Ecology
Code: 100768 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500250 Biology | OB | 3 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Anselm Rodrigo Dominguez
- Email:
- anselm.rodrigo@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.
Teachers
- Javier Retana Alumbreros
Prerequisites
There are no official prerequisites, but it is assumed that the student has previously acquired enough solid knowledge on subjects like: Biostatistics, Botany, Zoology, Extension of Zoology and Genetics
Objectives and Contextualisation
This is a general subject that introduces the student to concepts and basic methodologies of Ecology. The subject also includes an approach to most current topics around this science.
This subject provides the basic contents and methodologies for the study of the structure and dynamics of natural systems in three basic levels of organization:
1. Populations: studding the concept of population and introducing students in techniques of sampling abundance of organisms, in demography ecology and in population dynamics.
2. Communities: teaching the student to evaluate the structure of the communities, the interactions between species and their manifestations at community level (food webs)
3. Ecosystems: Introducing the student in the exchange of matter and energy in food webs, as a preliminary step to the study of biogeochemical cycles wihich will be studied mainly in the Biosphere Sciences subject
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Apply statistical and computer resources to the interpretation of data.
- Be able to analyse and synthesise
- Be able to organise and plan.
- Characterise, manage, conserve and restore populations, communities and ecosystems.
- Develop a sensibility towards environmental issues.
- Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Understand the processes that determine the functioning of living beings in each of their levels of organisation.
- Work in teams.
Learning Outcomes
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
- Apply statistical and computer resources to the interpretation of data.
- Be able to analyse and synthesise.
- Be able to manage, conserve and restore all kinds of populations, communities and ecosystems.
- Be able to organise and plan.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Describe and classify all kinds of populations, communities and ecosystems.
- Develop a sensibility towards environmental issues.
- Identify the different levels of biological organisation and understand how these are all integrated on a global scale.
- Interpret the complexity of the global dynamics of natural systems on their different scales of analysis.
- Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
- Propose new methods or well-founded alternative solutions.
- Propose viable projects and actions to boost social, economic and environmental benefits.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Work in teams.
Content
The subject contents are organized into 11 topics
Introduction to Ecology
Organisms responses to environmental factors
Populations: basic demographic concepts and processes
Population dynamics
Species interactions
Composition and structure of communities
Community dynamics - Disturbances
Trophic webs
The flux of energy and matter through ecosystems
Ecological succession
Global change
Methodology
The training activities are organized into three main blocks: theoretical expository classes, seminars on various topics of ecology prepared by the students themselves and practices.
Theoretical classes
The theoretical classes are developed through expository master classes by the professors. To follow the classes the student will have a complementary material that will facilitate the monitoring of the class. This material will be previously available in the moddle classroom of the subject. Interposed between the theoretical classes, which will be organized approximately in three blocks, there are between three and five theory sessions where the students discuss with the teacher the answer of a series of short questions about the content given in the expository classes and that the students have previously available.
Debate sessions
At the beginning of the course a series of discussion topics on ecology issues are proposed that can be discussed from 2 points of view. The students are organized in groups and each group is assigned a topic and one of the possible approaches. Each group must document and try to argue the convenience of their approach or point of view on the subject. The result is shown in an oral presentation to classmates and the teacher where the students of the group must defend their point of view in contrast to the other point.
Practices
The practices are carried out in a group and consist of a field trip of a whole day in which data is collected directly in the field by the students. From thedata taken by the students themselves, a small work must be done in the format of a scientific article. In order to make data processing, students will also have a computer practice session with the teacher.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Computer practices | 4 | 0.16 | 3, 11, 4, 22 |
| Debate sessions (classroom practices) | 5 | 0.2 | 11, 9, 4, 22 |
| Field practices | 8 | 0.32 | 8, 4, 22 |
| Theoretical classes | 32 | 1.28 | 5, 8, 10, 11, 9 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal study | 70 | 2.8 | 5, 10, 11 |
| Preparation of the debate sessions | 12 | 0.48 | 4, 22 |
| Preparation of the memory of practices | 12 | 0.48 | 3, 4, 22 |
Assessment
The evaluation will be done in three blocks: the theoretical part, the debate sessions and the practices.
