Under the general framework of Global Change Ecology, the goal of this course is to provide the participants with the most recent and practical knowledge on the use of Functional Diversity. This includes the selection of functional traits and calculation of Functional Diversity Indexes. Examples of the application of this knowledge will be given regarding Ecological Indicators and Ecosystem Services.

The specific objectives are:

Lack of fertile land to feed the exponentially growing population, insufficient water availability and quality, changes in the flow of nutrients through the bio-geo-cycles (especially N and P) and climate and land use changes are impacting ecosystems and their capacity to deliver goods and services for humans. It is striking that all these issues interact around one common resource - SOIL and its biodiversity.

This course aims to give basic skills in R, but with some applications in the field of Evolutionary Ecology.

This course can have a recognition of 6 ECTs for FCUL PhD students enrolling in it, as part of their first doctoral year. For FCUL PhD students only requiring 5 ECTs recognized in their specific PhD programmes, the last 6 hours of the course are not mandatory and the certificate will be on 'Topics in R without fear’.

João Tiago Sabino Lino Marques apresenta a tese "Structuring Amazonian bat assemblages: importance of horizontal and vertical dimensions of habitat".

João Paulo Silva
Post-doc Researcher at cE3c (ConservationEcologyGroup)

A atividade consiste numa breve apresentação sobre a biodiversidade e ecologia das espécies de montanha nas instalações do CISE, em Seia, complementada com a visita de uma exposição sobre as lagoas naturais de altitude. A atividade será retomada depois de almoço, já na Serra da Estrela, onde será feita uma visita guiada para observação de plantas e animais em áreas selecionadas do Planalto Superior da Serra da Estrela.

A atividade consiste numa visita guiada para observação dos líquenes e perceber a influencia da vegetação na qualidade do ar e do clima local. O passeio será orientado por investigadores da Universidade de Lisboa que trabalham sobre a importância das áreas verdes urbanas para a qualidade de vida nas cidades. 

Gustavo M. Martins
Post-doc Researcher at cE3c (Island Biodiversity, Biogeography and Conservation Group)

Bernardo Afonso de Aranha Alhandra Duarte apresenta a tese "Climate Change Impacts on Salt Marsh Vegetation Ecophysiology and Dynamics".