Describing the snow profile, measuring snow depth on the slope below Petrovy Kameny mountain, and lectures by the Jeseníky Protected Landscape Area (PLA) Administration are all part of the programme of this year’s Winter Ecology Course, been organised for students of the UP Faculty of Science by the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences since 2004. Thirteen biology students are to take part in the course from 6–9 March 2023.
“Despite the winter weather, there is a great interest in the course among students. For capacity reasons, we have to refer some of those interested to the next winter season. The aim of the course is to change the long-held idea that ecology is only a ‘green’ science and naturalistic observations can only be made during the growing season,” said Miroslav Zeidler, one of the course leaders from the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
In the area of the Praděd National Nature Reserve (Jeseníky PLA) with the most extreme climatic conditions in Moravia, course participants will measure several winter environmental factors. They will focus mainly on snow parameters that are crucial for the occurrence of plant and animal communities above the timber line.
“The snow cover is very diverse, over a large area, ranging from zero or a few centimetres to several metres. Its distribution becomes a determinant for the occurrence of mountain plant communities and their species composition. In the afternoon, the collected samples will be analysed in the department’s accommodations in Karlov pod Pradědem and evaluated,” added Zeidler.
The winter course will include presentations by the course leaders and experts from the Jeseníky PLA Administration. “The lectures will focus on the properties of snow, methodology of data collection, the natural scientific significance of the area and its protection, and even the dangers of avalanches. Practical knowledge and discussions with experts are beneficial and irreplaceable in terms of the students’ future employment. Moreover, personal encounters with harsh winter nature are hard to forget,” added Zeidler.