Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

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.

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.