Linking Community and Ecosystem Dynamics
Note: This course if fully booked! You cannot register anymore.
Organisers
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Matty P. Berg (Chair; VU University, Amsterdam / GELIFES, University of Groningen)
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Han Olff (GELIFES, University of Groningen)
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Corine Eising (RSEE, University of Groningen)
Under auspices of the research schools RSEE and PE&RC
Scope of the course
The research fields community and ecosystem ecology have diverged more or less independently over the last decennia. In community ecology progress is made in understanding shifts in community composition under the influence of environmental change and how these shifts can be explained by functional trait approaches of component species. Also, the importance of positive feedbacks in community dynamics is more and more appreciated, and merged with trophic interactions in ecological networks. Studies in ecosystem ecology traditionally have a strong focus on energy and nutrient fluxes and how deviation in these fluxes affect ecosystem functioning and stability. Recent studies reveal tight links between these sub-disciplines that enforce us to rethink how communities and ecosystems interact.
This course focuses on theoretical concepts, such as autocatalytic loops and positive and negative feedbacks between organisms in ecological networks as well as the importance of non-trophic interactions by ecosystem engineers. The course will address how these principles can be used to link communities to ecosystems enabling a better understanding of how environmental changes affect community and ecosystem dynamics. Students will construct ecological networks of their own study system or based on literature data and analyse these using structural equation modelling.
Course Set-up
The course is composed of a series of lectures, a poster session, analysing ecological networks using structural equation modelling and finalized with a debating session.
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Poster session: Prior to the course, participants submit a poster of their work (A4-size) in PDF, which will be printed and included in the course reader. The poster contains your name and affiliation, title and short description of research project (including concepts) with one highlight (something exciting) and the reason you want to participate in this course. During the course, participants briefly pitch their research (maximum 3 slides) and indicate where they would like to receive input from the course particpants and lecturers.
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Lectures and discussion: Each day starts with a key speaker who will give a lecture on one of the key course topics (covering both general theory and own research). After the lecture we'll have a discussion which is convened by three participants who challenge the speaker on the lecture and two papers that the speaker submitted which are related to the topic of the lecture (participants will receive these before the course to prepare them self).
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Group activities: In the afternoons, participants will be split into working groups, which will work on specific group assignments associated with the topic of the course (design ecological networks and analysing these). The exact topics of these activities will be selected by the participants. Each group will present the results to all course participants the following day. Group activities will be supervised by the lecturers and course organizers (which are present the whole course), so that the students can optimally benefit from experts that are among the leaders in their fields.
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Debating session: We will debate propositions that have been brought forward by speakers, students or have appeared to be a point of discussion during the course.
Preliminary Programme
The final programme for the course will be published in due time.
Sunday 13 October:
Afternoon
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Arrival of the participants at the "Herdershut"
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18:00 - 19:00
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Dinner
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19:30 - 20:45
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Getting to know each other
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Monday 14 October:
08:00 - 08:45
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Breakfast + cleaning up
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09:00 - 10:00 Matty Berg
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Lecture: Setting the scene
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10:00 - 10:30
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Coffee
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10:30 - 12:00 Han Olff
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Lecture: Introduction to Coastal Ecosystems and their networks
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12:00 - 13:00
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Lunch + cleaning up
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13:00 - 17:30 Lecturers
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Interactive field trip: Salt marsh & Dunes to learn about hybrid networks
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18:00 - 19:00
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Dinner + cleaning up
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19:30 - 20:30
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Discussion: Feedback / discussion about field trip
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Tuesday 15 October:
08:00 - 08:45
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Breakfast + cleaning up
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09:00 - 10:30 Han Olff
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Lecture: Hybrid Interaction Networks
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10:30 - 11:00
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Coffee
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11:30 - 12:30
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Student pitches I
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12:30 - 13:15
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Lunch + cleaning up
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13:15 - 14:45
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Student pitches II
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14:45 - 15:15
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Tea
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15.45 - 17.30 Han Olff
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Lecture: SEM and R
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18:00 - 19:00
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Dinner + cleaning up
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19.30 - 20.30
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Student pitches III
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Wednesday 16 October :
08:00 - 08:45
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Breakfast + cleaning up
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09:00 - 10:30 Helmut Hillebrand
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Lecture: Functional consequences of biodiversity loss (classical BEF literature experiment)
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10:30 - 11:00
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Coffee
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11:00 - 12:30 Helmut Hillebrand
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Hands on: Game about resource consumption and biodiversity
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12:30 - 13:30
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Lunch + cleaning up
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13.30 - 14.30 Han Olff
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Hands on: Mapping Ecological Networks in R
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14.30 - 15.00
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Tea
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15:00 - 17:30 Han Olff
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Hands on: Mapping Ecological Networks in R
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18:00 - 19:00
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Dinner + cleaning up
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19:30 - 20:30
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Student pitches IV
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Thursday 17 October:
08:00 - 08:45
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Breakfast + cleaning up
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09:00 - 10:30 Johan van de Koppel
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Lecture: Spatial patterns: implication for the landscape
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10:30 - 11:00
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Coffee
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11:00 - 12:30 Johan van de Koppel
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Hands on: Spatial patterns and importance for ecosystems in R
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12:30 - 13:30
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Lunch + cleaning up
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13:30 - 17:00
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Interactive field trip: Species traits and landscape patterns
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18:00 - 19:00
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Dinner + cleaning up
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19:30 - 21:00
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Student pitches V
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Friday 18 October:
08:00 - 08:45
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Breakfast + cleaning up
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09:00 - 10:30 Matty Berg
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Lecture: Trait-based community dynamics (suggestion)
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10:30 - 12:00 Matty Berg
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Hands on: Sampling strategy inter/intraspecific trait values
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12:00 - 13:00
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Lunch + cleaning up the Herdershut
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13:30
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Boat departure
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General Information
Required Knowledge & Preparation
Course participants need to read some articles that will be made available beforehand and prepare some challenging questions as well as prepare a poster in PDF format on their own work.
Course Material
Please bring your own laptop to the course.
Course Credits
2 ECTS
Location
The course will be held in the fieldstation of the University of Groningen, The Herdershut, on Schiermonnikoog.
Duration
5 Days; arrival Sunday, course end Friday at 15.30 (Boat departure 16:30).
Costs
The registration fee for all participants belonging to the RSEE and co-organizing research schools (e.g., PE&RC, WIMEK) pay € 350. All other participants, including participants from SENSE, pay € 500. This includes lodging, meals, and the course material at the course venue. The reduced course fee is possible due to a contribution of the co-organizing Research Schools.
Registration closed:
This course if fully booked! You cannot register anymore.
Please take note of our general course information on payment, registration and cancellation, applicable to all registrations.
Information
Corine Eising
Email: c.m.eising rug.nl
Last modified: | 06 August 2024 4.32 p.m. |