Enrollment year
2017/2018
Academic discipline
BIO/07 (ECOLOGY)
Department
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY "LAZZARO SPALLANZANI"
Course
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Curriculum
PERCORSO COMUNE
Period
1st semester (01/10/2018 - 14/01/2019)
Lesson hours
72 lesson hours
Prerequisites
A basic knowledge of Botany, Zoology, Chemistry and Physics is strongly recommended.
Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary in understanding the complexity of interaction among organisms and with abiotic factors, as a fundamental tool in dealing with environmental issues.
Course contents
1) Introduction: definition of Ecology, relationship with other disciplines and role in the development of Science.
2) Adaptation and evolution: natural selection and heritability.
3) The physical environment: climate, aquatic environment; terrestrial environment; adaptations of plants and animals to the environment.
4) Populations: properties, quantification, growth and intraspecific regulation.
5) Species interactions: interspecific competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism: ecological, evolutionary and quantitative aspects.
6) Community Ecology: factors influencing community structure; community dynamics; species richness and diversity; landscape ecology.
7) Ecosystem ecology: ecosystem energetics; energy flow nutrient cycling. Primary and Secondary production. Trophic chains. Decomposition; biogeochemical cycles.
8) Biogeographical ecology: types of ecosystems. Patterns of biological diversity. Alien species and problems of biodiversity conservation.
9) Human ecology: sustainability, resource use.
10) Global changes.
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons and practical exercises in classroom.
Reccomended or required readings
T. M.Smith & R.L. Smith Elements of Ecology 9th edition (MyLab). Pearson Publisher.
Assessment methods
The final written test consistes of 11 multiple choice questions which has to be sintetically justified. Each corrected answer corresponds to 3 points and has to be sintetically justified. The written text may be followed by an oral discussion, depending on whether the student wishes to improve his/her mark. During the oral discussion, the capability of the student to correlated the different issues will be evaluated.
Further information
Additional studying and working material will be directly provided by the teachers on UNIPV KIRO website (http://kiro2014.unipv.it/idcd/).
Sustainable development goals - Agenda 2030
Università di Pavia - Offerta formativa