GEO5915 ¨C Ecological Climatology

Course content

The course provides an overview of the relationships between climate and ecology, with a focus on climate-related feedbacks within boreal, alpine and arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Through the program, students will understand the connections and interactions between land and atmosphere, with an emphasis on terrestrial vegetation ecology and dynamic vegetation modelling. The main focus will be on processes at northern latitudes.

Learning outcome

After taking this course, you will be able to

• understand ecosystem processes, global biogeography and climate system, and interactions and feedbacks in the climate system involving terrestrial vegetation
• understand the drivers and roles of fluxes of energy, water and chemical components between plants, soil and atmosphere
• understand functional plant types, the carbon cycle, albedo, evapotranspiration (ET) and vegetation dynamics
• perform dynamic vegetation modelling, including parameterization of processes in vegetation modules (CLM-FATES or similar)
• perform ecological distribution modelling, including assessment of response curves by statistical modelling (in R)
• have experience with presentations of lab work and an assigned theme
• understand basic principles behind the sustainable use of ecosystems for climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation/management

Admission to the course

Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other master's degree programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may?apply to take this course as a single course student.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

The courses GEO5915 and GEO9915?have a joint admission?with a joint capacity of 20 students?and PhD candidates will?be given priority in admission to the course. Applicants will be ranked in the following order:?

1. PhD candidates
2. Master's students?in Geosciences and Computational Science, programme option: CS: Geosciences.
3. Master's students in Biosciences
4. Exchange students on master's level

Applicants will be ranked within each category: all applicants within category 1 are ranked before applicants in category 2. If there are space limitations in the course, available places will be given to students selected randomly.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

The course includes a compulsory field course and excursions. A health-and-safety course for safety in the field must be passed before you can go on these:

• HMS0504 ¨C Field Safety

Recommended previous knowledge

A master¡¯s or bachelor¡¯s degree within one of the following topics:

• meteorology / hydrology / geography / geology / environmental geography (Geosciences)
• ecology/evolution/biodiversity/systematics/toxicology/biogeography (Biosciences)
• biogeosciences / environmental science / environmental sustainability / nature management (Interdisciplinary)

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with GEO9915 ¨C Ecological Climatology.

Teaching

There are three compulsory blocks with teaching activities: two days of introduction at the beginning of the semester at UiO, one week early in the semester at UiO with lectures and exercises (greenhouse at the Natural History Museum / phytotron and cold-chamber at UiO etc.), and one week in the middle of the semester as a field trip to a selected location in Norway, mainly with computer laboratory exercises, group work and student presentations. During the last week, the students will orally present the results of the exercises and work with specific scientific topics.

In addition, the teaching will include the following:

• Prior to the second block, teaching material will be made available and preparations are required as self-study.
• Students will work in groups with individually assigned topics between the second and third blocks, leading to the submission of an obligatory report (draft) before the third block. In addition, students will work on the material being prepared for the third block.
• After the third block, students will continue the work on assigned topics, leading to the submission of a final mandatory, individual report that must be approved before the final examination.

Active participation in lectures and class is required.

Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the Student?administration (studieinfo@geo.uio.no).

We reserve the right to change the teaching?form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or fewer students have been admitted.

General information about excursions at the Department?of Geosciences

As?the?teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you should consider taking out a separate travel and personal risk insurance.?Read about your insurance coverage as a student.

Examination

Before being admitted to the final oral examination at?the end of the semester, the following must be fulfilled and approved:

• active participation in lectures and class
• one oral presentation of the results of exercises
• one written individual mandatory report on an assigned topic
• contribution to one written group obligatory report on an assigned topic

The final oral examination counts 100% towards the final grade.

Mandatory assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.

It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

It will also be counted as 1 of the 3 attempts to sit the exam for this course?if you sit the exam for the following course:

• GEO9915 ¨C Ecological Climatology

Examination support material

For oral presentations, you can bring a presentation on a memory stick or use your own PC.

For the homework assignment, all utilities are allowed.

Language of examination

You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about?the grading system.

Resit an examination

Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are?offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.

Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.