NBIC02	Terrestrial Ecology, 15 ECTS-points /TERRESTRISK EKOLOGI/ Advancement level: C
	Aim: The participants shall acquire knowledge about terrestrial fauna and vegetation and soil organisms, soils and factors influencing and shaping them, primarily in Nordic environments. The students shall learn ecological theories applicable in terrestrial environments; ecological processes in populations, ecological communities, soils and landscapes, how organisms interact with and are influenced by their environment. The studies build on and extend those of the basic biology courses. The students shall get experiences of self dependent field and laboratory work and of design of field and laboratory experiments to a larger extent than from the 1st and 2nd year courses. Prerequisites: Accepted to the educational program of biology with participation of Chemistry 1 (20p), courses of 40p according Biology 1 and 2 (or equivalent) with fullfilled "threshold"-demands (passed 50p with a minimum of 25p theory). NBIB10 Floristics & Faunistics 5p or equivalent must be passed. Course organization: The course starts with an excursion for one week to vegetation types other than those of the province of Östergötland. The course relies much on self dependent work, both theoretically and in field and laboratory. Literature studies and field and laboratory work take place both individually and in small groups. The groups select and formulate subjects and problems for field and laboratory studies self dependently but supervised by the teachers. Both practical and theoretical studies are presented at seminars and in oral and written reports. Various problems and current research are presented in lectures. Seminars, lectures, group studies and group work are compulsory. Course content: General ecological theory applicable in terrestrial environments. Processes on different organisational levels in terrestrial ecosystems. Landscape ecology and the ecology of subdivided populations. Ecological biogeography, climate and the terrestrial biomes. Biomes and plant communities in Sweden and Northern Europe. Soil organisms, soil chemistry and physics. Soil ecology and soil science. The applications of terrestrial ecology in selected important environmental and natural resource problems. Course literature: The literature consists of scientific articles and excerpts from various ecological literature according to a list at the Department of Biology. Assessment:
TEO1	Approved literature summaries, seminars, oral and written presentations.
LAB1	Approved empirical work and seminar presentation.
FÄLT	Participation in the excursion first course week.
	The grades are "approved" or "not approved".

Course language is swedish.