Z8025 Spatiotemporal changes of freshwater ecosystems

Faculty of Science
Autumn 2023

The course is not taught in Autumn 2023

Extent and Intensity
2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Karel Brabec, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Karel Brabec, Ph.D.
Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: Mgr. Karel Brabec, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Changes in freshwater ecosystems are studied for long time in association with effects of anthropogenic stressors. Recently the interactions of human impacts with climate changes come to primary interests. Consideration of spatial hierarchy and temporal patterns of environmental parameters and biota is important for understanding of complex relationships in ecosystems faced to these impacts. Lecture aims to provide students of various specializations (geography, landscape ecology, ecology, hydrobiology, ecotoxicology) with theoretical background, methodology and examples of case studies.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able:
- to describe spatial structure of freshwater ecosystems and their temporal dynamics
- to infer ecosystem response to environmental changes under various scenarios
- to have an overview about spatio-temporal linkages among biological communities and environmental conditions
- to evaluate selected types of anthropogenic degradations, identify elemental stressors and their spatio-temporal characteristics (spatial extent and timing)
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction (theories, concepts)
  • 2. Spatial scales of riverine landscape
  • 3. Longitudinal patterns in stream networks
  • 4. Lateral and vertical interactions of streams with adjacent environment
  • 5. Standing waters – relationships to catchment characteristics, processes related to their structure
  • 6. Longterm trends of freshwater ecosystems
  • 7. Seasonal dynamics of environmental parameters and biological communities
  • 8. Ecological effects of flow regime and hydraulic conditions
  • 9. Temperature regime of surface waters
  • 10. Anthropogenic alterations of freshwater ecosystems (focusing on spatio-temporal patterns)
  • 11. Potential effects of climate changes in freshwater ecosystems
  • 12. Spatio-temporal aspects of adaptation measures and restorations of degraded aquatic ecosystems
  • 13. Case studies ((Analysis of stream fauna distribution pattern; Temporal dynamics of physico-chemical parameters in streams)
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Climate change impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Edited by M. R. Kernan - R. W. Battarbee - Brian Moss. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, xiii, 314. ISBN 9781405179133. info
  • Scaling biodiversity. Edited by David Storch - P. A. Marquet - James H. Brown. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, xvii, 470. ISBN 9780521699372. URL info
  • Handbook of scaling methods in aquatic ecology : measurement, analysis, simulation. Edited by Laurent Seuront - Peter G. Strutton. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2004, 600 p. ISBN 0849313449. URL info
    not specified
  • Gravel-bed rivers VI : from process understanding to river restoration. Edited by Helmut Habersack - Massimo Rinaldi - Hervé Piégay. London: Elsevier Science, 2008, xviii, 817. ISBN 9780444528612. info
  • Gravel-bed rivers. Edited by M. Paul Mosley. 1st pub. Wellington: New Zealand Hydrological Society, 2001, 642 s. ISBN 0473074869. info
  • Streams and ground waters. Edited by Jeremy Boyd Jones - Patrick J. Mulholland. San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, 2000, xix, 425. ISBN 0123898455. info
Teaching methods
lectures, case studies, discussion
Assessment methods
Examination has an oral form
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, autumn 2021, Autumn 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/autumn2023/Z8025