Lecturer: Jana Petermann
Community ecology studies interactions between species and how species assemblages are organized and respond to environmental influences. Besides lectures on current topics in community ecology such as diversity patterns, trophic interactions, biological invasions and global change, we will introduce practical approaches to study community composition and processes. We will investigate special aquatic microecosystems and their arthropod communities: phytotelmata (tree holes and other water-filled plant parts) and anthrotelmata (man-made small water bodies). We will examine their diversity at different spatial scales, their functioning, dispersal processes and interactions with the natural and urban environment. We will also study urban meadows as interesting terrestrial habitats and will specifically measure their ecosystem functions. You will collect your own data and analyze it in R.
Pictures: A. Scholz, J. Petermann, A. Roberts, Metacommunity figure: MCSim.

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