The student identifies the levels of organization of nature, from the individual to the ecosystem.

The student describes and understands the physical and chemical processes underlying the structure and functioning of ecosystems.

The student describes and understands the relationships among the different components of the ecosystem.

The student analyses both in a qualitative and quantitative way the structural and functional aspects of the different levels of biological organization.

The student conducts field and laboratory work in groups.

The student carries out samplings according to the methodology corresponding to the type of study to be conducted.

The student learns the basic regulations to work in a laboratory.

The student analyses in a systematic and standardized way the samples obtained in the field work in order to get reliable data.

The student analyses the data obtained using statistical methods.

The student writes a report of the research results, according to a standard format of scientific write-up.

The student searches for the bibliographic sources needed for the research work.

The student presents and defends the research work orally.

I. INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY

1.- ECOLOGY: AN EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE

II. ORGANISMS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENTS

2.- THE ABIOTIC COMPONENT

3.- CLIMATE. BIOMES. THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

4.- ORGANISMS RESPONSES

5.- EVOLUTION AND LIFE HISTORY

III. POPULATIONS

6.- POPULATIONS. GROWTH AND REGULATION

IV. INTERACTIONS

7- COMPETITION

8- EXPLOITATION

9- MUTUALISM AND OTHER INTERACTIONS

V. COMMUNITIES

10.- SPECIES ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY

11.- COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS

VI. ECOSYSTEMS: ENERGY FLUXES

12.- PRIMARY PRODUCTION

13.- SECONDARY PRODUCTION AND DECOMPOSITION

14.- TROPHIC STRUCTURE

15.- BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

In lectures the basic contents of the course will be explained with the aid of slides that will be available to students through e-gela. Participation, critical thought and exploration of links with other subjects will be encouraged, by setting out questions to students in the lecture room.

Students will have to solve numerical exercises set out by the lecturer as part of their individual home work. Lecture room practical sessions will be devoted to solving these exercises in a cooperative way (lecturers and students).

Field work, laboratory practicals and computer sessions are used to complete the different stages of a research work in the field of ecology. Field work will be used to obtain field samples and these samples will be analysed in the laboratory using standard methods. This will allow students to acquire basic knowledge and skills in the field of ecological research. Computer sessions will be devoted to analyzing the data using basic spreadsheet and statistical methods, in order to get to a correct interpretation of results. The results will then be put together in a report that will be written up by small groups of students, according to standard formats of scientific report write-up (guidelines documents available to students in e-gela).

Seminar sessions will be devoted to the oral presentation of the practical work (guideline document available in e-gela). This will promote skills related to oral communication skills, ability for synthesis and team work.

Assessment system:

-Written examinations

This course will be assessed according to the mixed assessment system. It includes the following:

Final written exam: 65% of the final grade. This written exam will be comprehensive for the course. It will consist of different types of questions, e.g. multiple choice questions, short answer questions, essay type of questions, problems questions.

Practical work: 35% of the final grade.

The final grade will be obtained from the weighted mean of the final written exam grade and the practical work grade, provided that in each of the two activities a minimum grade of of 40% (unweighted) is obtained. The training assessment will be carried out providing improvement guidelines for the work delivered. Students will be able to make changes to the original works, handing in new improved versions.

Regarding exceptions and withdrawals regulations in force of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and its Faculty of Pharmacy will apply:

"En el caso de evaluación continua, si el peso de la prueba final es superior al 40% de la calificación de la asignatura, bastará con no presentarse a dicha prueba final para que la calificación final de la asignatura sea no presentado o no presentada. En caso contrario, si el peso de la prueba final es igual o inferior al 40% de la calificación de la asignatura, el alumnado podrá renunciar a la convocatoria en un plazo que, como mínimo, será hasta un mes antes de la fecha de finalización del período docente de la asignatura correspondiente. Esta renuncia deberá presentarse por escrito ante el profesorado responsable de la asignatura."

Lab coat must be worn during laboratory practicals.

Basic bibliography

Begon, M., Townsend, C.R. y Harper, J.L. (2006). Ecology: From individuals to ecosystems. 4th ed. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, MA, USA, 738 pp.

Brower, J.E., Zar, J.H. y Ende, C.N. von (1998). Field and laboratory methods for general ecology. 4ª ed. WCB-McGraw-Hill, Boston, Mass, 273 pp.

Cox, C.B. y Moore, P.D. (2000). Biogeography. An ecological and evolutionary approach. 7th ed. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, MA, USA, 428 pp.

Dajoz, R. (2002). Tratado de ecología. 2ª ed. Mundi-Prensa, Madrid, 600 pp.

Magurran, A.E. (2004). Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, MA, USA, 256 pp.

Molles, M.C. Jr. (2008). Ecology: Concepts & applications. 4th ed. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, New York, 604 pp.

Primack, R.B. y Ros, J. (2002). Introducción a la biología de la conservación. Ariel Ciencia, Barcelona, 375 pp.

Pullin, A.S. (2002). Conservation Biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 345 pp.

Ricklefs, R.E. (2007). The economy of nature. 5th ed. W.H Freeman and Company, New York, 550 pp.

Rodríguez, J. (2010). Ecología. 2ª ed. Pirámide, Madrid, 502 pp.

Smith, T.M. y Smith, R.L. (2007). Ecología. 6ª ed. Pearson Educación S.A., Madrid, 776 pp.

Stiling, P. (2002). Ecology. Theories and Applications. 2nd ed. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 403 pp.

In-depth bibliography

-Akçakaya, H.R., Burgman, M.A. y Ginzburg, L.R. (1999). Applied population ecology. Principles and computer exercises. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Massachusetts.
-Alberti, M. (2008). Advances in urban Ecology. Springer.
-Allaby, M. (2010). Dictionary of Ecology. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, New York.
-Allan, J.D. y Castillo, M. (2007). Stream ecology. Structure and function of running waters. 2nd ed. Springer, Dordrecht.
-Duarte, C.M. (2006). Cambio global: Impacto de la actividad humana sobre el sistema Tierra. CSIC
-Gotelli, N.J. y Ellison, A,M. (2013). A primer of ecological statistics. 2nd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Massachusetts.
-Jeffers, J.N.R. (1991). Modelos en ecología. Oikos-tau, Barcelona.
-Longhurst, A. (2006). Ecological geography of the sea. 2nd ed. Academic Press, London.
-McCune, B. y Grace, J.B. (2002). Analysis of ecological communities. MjM Software Desing, Oregon.
-McLusky, D.S. y Elliott, M. (2004). The estuarine Ecosystem. Ecology, threats and management. 3th ed. Oxford University Press, New York.
-Perry, D.A., Oren, R. y Hart, S.C. (2008). Forest Ecosystems. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Journals

-ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS
-ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS
-BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY
-CURRENT ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
-ECOSYSTEMS
-ECOLOGY
-JOURNAL OF APPLIED EECOLOGY
-JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
-NATURE
-OIKOS
-PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
-SCIENCE
-TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION