2017-2018 / GERE0034-1

Plants - ecosystems - climate relationship

Duration

18h Th, 48h Pr, 6h AUTR

Number of credits

 Master in environmental bioengineering (120 ECTS)6 crédits 

Lecturer

Bernard Heinesch, Bernard Longdoz, Youri Rothfuss

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

Ecosystem energy balance:
- identification of the balance terms - Bowen ratio - stomatal and canopy conductance
- Atmospheric transport by turbulence:
- characterisation of the atmospheric boundary layer - spectral characteristics of turbulence - Monin Obukhov's theory of similarity - calculation of aerodynamic resistance
Ecosystem carbon balance:
- identification of the balance terms - temporal variations and determinism of photosynthesis, respiration and net fluxes - modeling of fluxes at leaf scale
Ecosystem water balance:
- identification of the balance terms - temporal variations and determinism of water fluxes - water use efficiency - forest ecosystem modelling - use of stable water isotopes
Ecosystem nitrogen balance
Methodology of gas exchange measurement:
- description of analytical methods for measuring trace gas concentration - micrometeorological method of eddy-covariance - radiation measurements

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

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

  • Describe the different balance terms
  • Explain the functioning of the ecosystem studied and the dynamics of its exchanges at different temporal scales
  • Understand the underlying processes and their drivers
  • Know the orders of magnitude for all variables in play
  • Reporting on the measurement techniques used
  • Putting into perspective and extrapolating the results obtained in relation to the literature
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

Each part will be presented ex-cathedra followed by numerical applications based on datasets obtained at our measurement sites.
Metrological aspects will be covered during field sessions (assembly of a micro-meteorological station).

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

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

Recommended or required readings

Lecture notes Proposed scientific papers

Assessment methods and criteria

The final rating will be determined on the basis of:
- the oral presentation, individually and in English, of a scientific article (1/3)
- the individual oral presentation of the analysis of a data set in the light of the concepts discussed in the course (2/3)

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

Prof. (marc.aubinet@ulg.ac.be)Bernard Longdoz(marc.aubinet@ulg.ac.be ()Bernard.Longdoz@ulg.ac.be)
Prof. Bernard Heinesch