OEKB100082 Vegetation ecology for landscape planning

Type
course with non-continuous assessment
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Sheppard, Christine
Organisation
Botany
Offered in
Wintersemester 2025/26
Languages of instruction
Deutsch
Content

The STEOP lecture teaches the fundamentals of vegetation ecology. General principles, ecological processes, and patterns for understanding vegetation are explained. This includes topics such as species distributions, vegetation dynamics, indicator values and biodiversity, vegetation history, ecophysiology, community ecology, and functional ecology. Scientific methods of vegetation ecology are taught and anthropogenic influences on vegetation are discussed. The global vegetation zones are presented, with a focus on the vegetation types of Central Europe that are most important for landscape planning (forests, grasslands, water bodies/wetlands, Alps, and cultural landscapes).
Previous knowledge expected

None
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

After successfully completing the course, students will be familiar with the theoretical and practical fundamentals of vegetation ecology. They will understand the ecological processes relevant to plants, such as plant responses to environmental factors and biotic interactions between plants and other organisms, as well as the influence of humans on vegetation. They are familiar with the methods of vegetation ecology used to describe and classify vegetation and analyze relevant factors determining vegetation.

Students will be familiar with the most important vegetation types in Central Europe. They will be able to name the most important site factors as classification criteria for vegetation types. They will be able to apply the knowledge they have acquired to assess the extent to which human intervention in the landscape changes vegetation types and the consequences of such changes.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.