Stream Ecology and Fish Conservation
Summary
This course gives you insight in factors that affect various types of watercourses, and thereby affect the situation for organisms that live in the water. You will also get practical training in methods for habitat management and conservation.
About
This course provides an understanding of the abiotic and biotic factors that create and alter a watercourse, and how these relate to and are affected by adjacent terrestrial ecosystems. The focus is on ecological processes, competition and predation, food webs and trophic dynamics but also nutrient transport and flow calculations are key components.
Great emphasis is placed on practical habitat care and fish conservation, and you will receive training in various methods for estimating the production of fish (electrofishing) and restoration of habitats in running water using standardized methods. Identification exercises, where you will learn to identify various benthic organisms and their ecological roles are also included.
Teaching
The teaching takes the form of lectures, seminars, laboratory sessions and a project of your own that you present in both written and oral form.
Prerequisites and selection
Entry requirements
Passed basic courses in Biology 75 credits (BIO900 Cell Biology, BIO905 Molecular Genetics, BIO910 Biological form and function, BIO915 Ecology and Evolution and BIO920 Biodiversity and Systematics). In addition you need at least one approved advanced level course in biology, 15 credits, in a relevant subject. Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6/English B from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognized test, for example TOEFL, IELTS.
Selection
Selection is based upon the number of credits from previous university studies, maximum 165 credits.
Facilities
Teaching is conducted in the Natrium building, on Medicinareberget in Gothenburg (Medicinaregatan 7B), but also as fieldwork in the form of practical exercises.
