GERE0034-1 : Plants - ecosystems - climate relationship

Study Programmes 2016-2017

GERE0034-1

Plants - ecosystems - climate relationship

Duration :

18h Th, 48h Pr, 6h AUTR

Number of credits :

Master in environmental bioengineering (120 ECTS)		6

Lecturer :

Bernard Heinesch, Bernard Longdoz

Coordinator :

Bernard Heinesch

Language(s) of instruction :

French language

Organisation and examination :

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents :

This course is part of a coherent modulus (Plant Ecosystem Climate ). All the informations on the course content and learning outcomes refer to the whole modulus.
- Micrometeoroligical aspects

Characterization of the atmospheric boundary layer
Energy budget in a ecosystem
Soil and leaf spectral characteristics

- Physiological aspects

Quantification of CO2 fluxes (photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, Farqhuar model, soil and plant respiration)
Quantification of water vapour fluxes (canopy conductance, Bowen ratio, Water Use Efficiency)
Quantification of other exchanges (methane, ozone, N2O, VOC)

- Flux measurement systems

Micrometeorological measurements
Eddy Covariance method
Porometry
Soil chambers

- Data treatment

Establishing Functional relations
Budget computations
case studies

Learning outcomes of the learning unit :

After completing the course the student is expected to be able to:

identify major plant controls on energy, water and trace gas flux exchanges with the soil and the atmosphere
understand how climate and ecosystem management impact these exchanges
Understand the requirements, strengths and limitations of ecosystem/atmosphere and trace gas flux measurement methods at spatial scales from leaves to the whole canopy.
Implement the most widely used of these flux measurement methods
Examine critically peer-reviewed publications in the domain of plant/ecosystem/climate exchanges
Better understand the terrestrial ecosystem roles in the climate system and, conversely, the impact of climate on these ecosystems, especially in terms of productivity and vulnerability.

Soft skills linked to team work and written and spoken English language will be developed through practical works, scientific publication analysis and oral presentations.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills :

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :

- Lectures 12h - Practical works 48h - Seminaries 12h