Bi6340 Community ecology and macroecology

Faculty of Science
Autumn 2015
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 2 credit(s) (fasci plus compl plus > 4). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. RNDr. Milan Chytrý, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. RNDr. Milan Chytrý, Ph.D.
Department of Botany and Zoology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: prof. RNDr. Milan Chytrý, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Botany and Zoology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Timetable
Tue 12:00–13:50 D32/329
Prerequisites (in Czech)
Bi5080 Basics of ecology
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
At the end of the course students should be able to explain basic structures and processes occurring in multi-species assemblages at local, regional and global scales, with focus on variation in species diversity and its causes.
Syllabus
  • 1. Community: delimitation, structure and methods of description (classification and gradient analysis), relationship between local and regional processes, aims of community ecology and macroecology, individualistic and organismal concept of community, assembly rules;
  • 2. Community changes in time: types and mechanisms of succession, climax, early and late successional species and their traits, cyclical changes of communities;
  • 3. Measuring diversity: species richness, indices of diversity, equitability and beta diversity;
  • 4. Local species richness: niche theory and competitive exclusion, relationship between species richness, productivity and disturbance, regional effects on local species richness, species pool;
  • 5. Global biodiversity: estimations of the number of species on the Earth, stability vs. increase, mass extinctions and adaptive radiations, current global change of biodiversity;
  • 6. Biodiversity of islands: theory of island biogeography and its generalizations;
  • 7. Relationship between number of species and area;
  • 8. Latitudinal and altitudinal biodiversity gradient: hypotheses explaining large tropical biodiversity, altitudinal gradient and mid-domain effect, gradients of habitat heterogeneity;
  • 9. Relative abundance distributions: statistical and biological models, species rarity;
  • 10. Null models in macroecology: Hubbell's neutral theory;
  • 11. Metabolic theory of ecology: relationship between energy and speed of biological processes including evolution and succession;
  • 12. Biological invasions: basic terms of invasion ecology, differences in invasibility of large areas or habitats, theory of invasibility, species richness vs. invasibility.
Literature
    required literature
  • KREBS, Charles J. Ecology :the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance. 5th ed. San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings, 2001, xx, 695 s. ISBN 0-321-04289-1. info
  • BEGON, Michael, John L. HARPER and Colin R. TOWNSEND. Ekologie : jedinci, populace a společenstva. Translated by Bronislava Grygová - Barbara Köberleová - Zdeněk Brandl. 1. vyd. Olomouc: Vydavatelství Univerzity Palackého, 1997, xxiv, 949. ISBN 8070676957. info
Teaching methods
lectures
Assessment methods
The final written exam comprises 20 questions. When a student answers a question correctly, he/she is awarded a point for it. To pass the test, the student must reach the score of at least 10 points.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2008 - for the purpose of the accreditation, Autumn 2010 - only for the accreditation, Spring 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2011 - acreditation, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2016, autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2015, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/autumn2015/Bi6340