701-0038-01L  Field Course Ecology

SemesterSpring Semester 2020
LecturersF. Kleinschroth
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionGerman
CommentNumber of participants limited to 30.

Target group: BSc Environmental Sciences
All enrollments are placed on the waiting list.
Enrollment is possible until March 25th, 20.
All participants will be informed between March 25th and 31st, if they can participate in the lecture. Priority is given to students for those this lecture is compulsory. Open spaces will be distributed considering date of enrollment.


AbstractIn this course, students gain first experiences with ecological field research. They learn to design their own small research project, carry it out in the field, make sense of the collected data and present their results. With close support, they learn to tackle a range of ecological questions from phenology and site adaptations to population dynamics of selected plant and animal species.
ObjectiveAfter having attended this course, the students will be able to
- associate theoretical concepts taught during the first-year classes (adaptation, population dynamics, species diversity) with personal experiences made in their own research set-up;
- develop hypotheses in the broader field of ecology and design ways to test them;
- process and analyze simple ecological field data;
- present the findings to a peer audience.
ContentField course in Zurich and surroundings
Day 1 (half day):
Introduction to the field course; examples of ecological studies, possible case study subjects and field methods.
Preparation of field work in small groups, development of an individual question on a specific subject, choice of potential study sites
Day 2:
Field work in groups supported by a tutor: E.g. assessment of plant species diversity, plant population dynamics, tree regeneration and growth forms, physiological measurements on plant stress at extreme sites, in urban and peri-urban woodlands, riparian areas, grasslands, roadsides, etc.
Day 3:
Data preparation and analysis based on simple tools and visualization techniques; preparation of a short presentation that will serve as the ungraded course performance assessment.
Lecture notesHandouts will be provided during the course