Theoretical part (60% of the final grade, individual grade)
A first partial written exam approximately midway through the semester. Represents 30% of the final qualification.
A second partial written exam at the end of the theoretical part. Represents 30% of the final qualification.
In case the joint note of the two partial exams is equal to or greater than 4 out of 10, the average can be calculated for the overall score. If the mark of the two partials does not reach 4, it will be necessary to go necessarily to the final exam if the student wants to pass the subject.
Final exam, an exam that includes the contents examined in the two partials (60% of the final qualification). This exam can be done by all students who want to improve their qualification. In the case that students who have passed the partial exams but want to improve the note are presented, they should not renounce to the partial marks so that they will always be average with the highest mark, either partials or this final exam. To be able to make average with the rest of the qualifications, the student has to reach a minimum of 4 out of 10 for this final exam.
Debate sessions (20% of the final grade)
The evaluation of this content consists of two parts: an oral presentation to the classmates and the teacher where the groups must defend their point of view (15% of final qualification, individual note) and a written text explaining the main arguments and justifying the degree of rigor of the two positions of one of the other debates (5% of the final qualification, group qualification).
Practices (20% of the final qualification, groupqualification
The teacher assessment of the work in form of a scientiic article, the instruccions for its writting are provided by the teacher. Students who wish may submit a nev corrected version of this work, the grade will be reevaluted and can increase the qualifciaton to a mxim of three points more than previous version
To pass the global subject, a minimun of 4 out of 10 must be achieved in the practices qualification
General evaluation rules
Students must take a minimun of 5 points out of 10 to pass the course.
To participate in the recovery exam, students must have been previously evaluated in a set of avaluation activites which weight as minimum two thirds parts of the total grade of total subject.
The students will obtain the "Not valuable" qualification when the evaluation activiteis carried out have a weight lower tahn 67% in the final qualification
Attendance to the practical sessions and field trips is mandatory. The students will obtain the "Not Valuable" qualification when their absence is higher than 20% of the time of the scheduled sessions
Single assessment
Students who request a single theory assessment will take both partial exams in one day, coinciding with the date of the second partial and the grade obtained will represent 60% of the final grade. If the grade is equal to or higher than 4 out of 10, the average can be used to calculate the overall grade. If the grade is lower than 4, it will be necessary to take the final exam. To be able to make an average with the rest of the grades, you must achieve at least a 4 out of 10 in this final exam.
In the case of practical work, as it is a group work and it is delivered on-line, no single evaluation mechanism can be applied.
In the case of the evaluation of the debate sessions, as it is a group oral presentation, no single evaluation mechanism can be applied.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partial or final exams | 60 | 6 | 0.24 | 20, 5, 8, 10, 11, 19, 18, 4 |
| Practices document | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 4, 6, 22 |
| Presentation of the debate session | 15 | 1 | 0.04 | 21, 7, 13, 14, 17, 15, 16, 9, 4, 22 |
| Written document about a debate session of another group | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9, 4, 6, 22 |
Bibliography
Begon M., Townsed C.R., Harper J.L. (2006) Ecology. From Individuals to Ecosystems (4ª ed.). Blackwell Publishing, Oxford
Gotelli N. J. (2001) A primer of Ecology. (3º ed.). Sinauer Associates Inc.,Sunderland, Massachussets.
Krebs CJ (2001) Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance (5ª ed.). Benjamin-Cummings Publishers Co.
Margalef (1986) Ecología (2ª ed), Omega, Barcelona
Molles M.C. (2006) Ecología: conceptos y aplicaciones. McGraw-Hill, Madrid
Odum E.P., Warret G.W. (2006) Fundamentos de Ecología (5ª ed.). Internacional
Pianka E.R. (2000) Evolutionary Ecology. 6th. ed. Addison Wesley Longman, San Francisco.
Piñol & Martínez-Vilalta (2006) Ecología con números. Lynx, Bellaterra, Barcelona.
Ricklefs R.E., Miller G.L. (2000) Ecology (4ª ed.). W.H. Freeman & Co., New York.
Thompson Editores, México.
Townsend C.R., Harper J.L., Begon M. (2003) Essentials of Ecology (2ª Ed.). Blackwell Science, Oxford
Web pages
Software
Micrsoft excel, R studio and EstimateS