PřF:Bi8001 Pedobiology - Course Information

Bi8001 Pedobiology

Extent and Intensity

2/0/0. 2 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

doc. Dipl. Biol. Jiří Schlaghamerský, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

doc. Dipl. Biol. Jiří Schlaghamerský, Ph.D.
Department of Botany and Zoology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: doc. Dipl. Biol. Jiří Schlaghamerský, Ph.D.

Timetable

Wed 14:00–15:50 BR2

Prerequisites (in Czech)

( Bi1030 Syst. & evol. of invertebrates || Bi2000 Animal System and Evolution ) && Bi5080 Basics of ecology

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is offered to students of any study field.

Course objectives

The subject presents an introduction into soil biology (pedobiology) as a traditional biological field dealing with ecological questions and linked to the applied fields of agriculture and forestry. Within this introduction particular attention is given to the animal component and to the saprotrophic (decomposer, detritivore) food chain as a fundamental pilar of ecosystems. Attention is, therefore, also given to fields traditionally not included or marginal within soil biology: the decomposition of wood, faeces and carrion, and the decomposition with help of microorganisms in the ruminant pouch. The major objectives of the course are: 1) to learn the basic facts about soil and soil organisms; 2) to understand the importance of ecological factors at work in soil and about their effects on soil organisms and their communities; 3) to understand the importance of soil for terrestrial ecosystems and the links between above-ground and below-ground processes; 4) to get an overview about the main soil biological methods; 4)to get an overview about further parts of terrestrial ecosystems where decomposition processes take place and of the organism groups present during the degradative succession of decomposing resources.

Syllabus

• The course includes the following units:
• what is soil: basics of pedology (pedogenesis, major soil types, humus forms);
• soil as an environment of organisms;
• decomposition of dead organic matter and the decomposition compartment of ecosystems, degradative succession;
• decomposition in the major biomes, pecularities of tropical soils and consequences for tropical ecosystems and agriculture;
• soil fertilisation and contamination, bioremediation;
• the effect of resource (nekromass) composition on decomposition processes;
• the effect of physical and chemical traits of the soil on decomposition processes;
• communities of soil organisms (edaphon): distribution in space and time, function, classification of soil fauna (size, trophy);
• the microbiological component of soils;
• major soil biological methods: traditional and modern ones;
• the utilisation of microorganims by animals for mobilising nutrients, decomposition in the ruminant pouch;
• wood decomposition, decomposing wood as the environment of saproxylic communities of individual successional stages;
• faeces decomposition and associated organisms;
• decomposition of carrion and scavangers.

Literature

• Smolíková, L. (1982, 1988): Pedologie. I. Státní pedagogické nakladatelství (1. i 2. vyd.), Praha.
• Swift, M. J., Heal, O. W. & Anderson, J. M. (1979): Decomposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems (Studies in Ecology, Vol. 5), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, ISBN 0-632-00378-2.
• Begon, M., Harper, J. L. & Townsend, C. R. (1997): Ekologie: jedinci, populace a společenstva. Vydavatelství Univerzity Palackého, Olomouc, ISBN 80-7067-695-7.

Assessment methods

The course is given as a series of lectures; credits are given based on the positive result of an oral exam.

Language of instruction

Czech

Further Comments

Study Materials
The course is taught annually.

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2009, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/spring2009/Bi8001