Ecology

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Objectives

i) To know and to understand current conceptual theoretical and applied aspects of ecology, based on the hierarchical organization levels of the living world: from the individual to biotic communities ii) to contribute for the increase in the scientific level of students, motivating them to work in group, iii) to encourage students to seek recent scientific information on published scientific papers, manly in the English language, iv) to promote student's ability to select relevant information in order to formulate hypotheses and solve ecological problems, v) to acquire some methodological competences in the field of ecology, vi) to promote student's capabilities, accuracy and confidence in their process of teaching-learning vii) to promote the use of the most recent information and communications technology (ICT).

Program

1. The environment and its inhabitants. The order of the natural world. Natural history. Ecology and its objects: origin, sub-divisions and correlations with other scientific disciplines.

2. Organisms in the environment. Response to environmental variations. Biological factors. Classification of ecological factors.

3. The functional basis of ecosystems:

3.1. Demography and populations dynamics. Primary and secondary characteristics. concepts of ecological niche and spatial distribution. Survival and fertility life tables. Population growth parameters. Natural regulation of population size. Population interactions: intra and interspecific.

3.2. Structure and organizations of biotic communities: quantifications of biodiversity: specie richness, abundance, dominance, uniformity and diversity (α, β and ɣ).

4. Physiology of communities. Concepts of food and web chain. Primary and secondary production. Estimations of the primary and secondary production. Nutrient cycles.

Teaching Methodologies

The course has two main components: a theoretical and a practical component. The theoretical component will be mostly descriptive. The practical component will include two main parts: i) the seminar and ii) the project. In the seminar, the students, organized by groups and guided by the teacher, will select a published paper of their interest in a journal in the field of ecology (with impact factor). The content of that paper will be presented and discussed with the other colleagues of the class. The seminar consists in planning and implementing a practical experimental protocol. The project should be in accordance with the theoretical contents of the discipline. A final report formatted as a manuscript, followed by a presentation power point will be evaluated. Students must participate on at least 75% of planning and presenting the results of the project.

Bibliography

Begon, M., C.R. Townsend & J.L Harper (2006). Ecology: from individuals to ecosystems. 4ª Ed., 754 pp. Blackwell Publishing Lda., London.

Krebs, C.J. (2014). Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance.6ª ed. 608 pp. Pearson Education Limited, London.

Krebs, C.J. (2014). Ecological Methodology. 2ª Ed., 624 pp. Benjamin Cummings. USA.

Krebs, C.J. (2016). Why Ecology Matters. 193 pp. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago.

Magurran, A.E. (2011). Biological Diversity: Frontiers in Measurement and Assessment. 368 pp. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Molles, M.C. & A.A. Sher (2018). Ecology: Concepts and Applications. 8ª ed. 596 pp. MacGraw-Hill, New York.

Rockwood, L.L (2015). Introduction to Population Ecology. 2ª Ed., 378 pp. Wiley-Blackwell Oxford.

Odum, E.P., 2008. Fundamentos de Ecologia. 7ª Edição. Fundação Calouste  Gulbenkian.

Sacarrão, G. F., 1991. Ecologia e Biologia do Ambiente. Vol. 1, A vida e o ambiente. Publicações Europa América.

Code

0101549

ECTS Credits

6

Classes

  • Práticas e Laboratórios - 45 hours
  • Teóricas - 30 hours

Evaluation Methodology

  • Practical component: 34%
  • Theoretical component: 66%