Course: Plant geography of the tropics

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Course title Plant geography of the tropics
Course code EKO/FYTR
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Exercise + Seminar
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional, Optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Dančák Martin, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
Botanical characteristics of particular tropical regions of the Earth. Significant and interesting plant taxa of the tropics (especially dominant families or genera), its geographical distribution and relates to out-of tropical regions and taxa. One chapter of the course is devoted to the taxa of plants with specific adaptations for the tropical environment, absent or almost absent in taxa of another regions (e.g. epiphytes, lianes, myrmecophytes etc.). Another chapter deals with the cultural and utility plants of tropics and with the methods of botanical research in tropical regions. Students will also work with herbaries what can help them to acquire characteristis features of tropical plant families. The excursion to the tropical greenhouse Fata Morgana in Prague Botanical Garden will be the integral part of the course.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture, Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Projection (static, dynamic)
Learning outcomes
The main goal of the course is to introduce students specific features of flora and vegetation of particular tropical regions of the Earth.
After passing of the course, students would have general knowledge of the significant plant taxa of tropics and differences in its regional distributions. Students should be able to recognise typical tropical plant species including the economic plants, and to classify it into the basic taxa. Furthermore, students would be able to understand better phylogenetic relations of flora in global scale.
Prerequisites
Student of the masters degree, who succesfully passed the courses Plant Ecology and Systematic Botany.
EKO/EKRO

Assessment methods and criteria
Oral exam, Seminar Work

Seminar thesis with its presentation in front of the broader audience.
Recommended literature
  • Corlett R. & Primack R. Tropical Rain Forests: An Ecological and Biogeographical Comparison, Second Edition. 2011, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing..
  • Lomolino M. V., Riddle B. R. & Brown J. H. Biogeography. 3rd ed. 2005. Sinauer, Sunderland..
  • Morley R. J. Origin and Evolution of Tropical Rain Forests. 2006, John Wiley & Sons, London..
  • Whitmore T. C. An introduction to tropical rain forests. 2nd ed. 2003, Oxford University Press, Oxford..


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Science Study plan (Version): Teaching Training in Biology and Environmental Education for Secondary Schools (2021) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter
Faculty: Faculty of Science Study plan (Version): Biology and Environmental Education for Education (2021) Category: Ecology and environmental protection - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter
Faculty: Faculty of Science Study plan (Version): Botany (2021) Category: Biology courses - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter