INTEGRATED COURSE IN ECOLOGY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2020/2021
- Teacher
- MICHELE MISTRI
- Credits
- 12
- Curriculum
- BIOTECNOLOGIE PER L'AMBIENTE
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/07
Training objectives
- The module Ecology aims at providing and improving the basic knowledge on the main topics of modern ecology, along with its evolution in the last century. Students are expected to achieve the skill to analyze ecosystem structure and process and to tackle the main ecological issues of sustainable environmental management, natural resources exploitation and nature conservation. With the study of the “home life” of living organisms, students will be able to understand the distribution and abundance of organisms, where they occur, how many they are and what they do. The course deals with three levels of concern: the individual organism, the population and the community. At the first level, answers will be given on how individuals are affected by (and how they affect) their biotic and abiotic environment. At the second level, on the presence or absence of particular species, with their abundance or rarity. At the ultimate level, on the composition and structure of communities, and on the pathways followed by energy, nutrients and other chemicals as they pass through them (the functioning of communities).
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The student:
- knows the proper biological terminology;
- has knowledge of biological subjects as general biology, zoology, botany;
- has knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The studenti is able to:
- use the proper biological terminology
Applied Ecology is a discipline that deals with the study of the management aspects of ecosystems, for the enhancement of ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of renewable resources.
The main objective of the course is to provide students with the basics for integrated study and critical understanding of the main functional aspects of ecology. Human activities are often the main constraint to the management. Their impact on the state of ecosystems and human health will be analysed at the local and global scale.
The student is guided along the path so that reaches the understanding of the relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services, and the importance of proper management.
Knowledge and understanding
The student:
- knows the different levels of ecosystem structure and main trophic relationships in some ecosystems used as case studies;
- knows the main critical elements in the conservation of biodiversity, in the maintenance of ecosystem services and the relative life standards for humans.
Ability to apply Knowledge and understanding
The student:
- knows how to approach ecosystem functional aspects in an integrated way;
- is able to orientate in identifying critical management points Prerequisites
- No formal propedeuticity is required, however the student must have basic knowledge of biology, with properties of language and scientific mastery.
Although there are no compulsory prerequisites of other teachings it is useful to have a fairly good knowledge Ecology Course programme
- Module I - Fundamentals of ecology (frontal lectures)
The first part of the course is on Biodiversity of life (24 h): what is ecology, diversity, ecology and evolution,niches, organisms and their environment, biomes, structure and composition of communities, ecological successions, global change, predation.
The second part of the course is on Demography (24 h): age and survival, population growth, life history, competition (intra-inter), dynamics of predators.
Module II- Applied Ecology
PART ONE (24 hours)- THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES. Mean causes of species vulnerability and extinction. The extinction whirl. Conservation genetics. Typology of protected areas: National and Regional Parks, Natural Reserves, other protected areas, Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation, Sites of Community Importance. Marine Protected Areas. Characteristics and zonation of protected areas. Actions on animal populations: reintroductions/re-establishment, introductions, and reinforcement of species into the wild. In situ and ex situ conservation. Priority criteria for the conservation of the species and biological communities. IUCN classification and Red Lists. Washington Convention, the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and the Birds Directive 79/409/EEC. Implementation of the Habitats Directive in Italy.
PART TWO (24 hours)-ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. Water pollution. Air pollution. Climate change and its effect on ecosystems. Waste materials: solid, toxic and dangerous. Traditional and renewal resources of energy. Environmental monitoring and biological quality element for the ecological quality assessment of water ecosystems (e.g. Posidonia oceanica). Bioaccumulation, bioconcentration and biomagnification. Self-cleaning of water bodies. The Directive 2000/60 / EC, the Legislative Decree 260/10, the Legislative Decree 152/06. Treatment of industrial and urban waste waters. The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC Didactic methods
- Modue I The course consists of theory lessons for a total of 48 hours of teaching (6 credits). Lessons are held weekly in the classroom and the exposure is done through the use of power-point slides.
Module II The course consists of a total of 48 hours of teaching (6 credits). The lessons are held weekly through the use of power-point slides and audiovisual materials. In the middle and end of the course, 2 + 2 hours will be devoted to the assessment, the revision of the topics and their discussion.
The module of Applied Ecology (6 credits) of the course of Ecology (12 credits) together with the other module of Basics Ecology (6 credits) is taught in the second semester. For respecting the propedeuticity of the topics, in the module of Applied Ecology, the management topics related to biodiversity, which require a basic understanding of ecology, will be treated in the second half of the course while other topics, such as cycling of nutrients and eutrophication, are anticipated in the initial lessons Learning assessment procedures
- Module I The goal of the final test is to verify the level of knowledge of the student. The evaluation is expressed as usual (/30), the minimum grade is 18. The exam is written with 5 questions (6 points each), or oral.
Module II The aim of the exam is to test the level of knowledge of the topics of the program and the critical skills developed by the student. The assessment is expressed in thirtieths (minimum score 18). The exam is written with 5 questions (6 points each), or oral.
The module "Ecology" is integrated with the module "Applied Ecology". The two modules are evaluated with an unique examination. Reference texts
- Module I
Pusceddu et al.
Ecologia
UTET
Module II
Ecologia Applicata. Cunningham, Cunningham, Saigo. McGraw-Hill Education.
Powerpoint presentations, handouts and scientific papers provided.
