Course program
Module 1 (18 hours)
Ecological factors and plant distribution: definition of ecological factor, climate, bioclimate, climatic factors, climatic diagrams, bioclimatic indexes; Raunkiaer’s plant life forms; relationship among abiotic ecological factors (light, CO2, water, temperature, nutrients) and plant functioning.
Module 2 (10 hours)
Environmental adaptations: environmental stress and stressor concept; plant stress response strategies: acclimation, adaptation, phenotypic plasticity; plant functional traits and trait co-variation (trade-off) in response to ecological factor variation; leaf economic spectrum; plant functional types and adaptative strategies; C-S-R Grime’s model.
Module 3 (4 hours)
Plant growth and biomass allocation patterns: morphological and physiological components underlying relative growth rate; effect of the ecological abiotic factors (light, temperature, water and nutrients) on growth and biomass allocation; fast- and slow-growing species: ecological advantages.
Module 4 (8 hours)
Plant functional traits and ecosystem functioning: plant community definition; community assemblage rules and environmental filters; functional diversity; structure and function at an ecosystem level: leaf area index (LAI) and primary productivity.
Module 5 (12 hours): field and laboratory sessions for carrying out leaf functional trait measurements related to gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic pigment content, water status, morphological and anatomical traits, leaf reflectance indexes.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of Botany and Ecology acquired in the first and second year of the Degree Course.
Books
Lambers H. Oliveira R.S., Plant Physiological Ecology, 3rd (2019) Springer, in alternativa: Lambers H., Stuart Chapin III F., Pons T.L., Plant Physiological Ecology, 2nd Edition (2008) Springer
Schulze E.D. et al. Plant Ecology, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature (2019)
Sanità di Toppi L., Interazioni piante-ambiente (2018), Piccin
Gratani L., Appunti di Ecologia Vegetale (2015) Aracne Editrice
Pignatti S., Ecologia Vegetale, 2000, UTET
Teaching mode
The course is organized through classroom-taught lessons and field and laboratory practical sessions allowing the development of the educational objectives. Through the lessons, made by using slides projected, the student learns the fundamental knowledge of the discipline and the elements for environmental assessments of the plant species and/or communities and ecosystem functioning. During the field and laboratory sessions, the student learns techniques for measuring leaf functional plant traits techniques through the specific instrumentation. Classroom-taught lessons, filed and laboratory sessions are carried out giving specific attention to interactive dialogue between the teacher and students.
Frequency
Although the lesson attending is optional, it is encouraged as in the classroom students are actively involved in the critical discussion of the topics covered. Moreover, in order to underline the connections between the various parts of the program, during each lesson there are continuous references to topics covered in previous lessons.
Exam mode
Interview on the topics covered in class aimed at evaluating their understanding as well as the judgment and critical analysis skills of the student.
Bibliography
Lesson PDFs are available to students. For some of the topics covered in class, the teacher can also provide didactic material (lecture notes), scientific and informative material. The material is made available in a Google Drive folder that the teacher shares with the students enrolled in the course, both attending and not attending.
Lesson mode
The course is delivered traditionally through face-to-face classroom lectures and through practical activities in the field and laboratory that enable the development of the training objectives. Through classroom lectures, carried out through projected slides, fundamental knowledge of the discipline and the elements for making critical assessments of the functioning of individual species and/or plant communities about environmental characteristics are learned. During field and laboratory activities, techniques for measuring plant functional traits at the leaf level using specific instrumentation are learned. Both classroom, field, and laboratory lectures are conducted with an emphasis on interactive dialogue between the lecturer and students.
