We are pleased to announce the opening of the 4th version of an intensive course on Functional Traits (May 26-31, 2013) that will take place in Villa de Leyva, Colombia. The course is open to graduate students, postdocs and researchers/professors interested in broadening their knowledge in functional ecology and is offered in English. Candidates should complete a brief form (see below) and send a copy of their CV to juan.pos...@urosario.edu.co. The inscription costs US$300 and will cover lodging in a shared room, breakfast and transportation to the field. You must provide your own means of transportation to Bogota. The deadline for submission is March 15th and results will be communicated on April 1st.
CONTENT. This course is a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and theories related to the functional traits of organisms, with a particular emphasis on plants. Students use a trait-based approach to examine the response of organisms to environmental gradients, to explore community assembly and to understand how plant functions can be scaled to the ecosystem level. Lectures include application of the approach to understand biotic responses to land use change, to global change and provision of ecosystem services at the landscape scale. A brief introduction to existing trait databases, their correct utilization and to the growing discipline of eco-informatics is presented. This fourth version of the course will take place in the Andean tropics and will include hands-on experience of measurement of functional traits and a field trip to an upper mountain tropical rain forest and a paramo ecosystem. CONFIRMED PROFESSORS • Eric Garnier (CNRS, CEFE, France) • Bill Shipley (U. of Sherbrooke, Canada) • Alison Munson (U. Laval, Canada) • Arne Saatkamp (AMU & IMBE, France) • Juan Posada (U. of El Rosario, Colombia) • Sandra Lavorel (CNRS, LECA, France) • Francesco De Bello (Czech Academy of Sciences and U. of South Bohemia, Czech Republic) PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM AND ATTACH A COPY OF YOUR CV: First, middle and last name: Gender (male/female): University/Work Address: Work phone number: Personal phone number: E-mail address: Essay. Please describe your current professional activities, research interests and what you expect from this course (max. 300 words). FOR MORE INFORMATION: juan.pos...@urosario.edu.co http://www.cef-cfr.ca/index.php?n=Membres.AlisonMunsonPlantTraits
