ECTS credits:
4 ECTS
Course parameters:
Language: English
Level of course PhD course:
Time of year: 30 September - 4 October 2024
No. of contact hours/hours: 100 hours total: 45 contact hours, 55 hours preparation and project work.
Capacity limits: 15 Students
Objectives of the course:
This short course will provide students with a general overview of megafauna ecosystem ecology including the evolutionary history and biogeography of megafauna, current theoretical concepts related to megafauna-ecosystem interactions, practical analysis of megafauna trait and occurrence datasets, overview of megafauna conservation and restoration ecology, as well as rigorous assessment of ongoing and future megafauna-based rewilding projects.
Learning outcomes and competences:
At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
- Evaluate the role of megafauna for ecosystem functioning and ecological restoration.
- Identify key datasets for fossil and modern megafauna studies and their advantages and limitations.
- Design a short research project on megafauna ecosystem ecology and present it in a format that could be used for outreach, e.g. for a popular science blog.
Compulsory programme:
Students must actively participate in lectures, course discussions, group projects, and workshops.
Course contents:
The course will consist of an engaging mixture of short lectures, discussion groups, field trips, and hands-on labs and will offer a detailed introduction to megafauna history and ecology.
Prerequisites:
A working knowledge of the statistical programming language R is desirable for the lab sections, but not essential.
Name of lecturers:
Dr Elizabeth le Roux
Dr. Robert Buitenwerf
Prof. Jens-Christian Svenning
And several more from the Section of EcoInformatics and the EcoScience Department at Aarhus University
Type of course/teaching methods:
Lectures, seminars, group project work, analysis workshops, field trips.
Literature:
Various primary literature sources will be used (including 25 scientific papers).
Students must have R installed on their computers before the course.
Course assessment:
Students will be assessed based on daily class participation and presentation and quality of a research project.
Provider:
Department of Biology
Special comments on this course:
Time:
9:00-17:00 Monday through Friday (with extra lab work time in evenings)
Place:
Aarhus campus, field trips to Lille Vildmose and Geding-Kasted Mose
Cost: 1250 DKK (to cover transport, one night of accommodation and dinner on the Lille Vildmose fieldtrip)
Registration:
Deadline for registration is 31 July 2024. Information regarding admission will be sent out no later than 7 August 2024.
For registration: Applicants must submit a CV and half a page motivation letter detailing their research interests to Elizabeth le Roux (eleroux@bio.au.dk).
If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth le Roux, e-mail: eleroux@bio.au.dk
