PROGRAMME

The course will be held online upon registration, see “How to Apply” for details.

Day 1 – Functional trait ecology

Theory

• Personal presentation and school programme
• Theory and concepts of functional traits ecology
• Importance of regenerative traits (overview, trait data sources)

Practice

• Data analysis: ‘warm up’ (type of data, preparation, visualisation)
• Data analysis – dealing with data bases (accessing database, data cleaning)

Day 2 – Seed dispersal in space and time

Theory

• Seed dispersal in space (terminology, concepts, dispersal vectors)
• Seed dispersal in time (terminology, concepts, soil seed bank, trade-offs)

Practice

• Data presentation
• Data analysis: introduction to linear models

Day 3 – Seed germination and dormancy

Theory

• Seed dormancy and germination (terminology, classifications, influence of abiotic and biotic factors)
• Germination traits, community assembly and responses to climate change

Practice

• Data analysis: generalized linear models
• Data analysis: incorporating phylogeny

Day 4 – Exploiting seed functional traits for the ex situ conservation of plants

Theory

• Seed conservation in genebanks (terms, definitions, history, ex situ seed longevity)

Practice

• Analysis of seed longevity data (probit analysis, survival curve plotting)
• Seed database
• Data analysis: non linear models

Day 5 – Seeds in practice 

• Standards for native seeds in ecological restoration (seed coating, priming)
• Seed networks for research and conservation
• Publishing “seed ecology”