Module Identifier BS32310  
Module Title PLANT ECOLOGY FIELD COURSE: SPAIN  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Dr Aileen R Smith  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Professor Peter Wathern  
Course delivery Lecture   10 Hours  
  Practical   7 days  
  Seminars / Tutorials   3 Hours 3 x 1 hour  
Assessment Semester Assessment   Course Work: 1 field report and 1 project report To be submitted by the 27th September.   100%  
  Supplementary Assessment   Extended essay plus viva    

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module the student will

Aims

This excursion, held under canvas in the central area of Cantabria, aims to integrate quantitative aspects of plant field ecology with plant indentification taking into account climatic and other environmental influences on vegetation and community structure.

Content

The module begins with three introductory meetings where students organise themselves into groups and plan finances and provisioning for the course.
On arrival at the Picos de Europa, the students are introduced to the flora of the area,
exemplified by plants occurring in L`Hermida Gorge and lectures on the overall vegetation in the Liebana Valley. Emphasis is placed on an altidudinal belt sequence of woodland types from evergreen mediterranean to treelines and krummholz.
Further studies include investigation of snow patch vegetation, diversity of alpine and sub-alpine meadows and the influence of grazing, fire and liming on heathland. Field studies are augmented by lectures in the evenings and time is allocated to the discussion of field course write-ups and the key features of recording information in field note books.

Specific group work is carried out in the field each day in addition to data collected on students` individual projects. Students have the opportunity to experience working, camping and cooking as a group and some dedication is necessary to push the work forward under less than perfect academic conditions.

Reading Lists

Books
** Multiple Copies In Hugh Owen
Clapham, AR, Tutin,TG & Warburg, EF. Excursion flora of the British isles. Cambridge Univerity Press.
Rose, F. (1981) The wild flower key. Penguin Books Ltd.
Hubbard, C E. (1984) Grasses. Penguin Books Ltd.
Crawford, R M N. (1989) Studies in plant survival. Blackwell Scientific Publications.