Ecology
Code: 102802 ECTS Credits: 9| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501915 Environmental Sciences | OB | 3 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Josep Piñol Pascual
- Email:
- josep.pinol@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
- Carlos Hernandez Castellano
Prerequisites
There are no official prerequisites. In any case, since it is a subject with transversal contents, it would be desirable that most of the subjects of previous courses had been passed.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The objective of this course is to provide the basic knowledge of ecology for a graduate in environmental sciences. The approach is of basic science, but the practical applications of the concepts discussed are also considered. There is a special emphasis on the quantitative aspects of ecology, so the student must use mathematical and statistical skills obtained in previous courses.
Competences
- Adequately convey information verbally, written and graphic, including the use of new communication and information technologies.
- Analyze and use information critically.
- Demonstrate concern for quality and praxis.
- Demonstrate initiative and adapt to new situations and problems.
- Learn and apply in practice the knowledge acquired and to solve problems.
- Quickly apply the knowledge and skills in the various fields involved in environmental issues, providing innovative proposals.
- Teaming developing personal values regarding social skills and teamwork.
- Work autonomously
Learning Outcomes
- Adequately convey information verbally, written and graphic, including the use of new communication and information technologies.
- Analyze and use information critically.
- Demonstrate concern for quality and praxis.
- Demonstrate initiative and adapt to new situations and problems.
- Identify organisms and biological processes in the surrounding environment and evaluate them properly and originally.
- Learn and apply in practice the knowledge acquired and to solve problems.
- Teaming developing personal values regarding social skills and teamwork.
- Work autonomously
Content
The course is divided into four blocks. The first block is devoted to the study of individual species (populations) and their dynamics. Its main applications are in the field of conservation and management or exploitation of species. The second block considers all the species together (community) and asks, basically, why in some places or moments there are more species than in others, and how the species relate to each other. Its main applications are in the field of conservation. The third block also deals with communities, but here the interest is in their interaction with the physical environment, particularly in the exchange of matter and energy: biomass production, circulation of water and nutrients, .... Its main applications are in the field of sustainable management of environmental services provided by ecosystems and in the study of global environmental change. The fourth block consists of field practices that illustrate different aspects of ecology.
Block 1. Population dynamics
1. Introduction. What is ecology? Ecology within the environmental sciences. The importance of a quantitative approach. Humankind and nature. Are we close to the ecological collapse?
2. How populations do grow? Basic demographic processes. Unlimited growth vs. density-dependent growth. Exploitation of populations.
3. We are not all equal: structured populations. Exponential growth with age structure. Other structuring factors. Transition matrices.
4. Populations in space. Local populations and metapopulations. Local and regional extinction. Colonization. Metapopulation models. Conservation of populations.
5. We are not alone: inter-specific interactions. Competition, predation, and mutualism. Epidemiology. Diffuse interactions. Indirect effects.
Block 2. Community ecology
6. The architecture of biodiversity. Diversity and biodiversity. Measurement of biodiversity. eDNA. Mutualistic and trophic webs. Keystone species.
7. The endless change: succession and perturbation. Models of succession. Perturbation regime. Intermediate disturbance hypothesis.
8. Communities in the space: biogeography. Communities and metacommunities. Species-are relationship. The model of McArthur and Wilson. The Hubbell’s model.
9. Conservation of biodiversity. Past important extinctions. The current great extinction. Invasive species. Natural reserves. Assisted migration. Rewilding.
Block 3. Function of ecological communities
10. What are ecosystems? Matter and energy. Characteristics and structure of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Models of compartments and flows.
11. Energy flow. Primary production. New and recycled production. Secondary production. Herbivores and detritivores.
12. Nutrient cycling. The hydrologic cycle. Transport of the main biological elements: C, N, P, and S. Differences between aquatic and terrestrial systems.
13. Global ecology. The main biogeochemical cycles in the Terrestrial Biosphere. Alterations: eutrophication, acid rain, global change. The Gaia hypothesis.
Block 4. Fieldwork
- Forest biomass and production
- Interaction between plants and pollinators
Methodology
(a) Lectures (whole group) will be used to present the theoretical bases of ecology (blocks 1, 2, and 3 of the contents).
(b) Classroom practices (in two groups) will be used to (1) solve numerical problems (blocks 1, 2, and 3 of the contents); (2) presentation and development of case studies, and (3) discussion related to fieldwork.
(c) Computer labs (in four groups) to (1) solve complex numerical problems that require a computer; and (2) Analysis of data collected in the two field trips (block 4 of the contents).
