Biology

EDOARDO CALIZZA
EDOARDO CALIZZA

General objectives

The main objective is to allow the student to acquire knowledge of the structure and functioning of natural and anthropized
ecosystems, the interactions between species and between these and the physico-chemical environment. The student will be
able to understand: (1) the role of environmental factors in the numerical variations of populations and (2) the importance of
species interactions in the ecosystem development processes (ecological succession) and associated variations in energy
flows allocated to growth and maintenance. She/He will understand the role of man in the acceleration of environmental
changes. The student will be guided through examples of real case studies that will be objects of discussion in the classroom
to contribute to the development of skills in basic ecology.

Specific objectives -

Knowledge and understanding:
The student will know theories, mechanisms and models of ecological processes at different
scales of biological organization, from populations to ecosystems. She/He will understand the role of environmental factors
in the numerical variations of populations and the importance of interactions between species in ecosystem development
processes. She/He will understand the meaning of sustainability of the dynamics of natural populations including human
populations.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the course the student will master the theories of ecology and
the experiences that led to their formulation. The student will know how to define the different aspects of the same ecological
problem. She/He will be able to apply graphic models to interactions between species and to ecological successions.

Making judgments:
The student will be able to interpret and compare literature data on the same topic. She/He will know
how to ask questions for the elaboration and deepening of the acquired knowledge. These goals will be achieved through a
strong interactivity between the teacher and the student and between students on the topics covered.

Communication skills:
During the lessons, the student will be stimulated to interact with the teacher and the class and to
communicate what she/he has learned through the discussion of fundamental topics of ecology. Communication skills will be
evaluated during the oral exam.

Learning skills:
The student will know the basic principles of ecology and the most important contributions from other
disciplines of biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics to ecological theories, using an evolutionary key and learning the
appropriate terminology. This will allow the student during her/his career not to limit to the observation and description of
natural phenomena as separate events but to logically link the acquired knowledge by identifying the underlying mechanisms
and the cause / effect relationship.

school knowledge of biology, mathematics, chemistry and physics.

Basic problems in Ecology, scientific approaches, hierarchical levels, emergent properties and limits of Ecology. Thermodynamics and the energy paradigm. The positive and negative feed-backs. Structure and functioning of ecosystems. The processes at ecosystem level (productivity, decomposition, matter cycling). The population: characterization, fitness, numerical dynamics. The intra- and inter-specific relationships. The ecological niche and coevolution. Competition and predation. Food chains, food webs and Eltonian pyramids. Characterization of ecological communities. Biodiversity, island biogeography and ecological succession.

"Fondamenti di Ecologia"
Eugene P. Odum, Gary W. Barrett
Editor: Piccin-Nuova Libraria
Edition: 3
Year of publication: 2006
EAN: 9788829918348
ISBN: 8829918342
Pages: 616

See the URL https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/view.php?id=7771

The course is structured in frontal theoretical lessons. Lessons are held weekly in class through the use of Power Point presentations.

The attendance of the classes is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged.

The exam aims to verify the level of knowledge of the topics and the reasoning skills developed by the student. The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths (minimum grade 18/30, maximum mark 30/30 with honors). The examination allows to assess the achievement of the objectives in terms of knowledge and skills acquired, including communication skills.