Module 20-EEC-4 Animal Ecology in a changing world

Non-official translation of the module descriptions. Only the German version is legally binding.

Students acquire knowledge of species diversity, habitat comparison techniques, spatial ecology and meta-populations, climate impacts and fragmentation impacts on distribution and abundance, statistical analysis of multivariate compositional data, amphibian, bird and insect monitoring techniques, detailed knowledge how to measure animal behavior in the field, data collection, data analysis, predator prey interactions. In addition, they learn the essentials of eco-evolutionary modeling and get hands-on modeling experience by developing their own eco-evolutionary model and connecting it to empirical data.

Our species modifies the world in various ways, resulting in faster changes than ever reported. Studies document the decline of vertebrate and insect populations over the last decades. However, there are also a few success stories showing an enormous increase of population sizes within the last years, indicating that some species seem to adapt to the changing environment. To what extent can we rely on species adapting rather than going extinct when their environment changes (evolutionary rescue)? What is the role of phenotypic plasticity in a population’s response to environmental change? Do individuals differ in their ability to plastically adjust to a changing environment? And can we measure individual differences as well as environmental changes? How does the evolution of a keystone species alter the interactions it has with other species, and the functioning of the entire ecosystem? Are there tipping points in a populations’ or ecosystem’s ability to respond to environmental change? These are some of the topics covered by the lectures in this module. Additional lectures will cover the theory of eco-evolutionary interactions and individual-based modeling.

In the practical part, students will work on different projects, which could potentially involve i) species composition and habitat comparison in beetles and other insects, ii) fire salamander larvae monitoring (BSal-monitoring), iii) monitoring of various songbird populations, iv) blue tit nest box population, e.g. individual responses to changing spring temperatures. In addition, they will develop their own eco-evolutionary model, building on modeling skills from 20-EEC-3 and drawing on their experiences in the empirical part of the module. Such models will be informed by data from the existing literature together with new data generated during the course.

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