The first part of the course consists of a eight laptop seminars of four hours on different topics, consisting of  lectures and laptop practicals with remote sensing and global datasets on how particular characteristics are distributed over the world, and change within biomes. The series of working groups ends with a written examination.

The second part of the course consists of a Mini-project about a particular country, carried out in teams of four students. The mini-project deals with the natural environment and ecosystems, as well as traditional, present and future food supply. The output of the Mini-project consists of a portfolio with all relevant digital data and maps, as well as a small summary report.

LS = laptop seminar

Series of laptop practicals

The first part of the course consists of eight laptop seminars of four hours on different topics related to ecosystem functioning and agriculture in different biomes, followed by a written examination. Together the laptop seminars provide a systematic overview of characteristic ecosystems in different climate zones on earth.  Each laptop seminar consists of a lecture of a particular topic of approximately one hour, and a laptop practical related to this particular topic of approximately three hours, using remote sensing and global datasets. The laptop practicals consist of different assignments and questions, which are found on canvas. Each laptop seminar should be prepared in advance by reading papers provided by the staff, which will be tested in one of the questionnaires during the laptop seminar. The topics are:

1. Introduction in biomes and digital data

In the first lecture, you will get an overview of the topics of the coming sessions, as well as practical information for the course. You will also be introduced to global biomes. The first laptop practical introduces digital data sources and provides hands-on exercises for interactive data retrieval, storage and interpretation. You will work with digital data from Google Earth Pro, web services and other data sources, that allow data and information transfer to support the other laptop practicals in this course.

2. Spatial patterns in biodiversity

You will learn about global patterns in biodiversity, as well as theories which may explain the latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. You will also learn about the effect of land use changes. The theories include gradients in primary production, ecological heterogeneity, evolutionary processes and hypotheses such as the 'museum' vs. the 'cradle'. In the laptop practical, you will work on biodiversity patterns and global endemism.

 3. Spatial patterns in geodiversity

Here, you will learn about geodiversity, including the diversity of the geosphere, and the natural range of geological (rocks, minerals, fossils), geomorphological (landforms, topography, physical processes), soil and hydrological features. In the laptop practical, you will explore, identify and explain geodiversity across biomes including agricultural landscapes at multiple scales, using information from Google Earth Pro, thematic web-services and selected literature. You will discuss the relations between geodiversity and human impact from examples.

 4. Soil diversity and plant adaptations

This lecture focuses on global patterns in soil diversity, which determine the natural fertility and agricultural potential. You will also learn that plant strategies and adaptations differ between biomes. Classical examples are C3, C4 and CAM photosynthesis, but plants can also play with light and dark reactions, and morphological differences in leaves, stems, flowers and roots. In the laptop practical, you will further work on global distribution patterns of different plant traits, identifying and explaining the relationships between diversity in plant traits and human use. You will further explore, identify and explain differences in soil characteristics across biomes, including relationships between soil diversity and agriculture, with maps derived from soil grids and other sources.

 5. Spatial patterns in animal adaptations

For this section, you will learn that animals also differ between biomes, and why amphibians and reptiles live in different places, or why mammals are smaller in the desert than the tundra areas. In the laptop practical, you will learn how DNA barcoding can be used in different scientific and political realms. After given sequence data, you will create a report (in a group)on the animals found within each habitat and how this information can be used for agricultural purposes.

 6. Spatial patterns in agriculture

You will learn why certain types of food are growing and cultivated where they are. Where do we find production of coffee? Where do the cereals come from? Why is rice not growing in France? Why is maize cultivated almost everywhere? Why is dairy farming so common in the Netherlands? In the practical, you will use data from different sources to explore, identify and explain why certain crops and animals are cultivated in particular biomes.

 7. Future of Agriculture (guest lecture): "Global Sustainable Food Security: Challenges, Claims, and Solutions"

Agriculture not only is a major contributor to many of our environmental problems but it also does not succeed in providing sufficient nutritious food to everyone. So how can we produce food in a more sustainable manner while providing livelihoods to farmers as well as nutritious and accessible food to consumers? There are many solutions being promoted: organic, urban agriculture, GMO, local, fair trade, and so on. But what do we actually know about what works? This lecture is intended to (1) develop an understanding of the challenges we are faced with in our food systems, (2) gain a broad overview of the current scientific knowledge on different food debates, and (3) examine solutions for how we can grow and eat food in a better way. For the practical you will, in groups, design and submit a poster on a theme surrounding the future of agriculture (e.g. GMOs, salinization, etc).

8. Biomes revisited

The closing session of the working groups is an overview session in which you go through the biomes once more. For each biome, you will identify the main characteristics such as geomorphological processes, soil formation, plant adaptations, animal adaptations, agricultural constraints, and traditional and modern agriculture, and put them in a matrix. The closing session of the working groups is an overview session in which you go through the biomes once more. For each biome, you will identify the main characteristics such as geomorphological processes, soil formation, plant adaptations, animal adaptations, agricultural constraints, and traditional and modern agriculture, and put them in a matrix. 

 Examination

In the written examination, we will test your knowledge of the biomes and the topics with a number of multiple choice and open questions. These questions will be related to not only lecture and quiz material, but also independent reading material that you are expected to read before lectures. Be aware that you should start preparing for the examination as early as possible and not leave it to the end.

Mini-project. The second part of the course consists of a mini-project about a particular country, carried out in teams of four students. You should already start on the mini-projects during the first part , in the first weeks of the course. The mini-project deals with the geodiversity setting, the functioning of natural ecosystems and changes from traditional to modern and future food supply. The output of the Mini-project consists of a portfolio with all relevant digital data and maps, as well as a small summary report. An outline for the Mini-project is given below:

1. attractive title
2. introduction, objective and research questions, as an example:

• what are the climatic and geodiversity characteristics of this particular country?
• what are the main soil types, and how can they be explained by climate and geodiversity?
• what are the main natural ecosystems, and how have plants and animals adapted to the climate and geodiversity?
• what was the traditional form of land use and food production, and how was this adapted to the climate and geodiversity?
• what is the present form of land use and food production, and what is its impact on the natural ecosystems?
• what may be the impact of future climate change on the natural ecosystems, and how may the future land use and food production look like?

3. geological history and landscape formation

• review how this country has been formed during and by geological history
• identify and describe how the landscape is influenced by its climatic history

4. characteristic soil forming processes and soil types

• identify which particular soil types are present and explain them by climate and geological substratum.

5. natural ecosystems and adaptations of plants and animals

• identify the main natural ecosystems
• identify which major plants and animals are hosted in this country, and how they are adapted to climate and geodiversity.
• major endemic and/or invasive species

6. traditional land use and food supply

• describe which types of traditional land use and food supply occurred
• explain how traditional agriculture dealt with constraints of climate, soil and landscape

7. present land use and food supply

• describe the current land use and food supply
• explain the impact of the present land use and food supply on the natural ecosystems

8. future developments related to climate change

• describe the potential changes in climate in the future
• describe and explain the potential impact of climate change on the natural ecosystems
• describe and explain the potential impact of climate change on land use and food supply, and explore how food production will develop

9. synthesis and conclusions

• answer your research questions and draw conclusions