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HU Credits:
3
Degree/Cycle:
1st degree (Bachelor)
Responsible Department:
life sciences
Semester:
1st Semester
Teaching Languages:
Hebrew
Campus:
E. Safra
Course/Module Coordinator:
Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir
Coordinator Office Hours:
By appointment
Teaching Staff:
Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir
Mr. David Shohami
Course/Module description:
The flora of Israel is rich compared to the country’s small area, due to its location in a crossroads of climates and continents and from past climatic and geological periods. The course deals with understanding the rich botanical diversity of Israel and with the way plants are distributed in the area. We will learn to understand and analyze the vegetation landscapes of Israel while learning about plant evolution, plant biogeography, succession, invasive plants, endangered plants, and more.
Course/Module aims:
1. Studying about the environment from a botanical view: vegetation landscapes, species richness and spatio-temporal changes.
2. Analyzing Israeli ecosystems in a local environmental context and in a wider phytogeographical context.
3. Field sampling and analysis of vegetation landscapes.
4. Understanding the taxa we will work on in the field research.
5. Understanding processes of plant speciation.
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Use tools for plant sampling and for understanding the environment through the plant communities.
2. Use tools for identifying plants and understanding their evolutionary links using literature, herbariums, and labs.
3. Use tools for research on plant conservation and invasive species.
Attendance requirements(%):
Mandatory participation in field trips
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:
Lecture
Course/Module Content:
1. Introduction to the flora of Israel
2. Life form and additional ways to describe plants
3. Introduction to phytosociology – from plant community to vegetation landscape
4. Oaks. In the Givat Ram Botanical Garden
5. Effect of lithology, soil and climate on plant distribution and plant communities in Israel
6. Plant communities and vegetation landscapes of the Mediterranean zone
7. Plant communities and vegetation landscapes of the Saharo-Arabian zone. Is the Irano-Turanian and Sudanese zones represented in Israel?
8. Phtyogeoraphy – vegetation zones in Israel and distribution patterns
9. Alien and invasive plants in Israel
10. Visit to the Hebrew University Herbarium (Berman building)
11. Succession patterns in dune plants, after fire, and after farming. Link between succession, land management and nature conservation
12. Endemic plants in Israel and endangered plants. In the Givat Ram Botanical Garden
13. Speciation of local plant groups
14. Summary
Field trip to Ora (Jerusalem)
Field trip from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea
Required Reading:
None
Additional Reading Material:
Selected articles given during the course
Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 75 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 25 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %
Additional information:
Half a day field trip to Ora (Jerusalem).
One day field trip from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.
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