RESTORATION ECOLOGY

Academic year
2019/2020 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
ECOLOGIA DEL RIPRISTINO AMBIENTALE
Course code
CM0435 (AF:306532 AR:166074)
Modality
On campus classes
ECTS credits
6
Degree level
Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
Educational sector code
BIO/07
Period
2nd Semester
Course year
1
Where
VENEZIA
Moodle
Go to Moodle page
The course of "Ecology of the Environmental Restoration" is one of the teachings that characterize the curriculum "assessment and management of environmental systems." The course of teaching contributes:
- to provide the conceptual and methodological basis for analysis, assessment and management of environmental systems;
- to train the skills needed to use and organize ecological knowledge in biodiversity conservation, at the species, community and landscape levels.
In particular, the teaching allows to acquire the conceptual foundations and the indispensable methodological bases for designing, implementing and evaluating the success of management interventions aimed at the ecological restoration of the environment.
The course aims to provide the basic elements for the management and protection of the environment, with a view to conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. The main ecological values of the environment that must be safeguarded to permit the maintenance over time of ecosystem goods and services are illustrated. In particular, the main problems related to the recovery and environmental restoration of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are developed, also by examining case studies.




Basic knowledge of plant ecology, animal ecology and applied ecology.
Definition and aims of the restoration ecology. Biodiversity: definition and levels; the VI mass extinction; assessment of the risk of extinction; main threats to biodiversity; relationships between biodiversity, functionality of ecological systems, and ecosystem goods and services. Ecology of restoration and ecological restoration. Different levels of environmental recovery. Primers and restoration ecology guidelines. Targets, goals and operational objectives of ecological restoration. Description and evaluation of ecosystems to be restored. Disturbance, stability and resilience. Trajectories of environmental recovery and definition of scenarios. Design and implementation of restoration actions. Monitoring planning and adaptive management. Evaluation of the success of ecological restoration. The ecological bases of restoration: level of landscape, level of ecosystem, level of community. Ecological restoration of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Analysis of case studies.
Slides of lessons and other learning materials

Textbooks:
- Galatowitsch S.M.(2012). Ecological Restoration. Sinauer Associates
- Palmer M.A., Zedler J.B., and Falk D. (eds.), 2016. Foundations of restoration ecology. Society for Ecological Restoration, Island Press.
The assessment of learning will be carried out by an oral examination. The student also has the opportunity to take part of the exam as tutorial, illustrating a case study of ecological restoration. The exam aims to assess the degree of mastery by the student of the main problems related to the restoration of ecological systems, and his ability to critically evaluate case studies of environmental restoration.
The course is organized in lectures and specialized tutorial activities. The tutorials, which aim to illustrate projects and specific paradigmatic case studies, will be taught by professionals working in the fields both of recovery of degraded ecosystems and biodiversity conservation.
Italian
oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development

Definitive programme.
Last update of the programme: 21/06/2019