300445 UE Analysis of ecological data (2007W)

The lecture will present an overview (theoretical background, applications) on important tools of data analysis in contemporary ecological research. Special attention will be paid to the harmonisation of research questions, experimental design and analytical methods with respect to own research tasks like diploma theses or dissertations. Central topics: General aspects of designing ecological studies - Establishing hypotheses and deriving predictions, statistical tests, experimental design, power analysis; Analysis of variance (ANOVA, MANOVA, ANCOVA); Regression analysis and its derivates (GLM, GAM, Survival Analysis, Classification Trees); Analysis of structured data and time series (Mixed Models); Ordination techniques (CA, CCA, CAO).