Osborne, "Tropical ecosystems and ecological concepts", Second Edition,
2012.
Plant ecology / Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Erwin Beck, Klaus Müller-Hohenstein
Beck, Erwin ; Müller-Hohenstein, Klaus ; Schulze, Ernst-Detlef
Berlin : Springer ; c2005
An introduction to methods & models in ecology, evolution, & conservation biology / Stanton Braude, Bobbi S. Low (editors),Princeton Oxford : Princeton University Press ; 2010
Elements of ecology / Robert Leo Smith
Smith, Robert Leo
New York \etc.! : Harper and Row ; 1986
Learning Objectives
To have an olistic and multidisciplinary approach to environmental study is an objective.
An other objective is to know the main tropical landscapes and the physiological characteristics of plants in the tropics.
Prerequisites
The student has to know the fundamental concepts of physics, chemistry, plant physiology, botany, pedology and geomorphology.
Teaching Methods
Frontal teaching and on field work during exercises.
Type of Assessment
Final examen
Course program
The basic concepts of ecology: ecosystems, communities and populations; flux of matter and energy; primary and secondary productivities; biological competition. The relationship between economy and ecology for natural resources conservation and biodiversity.Ecological genetics and population genetics. Theory of Evolution. Ecological demography. Biogeographical theory. Species, speciation and biological diversity.Ecology of the arid lands, African and Neotropical savannas, tropical rain forests and deciduous and semi deciduous forests. Ecological successions. Conservation biology and commons. Exercises for ecological and dendrological index use, and for the vegetation analysis and description. Vegetal biomass calculation.