Learning outcomes

The student knows and understands the models and their empirical tests in the interactions between plants and herbivores, between predators and prey, and between parasites/parasitoids/pathogens and hosts. The student will understand the role of trophic interactions in shaping communities and ecosystems, including problems caused by invasive species, and the major differences in trophic structure and function between aquatic and terrestrial communities. The student becomes familiar with the history and recent advances in ecological interactions and understands the current questions of the research field.

Contents

Lectures on ecology and evolution of trophic interactions, including behavioral and numerical responses of the interactive populations, coevolution, and tri-trophic level interactions in aquatic and terrestrial environments, presentations of recent key papers of the research field with discussions.