Bachelor courses

As part of this course we offer some lectures on plant ecology but are mainly involved in the practical teaching during individual short excursions in the vacinity of Leipzig and the 1 week field course (Geländepraktikum). During the field course we teach plant determination but also some basic ecological field methods, hypothesis testing and data analysis.

Here we provide a global overview of the determinants of plant life and the resulting vegetation types and ecosystems. We place special emphasis on understanding vegetation processes and material cycles on a global scale. The practical course focuses on field methods and analytical procedures of descriptive and quantitative vegetation science.

This module introduces the theoretical basis and applications of ecological concepts. The lecture covers the chapters of the classic Begon & Townsend book on Ecology. In the seminar we critically discuss individual examples of these same chapters based on scientific papers. The lab course covers the basics of scientific work from the research question, to practical implemantation and measurement to data analysis and presentation.

This module consists of two seminars: (1) the Research seminar of the group Wirth/Weigelt and the group Müllner-Riehl where PhDs and postdocs from our groups and some invited guests present their latest findings; (2) a literature seminar in our group where we teach critical reading and discussion of scientific paper based on selected examples on changing, ecological topics.