The students should know common and ecologically interesting lichens and mosses, and understand their importance in Norwegian ecosystems

Skills:

The students will be trained to identify Norwegian bryophytes and macrolichens using identification keys and floras. The students will also be trained to use indicator species of bryophytes and lichens for assessing various environmental conditions. The students will be trained in writing a scientif report

General competence:

Understand the role of lichens and bryophytes in Norwegian ecosystem, and be able to use them as indicator species.

Lab exercises (2 hours per week) train the students to identify Norwegian bryophytes and macrolichens by the use of identification keys and floras.

The student assignment (groups of 3-4 students) gives the students training in how to collect and identify their own material, process and present the data and use the set of data to estimate the air pollution along a gradient from Oslo to the rural Follo.

Teaching support:

Due to the semester assignment, the teacher must be available in his office for some weeks. Important notes will be available on Canvas.

The students need to pass an species identification test with the use of floras (Acoounts for 40 %). Together with this test, there will be some theoretical questions without access to literature (20 %) The student assigments with report accounts for 40 % of the total grade. It is not necessary that the student passes all tests in the course in order to pass the entire course. A passing grade is based on the overall quality of the entire evaluated material.

The course is especially suitable for the Master"s programmes in natural resource management, forestry, and ecology, but all students with an interest in biology and/or environmental pollution are welcome.

Examiner:

An external examiner will give evaluate the term paper and the floristic exams with additional theoretical questions.