Evolutionary Botany & Functional Ecology

5 ECTS Kourou Year 2 Semester 3 Compulsory Environmental sciences

Content

This course is divided in three parts intended to provide students with the fundamental and required concepts, tools and practical skills in the fields of botany, plant architecture and functional ecology.

Archi-Bota-Systematics (2 ECTS)

Understanding how plants develop in time and space is essential for qualifying, quantifying and predicting the functioning of forest ecosystems. The aim of this course is to provide students with a solid background in plant phylogeny and taxonomy, as well as in plant architecture and phenology, so as to provide them with the skills to study the evolution and ontogeny of neotropical trees, both immediately and retrospectively.

Soil-plant interface (1.5 ECTS)

Understanding plant growth and development requires the study of the soil-plant interface, which is crucial because the soil provides the essential nutrients and water required for photosynthesis. The aim of this course is to enable students to acquire and consolidate their knowledge of the interactions between soil organisms and vegetation. The focus will be on the rhizosphere, which represents an interface between the soil, the root and the micro-organisms, where multiple exchanges take place.

Plant-atmosphere interface (1.5 ECTS)

This course aims to explore structure-function relationships and their diversity in plants. Firstly, the course looks at the hydric functioning of plants and the regulatory mechanisms that exist in situations of hydric constraint, at the oranism and organ levels. Secondly, it looks at photosynthetic assimilation mechanisms in plants, with a focus on phytohormone (ABA) synthesis and stomatal regulation of gas exchange (especially carbon).

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student should be able to 1) interpret the structures and behaviours of plants in tropical forest contexts, 2) make links between adaptation, morphology, behaviour and evolution, and 3) provide instruction in the functional ecology of tropical trees and forest stands interacting with the soil and atmosphere.