Biology

General objectives – The main objective is to allow the student to acquire knowledge of the applications of the basic ecology principles to emerging environmental problems (pollution, biological resource exploitation, climate change, etc.), moving through the levels of organism, population, community and ecosystem up to the macro-ecological scales (landscape, regional and global). Through lectures, seminars and practical examples, the student will be guided in the diagnosis and recovery of ecosystems, in the conservation and management of biodiversity and natural populations in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Real case studies will be discussed in the classroom to encourage the development of skills in applied ecology. Specific objectives - Knowledge and understanding: The student will know and understand the origin and the management approaches to the current environmental crisis. She/He will know the specific terminology of applied ecology, as well as the theories and the mechanisms of ecological processes at different scales of biological organization, from populations to the ecosphere. She/he will understand the role of environmental factors and the human interference in the numerical variations of populations and in the ecosystem development processes. The understanding of the interdependence between environmental phenomena will be strongly stimulated, also through the analysis and discussion of specific study cases in the classroom. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course, the student will know in depth the main applications of ecological theories useful for solving current environmental problems and will be able to use the specific terminology. She/He will be able to address problems and questions related to the various themes of applied ecology. She/He will master the dynamics of threatened populations and harmful species and will be able to apply the ecological principles to their management. She/He will know the causes of pollution, and how to measure it, and will acquire critical tools to interpret and compare environmental recovery strategies through the analysis of study cases. Making judgments: The student will read critically and discuss, in light of her/his knowledge, literature data to address specific problems related to the treated issues. This objective will be achieved through a strong interactivity between teacher and student and between students, on the topics of applied ecology. 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 applied ecology from lectures and scientific literature. Communication skills will be evaluated during the oral exam. Learning skills: The good knowledge of the applied ecology and the main approaches in solving practical environmental problems with basic integrations with other biological disciplines will allow the student to continue the bioecological studies in an autonomous and flexible way without losing sight of the physiology of the organisms and their evolutionary capacity. The student at the end of the course will then acquire the ability to identify problematic and innovative aspects in biological issues and to use cognitive tools for the continuous updating of knowledge.