(d) Two field trips (in four groups): (1) Biomass and productivity of a Mediterranean forest; and (2) Interaction between plants and pollinators. (block 4 of the contents).
(e) Tutorials to solve doubts and general guidance beyond the scheduled activities.
Most of the material of blocks 1, 2, and 3 can be studied in the textbook Ecologia con números, available in its electronic form in the DDD of UAB (http://ddd.uab.cat/record/225887). In the first class, it will be indicated which parts of the book are compulsory. The rest of the material will be provided in the CV.
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 | |||
| Classroom numerical problems lab | 16 | 0.64 | |
| Computer lab | 8 | 0.32 | |
| Field work | 16 | 0.64 | |
| Lectures | 30 | 1.2 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 4 | 0.16 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Preparation and presentation of essays and short talks | 54 | 2.16 | |
| Self study | 91.5 | 3.66 |
Assessment
The assessment of the course comprises:
- First partial exam: block 1 of the contents (individual; 1.5 hours; weight: 20%)
- Second partial exam: blocks 2 and 3 of the contents (individual; 3 hours; weight: 40%)
- Study cases in the classroom: weight 20%
- Fieldwork: weight 20%
The final grade (F) is calculated as the weighted mean of the grades indicated above. To pass the course F must be equal to or greater than 5. In addition, the first partial exam must have a grade equal to or greater than 4, and the second partial exam must have a grade equal to or greater than 4 both in blocks 2 and 3 of the contents.
Attendance at field practices, computer practices and debates in the classroom is mandatory. Non-attendance without justified cause leads to a grade of 0 in that activity.
- Second opportunity. To deserve it, the student must have been evaluated of activities comprising at least two-thirds of the total. When the grade of any partial exam is lower than 4, there is a second opportunity exam for that partial exam. Students with F>5 can also attempt this second opportunity exam, but by doing so they renounce to the former grade.
SINGLE ASSESSMENT. Those who have opted for the single assessment method must take a final exam divided into three parts.
FIRST (40% of the final grade): An exam with long, short and test-type questions on the theory classes and on the basics of the case studies covered in the classroom practices.
SECOND (30% of the final grade): Numerical problems where you will have to solve a series of exercises similar to those worked on in the classroom practice sessions.
THIRD (10% of the final grade): A computer exam corresponding to the second field practice (provided that the field trip has been attended; otherwise, the grade is zero).
The grade will be the weighted average of the three previous exams. The first field practice and the presentation of the study cases in the classroom practices are not part of the single assessment, so they will have had to be done like the rest of the students, in a group; this part corresponds to 20% of the final mark. If the final mark does not reach 5, the student has a second chance to pass the subject by means of the recovery exam that will be held on the date set by the coordination of the degree.
The first field practice and the presentation of the study cases in the classroom practices are not recoverable.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluation of field work | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 3, 5 |
| Evaluation of study cases in the classroom | 20% | 0 | 0 | 2, 6, 4, 3, 1, 7 |
| First partial exam | 20% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 2, 6, 1, 8 |
| Second partial exam | 40% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 6, 4, 3, 1, 8 |
Bibliography
Bibliografia
Gotelli NJ (2008) A primer of ecology (4th ed). Sinauer Associates. Sunderland, Massachussets, USA.
Krebs CJ (2009) Ecology. The experimental analysis of distribution and abundance (6th ed). Harper Collins, New York.
Margalef R (1974) Ecología (2a ed). Omega, Barcelona.
Molles Jr. MC (2006) Ecología. Conceptos y aplicaciones (3ª ed). McGraw-Hill · Interamericana, Madrid.
Palau J (2020) Rewilding Iberia. Explorando el potencial de la renaturalización en España. Lynx, bellaterra (Barcelona).
Piñol J, Martínez-Vilalta J (2006) Ecología con números. Problemas y ejercicios de simulación. Lynx, Bellaterra (Barcelona). (ebook available at http://ddd.uab.cat/record/225887)
Ricklefs RE, Relyea R (2018) Ecology: the economy of nature (8th ed). Freeman, New York.
Rodríguez Martínez J (2010) Ecología (2ª Ed.). Piràmide, Madrid.
Townsend CR, Harper JL, Begon M (2014) Essentials of Ecology (4th ed). Blackwell Science, Oxford. (ebook)
Software
Simulation software of the book Ecología con Números. Available at http://ddd.uab.cat/record/225887)