Environment General Courses (ENVIRON)
graduate level, taught in Durham
298.73 Tree Structure
and Function
Instructor: Sari Palmroth
(3 credits; lectures, homework, student presentations)
designed for graduate students in ecology, forest
resource management, or related disciplines who
desire a basic understanding of how woody plants
function. The overall objective of the class
is to facilitate the application of physiological
and biophysical principles in the students' specific
areas of interest. The focus of the course is
in the responses of carbon gain and water loss
of woody plants to variation in their environment.
The lectures will selectively follow a number
of chapters (see below) in Taiz L. and Zeiger
E. (2002) Plant Physiology. Sinauer Associates
(also in www.plantphys.net<http://www.plantphys.net/>).
Additional readings with the emphasis on woody
plants and forest ecosystems will be assigned.
* Introduction and basic concepts in whole
tree physiology (chapters
1, 2 in T&Z)
* Photosynthesis: light and carbon reactions
(chapters 7, 8, 9 in T&Z)
* Leaf energy balance and gas exchange (chapters
3, 4, 8, 9 in T&Z)
* Mineral nutrition (chapters 5, 12 in T&Z)
* Transport processes and whole tree gas exchange
(chapters 3, 4, 6
in T&Z)
* Growth: allocation and formation of structure
(chapters 10, 16 in T&Z)
* Acclimation to the environment and responses
to stress (chapters
3, 9, 18, 25 in T&Z)
* Ecosystem processes and productivity: Light
as an ecological
factor, Water in forest ecosystems, and Carbon
cycling and
sequestration
Some tools and techniques in experimental and
modeling studies at different hierarchical levels
(leaf-plant-stand) will be demonstrated via introducing
specific problems that will be solved as part
of the coursework (started during the lecture
and completed as homework). The exercises will
include, e.g., calculation of leaf-level gas
exchange, water flow at tree level, and light
interception at stand level. The completion of
the course will require attending the lectures,
completing all the assignments and presenting
one of them. The evaluation of the performance
will be based on the homework and the presentation.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
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