Conservation Biology
(Course Code: 106KEY, Course outline)
| Semester: | 5 | Teaching Credits: | 3 | ECTS Credits: | 6 | Type: |
Compulsory |
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| Prerequisite Courses: | Course type: | Special background
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Instructor: | Konstantinos Theodorou | ||||
The aim of the course is:
- Understanding the threats to Biodiversity and the role of Conservation Biology in a human-modified landscape
- The application of ecological concepts to conservation problems
- The use of tools for the monitoring, conservation and management of threatened species/populations.
Emphasis is given to the Conservation of processes related to Biodiversity (evolutionary processes, ecosystem functioning).
| Topics per Week: | Biodiversity crisis: the sources of the problem. Consequences of biodiversity crisis. Conservation of threatened species and ecosystem services. Conservation Biology: description and aim.
Major threats to Biodiversity: current situation and projections. Habitat loss and fragmentation. Major threats to Biodiversity (con’t): Climate change. Overexploitation. Major threats to Biodiversity (con’t): Biological invasions. Pollution. Population dynamics: Demographic models according to life cycle. Extensions: density-dependent and stochastic processes. Population dynamics: monitoring techniques to assess population abundance and survival rates. Population extinction: processes leading to extinction (environmental and demographic stochasticity, natural catastrophes, Allee effect). Population Viability Analysis: aim and description of different approaches. Extinction indicators. Lab: Population Viability Analysis with the use of software (Vortex). Conservation Genetics: aim and tools. Genetic processes and population extinction. Conservation Genetics (con’t): Genetic management of threatened populations. Metapopulation dynamics models. Population viability and management in a fragmented landscape. Conservation and ecological integrity: biodiversity indicators as a tool for conservation and management. Laboratory exercises: 1. Population Viability Analysis with the use of software (Vortex) |
| Theory – Lectures (hours / week): |
3 |
| Exercises – Laboratories (hours / week): |
(One laboratorial exercise) |
| Other Activities: | – |
| Grading: |
Report on Population Viability Analysis Lab (30%) Final exams (70%) |
| Notes: | – |
| Basic Textbook: |
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| Bibliography: |
-M. E. Soulé, (1987), “Viable Populations for Conservation”, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. -G. Meffe, C. R. Carroll et al., (1997), «Principles of Conservation Biology», Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sutherland, Massachusetts. -W. J. Sutherland, (1998), «Conservation Science and Action», Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford. -M. E. Soulé & G. H. Orians, (2002), «Conservation Biology. Research Priorities for the next decade», Island Press, Washington. -R. Frankham, J. D. Ballou & D.A. Briscoe, (2002), «Introduction to Conservation Genetics», Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. |
| Language: |
The course is taught in Greek. For exchange students, English literature is proposed and examinations are given in English |
| Internet Links: |
Biology 65: Biodiversity and Conservation http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/ Online course of the University of California (2004) – Professor P. Bryant. IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group Biodiversity Hotspots http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots Inquiries to Conservation Genetics |
