David Storch, Irena Šímová, David Hořák & Vladimír Remeš 

Syllabus

1. Dynamical systems and the foundations of population dynamics. (DS)  Basic principles of dynamical systems, phase space and state variables, attractors, ecological stability, differential and difference equations. Density-dependence and logistic equation, types of population dynamics, stability, oscillations, deterministic chaos. Projection matrices, Euler-Lotka equation, sensitivity and elasticity analysis. [PPT]

2. Trophic interactions. (DS) Lotka-Volterra model of predator-prey dynamics, population cycles, role of functional responses and prey resource limitation, paradox of enrichment, herbivore-consumer interactions. Top-down and bottom-up effects, trophic chains, trophic cascades and and food webs. [PPT]

3. Interspecific competition and coexistence. (IŠ) Competitive exclusion, Lotka-Volterra model of competition, competition for resources, R* theory, conditions and mechanisms of species coexistence, stabilizing and equalizing mechanisms. [PDF]

4. Species and the environment. (DH) Ecological specialization, SSI, CSI. Habitat selection, MacArthur's warblers. Ecological niche: concepts of Grinnell, Elton, Hutchinson. Niche differentiation, niche expansion, species packing along environmental gradients. Niche conservatism. Ecological and geographical space. [PDF]

5. Trait and functional ecology. (DH) Trait variation and types. Functional biogeography. Functional diversity (FD): methodical approaches, spatial patterns. Phylogenetic diversity (PD), FD x PD x species richness relationships, sampling effects, null models. Geographical x ecological species pool. Phylogenetic clustering and overdispersion. Traits in community assembly: environmental filtering, competition. Traits in nature conservation. [PDF]

6. Ecology and evolution of life histories. (VR) What is life history? Life tables, fitness measures, optimizing life history, trade-offs and constraints, allometry and phylogeny, methods to study life histories, mathematical models, reproductive scheduling (semelparity vs iteroparity, juvenile vs adult mortality, reproductive effort, reproductive value, senescence), size and number of offspring, trait covariation, life histories and environments. [PDF]

7. Fundamentals of macroecology. (DS) Body size dristribution and metabolic scaling with body size, metabolic theory and its limitations, body size-abundance relationship. Species-abundance distribution, determinants of species abundances. Species range size distribution and patterns in species ranges. Links between macroecological patterns, synthetic theories of macroecology. [PPT]

8. Spatial ecology and metapopulation dynamics. (DS) Spatiotemporal dynamics, determinants of colonization and extinction, small populations and Allee effect. Metapopulation dynamics, stability and multiple equilibria, rescue effect, source-sink dynamics, multispecies metapopulation models. Patch dynamics and the emergence of spatial patterns, emergence of fractal distributions. Species-area relationship, role of species aggregation. [PPT]

9. Local biodiversity patterns and dynamics. (IŠ) Diversity estimates, alpha, beta and gamma diversity,  processes shaping ecological communities, mechanisms of species coexistence. Local scale diversity and its limits, diversity-productivity relationship, species pool hypothesis, more individuals hypothesis. [PDF]

10. Large-scale species diversity in space and time. (DS) Latitudinal diversity gradient, role of productivity, temperature and mountains. Diversification rates, time for species accumulation, diversity equilibria and evidence of biodiversity saturation. Theory of island biogeography, neutral theory, equilibrium theory of biodiversity dynamics. [PPT]

11. Advanced ecology of the Anthropocene. (DS) Current state of biodiversity, mass extinctions and contemporary extinction crisis. Non-trivial biodiversity changes in the Anthropocene, balance of winners and losers, homogenization and heterogenization.  Spreading of non-native species and emergence of new habitats, vegetation greening, paradox of HANPP. Three phases of the Anthropocene, principles of sustainability. [PPT]

Begon M., Harper J.L. and Townsend C.R.: Ecology. Third edition. Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford, 1995.

Hutchings J.A. A primer of life histories. Oxford University Press, Oxfor, 2021.

Case T.J.: An illustrated guide to theoretical ecology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999.

Magurran A. E. & McGill B. J. (Eds.). Biological diversity: frontiers in measurement and assessment. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010.

Turchin P.: Complex population dynamics: A theoretical/empirical synthesis. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2003.