VANN210 Freshwater Ecology

VANN210 introduces students to important parameters, processes and organisms in freshwater systems. The course has its main focus on lakes. Important facts are explained with the help of an extensive and updated data material from Norwegian waters. The first part of the course provides an overview of the most important abiotic environmental factors (nutrients, temperature, light), their interactions and their significance for the rest of the food web. The focus is on the relationship between the catchment and conditions in the lakes. Part 2 provides an overview of the most important groups of organisms and their role in the food web. In addition, important biological processes such as eutrophication, algae bloom formation, coevolution and parasitism are explained, and the lake's role as a source of greenhouse gases is elucidated. The last part gives a brief overview of water management in Norway and Europe.

The teaching in VANN210 is based on interaction between the students and the teachers. Each part of the course ends with exercises that are reviewed together to shed light on topics and questions that the students need help with or where there is a need for in-depth study. The teachers are willing to adapt the course to special needs if the need for this arises in dialogue with the students. Questions can be sent by email and answered in detail.

Knowledge: Basic insight into the P, N, C, Si, Fe and S cycles and the importance of different fractions for all important parts of the food web in lakes. Insight into how light and thermal stratification are related and how they affect the rest of the food web. Overview of the most important groups of organisms and their interactions between and with the non-living environment. Basic understanding of eutrophication, coevolution, the formation of algal blooms. Rough overview of the lakes' role as greenhouse gas sources.

Skills: After passing the course, students can see the connection between important processes in lakes, so that it is possible to assess the degree and effects of human impact. Students should be able to read and understand monitoring reports so that they can form their own opinion.

General competence: The course teaches students to think in ecological contexts, ie that they perceive parameters, organisms and processes not as isolated things but as parts of a network (an ecosystem) that is more than its parts. This competence will also be important for other disciplines in both research and administration.