BIODIVERSITY MONITORING TECHNIQUES

This course is part of the disciplinary groups of biological and ecological sciences of the Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Sciences, which aims to develop a scientific and holistic approach to the study of ecosystem structure and functions under both natural and disturbed conditions. As biodiversity is a fundamental component of ecosystem functioning, the main objective of this course is to provide the basic principles and conceptual background of biodiversity conservation and the main techniques of biodiversity monitoring at its different levels of organisation.

Knowledge: Acquire the conceptual framework underlying biodiversity conservation and the main techniques for monitoring biodiversity; know the main techniques for monitoring biodiversity at all organisational levels.
Skills: Ability to correctly apply the main biodiversity monitoring techniques; ability to plan a biodiversity monitoring plan; ability to analyse data from biodiversity monitoring plans;
Competence: be able to understand, evaluate and discuss the results of biodiversity monitoring plans.

Since the conceptual framework on which the various monitoring techniques are based relates to processes from the cell to populations, species and habitats, students should have acquired knowledge of biology, botany, zoology and ecology.

The course is organised in four parts. 1) Biodiversity: levels of organisation; hierarchical organisation; genetic diversity, species diversity, habitat diversity, diversity of ecological functions; conservation of biodiversity at global and local levels. 2) Red List of species and habitats: criteria for assessing the status of species and habitats. 3) Definition of a biodiversity monitoring plan. 4) Monitoring techniques for species (main taxonomic groups); monitoring techniques for terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Lesson notes and ppts (provided on the Moodle platform).
Current academic papers on the main topics.

To test knowledge, skills and competencies, students are asked to depict the state of biodiversity in their municipality of origin. The exam aims to assess the ability to present, understand and critically discuss a case study. Knowledge of the course content is then tested.

To help students achieve the learning objectives, the course includes frontal lectures where topics are discussed using teaching modules (ppt slides) supplemented by pictures, diagrams and charts to help students visualise the concepts. Some arguments are also reinforced by analysing papers on interesting case studies. The frontal lectures are complemented by 12 hours of field trips.

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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