The course aims to provide basic knowledge of the structures and functions of ecosystems and of the mechanisms and laws that underlie the environmental balance and biological organization at the population and community level. The student will acquire skills and abilities in identifying the basic organization processes of ecosystem processes and the environmental mechanisms that regulate biological organization in natural ecosystems. To complete the training course, the course also aims to provide the basis of human ecology for understanding the gene-culture co-evolutionary process. The course also aims to educate the student in the technical language of the Ecological discipline.
Course Prerequisites
Although no prerequisites are required, the student must have acquired the fundamental notions of zoology and botany as well as the basic elements of organic and inorganic chemistry.
Teaching Methods
The training objectives of the course will be achieved through lectures for a total of 48 hours. Classroom lessons will be carried out with the help of slides and videos that will be made available to students on the E-learning platform. In order to promote the application skills of the acquired knowledge, case studies concerning the most current national and international environmental problems and critical issues will be presented and discussed collectively.
Assessment Methods
A written exam is foreseen that will propose questions related to the program carried out to evaluate a) the knowledge acquired and the ability to understand (60%), b) the ability to apply the knowledge acquired to develop reasoning on environmental issues (20%) and c) interpretative autonomy of the main theories of ecology (20%).
Contents
The course will develop the following topics: energy flows at the biosphere and biological compartments level (10 hours). Structural and functional properties of the levels of organization of the living component of the ecosystem: individuals, populations and communities (14 hours). Biogeochemical cycles of the main elements (5 hours). Main natural ecosystems of the biosphere (3 hours). Elements of numerical analysis of biodiversity (5 hours). Examples of ecological management of environmental problems and ecosystem services (3 hours). Basics of human ecology (6 hours). Basics of molecular ecology (2 hours)
Course Language
Italian
More information
The teacher is available for interview with students by appointment via e-mail (giuseppe.crosa@uninsubria.it)
