SPECIFIC COMPETENCES:

1. Understand the relationship of living beings among themselves and the abiotic environment at the individual, population and community level

2- Identify the main biotic and abiotic components and processes at the ecosystems

3. Understand the ecosystem functioning and analyze its temporal and spatial variability

4. Identify the environmental problems created by human activities and analyze their impacts on individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems

5. Understand the relevance of Biodiversity in ecosystem processes and identify the main strategies of its conservation

6. Plan ecological studies and become confident on using methods and tools in ecological studies



TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCES

1. Be able to extract information from ecological datasets and draw conclusions

2. Be able to transmit ideas, written or verbally, clear and efficiently using concepts and terms from the discipline of Ecology

3. Be able to work in groups, favoring their cohesion and integrity using communication and the balanced distribution of tasks

4. Be able to judge coherently the different aspects of the course and show a critical point of view

LECTURES PROGRAM



1. INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY

Definitions and concepts. History and current situation. Organization levels. Relation with other sciences.



2. METHODOLOGICAL APPROXIMATIONS

Ecology and the scientific method. Laboratory and field experiments. Ecosystem as the study unit. Modelling in ecosystem studies.

3. ECOLOGICAL STUDIES

Planning: variables and scales. Sampling types. Samples size. Sampling different environments. Statistical treatment: univariate, bivariate and multivariate.



4. SAMPLING PLANT AND ANIMAL POPULATIONS

Censuses and samples. Methods for animal populations: marc and recapture, selective predation and progressive predation. Indirect methods. Description of vegetation.



5. ORGANISMS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT

The environment: conditions and resources. Tolerance limits. Detection of limiting resources. Environmental pressure and natural selection: historical factors. Ecological niche concept.



6. TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT

Climate and biomes. Adaptations to extreme temperatures and water shortage. Properties of the soil. Adaptations of the edaphic fauna. Soil-vegetation-climate relationship.



7. AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

General properties. Ecosystems and aquatic communities. Salinity and osmotic problems. Effects of water movement on organisms. Oxygen as a limiting factor. Stratification and its consequences.



8. POPULATION ECOLOGY

The population as the study unit: characteristics. Spatial distribution of organisms. Population parameters. Life tables. Survival curves. Vital strategies.



9. POPULATION GROWTH

Intrinsic rate of growth. Models: deterministic predictions. Stochastic processes. Extinctions probability. Metapopulations.



10. REGULATION OF THE ABUNDANCE

Theories about regulation. Density dependent and independent regulation. Regulation models. Key factor analysis.



11. COMPETENCE

General aspects. