The 4th TraitTrain International Plant Functional Traits Course will be held at the University Centre in Svalbard, Norway, 16-27 July 2018.

The TraitTrain International Plant Functional Traits Courses offer a hands-on experience with collecting and exploring plant functional traits data in a real-life field research project setting, along with an introduction to the use of plant trait data in climate-change research and ecosystem ecology.

The TraitTrain4 course will be held at Longyearbyen on Svalbard, Norway (in the High Arctic, at 78°N), 16-27 July 2018. The fieldwork will be carried out at different locations in and around Adventsdalen, both along local bioclimatic gradients such as elevation (0–300m a.s.l.) and in different pre-existing field experiment locations related to climate, grazing pressure, and nutrient availability in high-arctic ecosystems. Participants will be introduced to the environmental, ecological, and taxonomic diversity of the region, and will be involved in one of the following projects:

1. Assessing the role of climate and biotic factors in determining plant community leaf trait composition
2. Assessing how temperature variation and leaf functional traits influence leaf ecophysiology
3. Using a trait-based approach to assess how local plant communities and populations respond to experimental climate and grazing treatments
4. Measuring how functional trait composition influences ecosystem functioning by measuring CO2-flux within and across plant communities.

The course is aimed at graduate students – both MSc and PhD – and will give a broad introduction and hands-on experience with trait-based ecology. You will work with international instructors, in teams, and collect data in the field to address a specific research question. You will gain practical experience in measuring plant functional traits and learn standard protocols and several methods. You will become familiar with taking measurements using ecophsyiological equipment including the LiCor 6400 and LiCor 7500. You will learn about the structure and analysis of trait data, be introduced to best practice data management and reproducible coding, as well as having the opportunity to analyse and interpret data yourself.

To apply, send a short personal statement as to why the course fits into your goals and aspirations, as well as your CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by the 1st of April 2018 and rank the four projects above in the order of your interest.

Please visit the website for further information.