Instructors: Lauren Talluto (VO), Technikerstraße 25, Room 506
Jan Martini (SE)

Meeting location:
Seminarraum Biology (Ground floor)

Course Description

We will explore major concepts and advances in macroecology through a combination of lecture, literature discussion, and practicals. Topics to be covered may include niches, species distributions, distributions and origins of biodiversity, species interactions, and human interactions with macroecology.

Learning Objectives

• Describe major macroecological patterns
• Connect processes at smaller scales with macroecological patterns
• Critically evaluate current literature
• Compare methodological approaches
• Design macroecological models and identify approapriate data sources

Schedule

Date	Lecture Time	Lecture Topic	Seminar Time	Seminar Topic
Thu 06.03	13:45-15:30	Introduction	15:30-17:30	Species Distribution Modelling I SDM Data Preparation
Tues 11.03	13:45-15:30	Niches, species ranges Species distribution modelling	15:30-17:30	Species Distribution Modelling II SDM: Modelling
Thu 13.03	13:45-17:30	Metapopulations Biodiversity, island biogeography The Eltonian niche
Tues 18.03	13:45-15:30	Conservation macroecology Joint species distribution models Review and discussion	15:30-17:30	Species Distribution Modelling III
Thu 20.03			13:45-17:30	Biodiversity Modelling

Lecture exam

The lecture will be marked with an in-class written exam. Details to follow.

Readings

During each seminar session, a group of students will lead a discussion of a relatively recent paper in macroecology. These readings will be distributed to groups during the first seminar session.

Selected Readings

• Jetz and Rahbek 2002: Geographic Range Size and Determinants of Avian Species Richness
• Jetz et al. 2012: The global diversity of birds in space and time
• Newbold et al. 2015: Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity
• Pollock et al. 2019: Large conservation gains possible for global biodiversity facets

Extra Readings

These papers were not selected for discussion in the seminar (and they will not be on the lecture exam) but they may be interesting for you.

• Shade et al. 2018: Macroecology to Unite All Life, Large and Small
• Elith & Leathwick 2009: Species Distribution Models: Ecological Explanation and Prediction Across Space and Time
• Cai et al. 2025: Assembly processes inferred from eDNA surveys of a pond metacommunity are consistent with known species ecologies

Coding exercises

The rest of the seminar time will be spent model building. Most code for building the models will be provided, so the focus will be on exploring different variables, interpreting results, and checking model performance. Coding exercises won’t be graded. They are here to help you understand the models and to prepare you for the final project.

Final project

Choose a macroecological dataset (either your own, one found via a data source presented in class, or one of the datasets we’ve used for the exercises). Develop, in consultation with the instructor one or two macro-scale hypotheses relevant to the dataset. Design and implement a (reasonably) complete analysis testing your hypothesis. Present your results in the form of a short report; this should include the usual parts of a short-form scientific paper (Intro, Results & Discussion, Methods). Code and data for your model should be prepared in a self-contained manner and provided as an appendix. If you do not have permission to share the data, this is ok, but consult with the instructor beforehand. The project can be done individually or in a small (2-3 person) group. Due: 31.05.2025

Seminar Assessment

• Participation (discussions, coding exercises): 50%
• Final project: 50%

Many materials modified from Damaris Zurrel.
Original software is MIT-licensed, all other material is CC-BY.