209706 Plant ecology in a changing environment (V+Pr) (SoSe 2023)

Environmental stress is one of the main challenges to plant growth and survival. With ongoing climatic and environmental change (e.g. fertilization and nitrogen enrichment) the ability to employ strategies to avoid irreversible damage due to drought, light, heat, salt or nutritional stress has become one of the main drivers for plant ecological success. This module investigates eco-physiological adaptations and acclimation mechanisms of different plant eco-functional types to changing climatic and edaphic conditions by conveying the use of well-established methods in experimental botany and plant physiology (e.g. gas exchange, chlorophyll-a-fluorescence, water potentials, stable isotope measurements) to assess plant growth and survival in stressful environments. A field trip of several days will add to the knowledge obtained during classes and give insights in plant ecology as influenced by climatic and edaphic factors. A strong focus will be on data acquisition, analysis, discussion and presentation.