use planning, and will therefore be complementary to a variety of other courses offered at Bachelor and Masters level. | ||||
Skript | Leture notes will be provided as necessary for each session. A list of references and case studies will also be given. Each classes will be orientated by a plenary lecture, followed by extensive class discussions and group exercises to be conducted in the sessions. All material will be provided in advance of such discussions. | ||||
Literatur | Ghazoul, J and Sheil, DS (2010) Tropical rain forest ecology, diversity and conservation. Oxford University Press. And current papers selected from the recent literature |