Description
This course is a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and theories related to the functional traits of organisms, with a particular emphasis on plants. Students use a trait-based approach to examine the response of organisms to environmental gradients, to explore community assembly and to understand how plant functions can be scaled to the ecosystem level. Lectures include how to measure traits, application of the approach to understand biotic responses to land use change and to global change. A brief introduction to existing trait databases, their correct utilization and to the growing discipline of eco-informatics is presented. This seventh version of the course will take place in the Andean tropics and will include hands-on experience of measurement of functional traits and a field trip to an upper mountain tropical rain forest and a paramo ecosystem. The course is offered in English and is open to graduate students, postdocs, researchers and professors. Candidates should complete the application form and send it with a copy of their CV to Juan Posada.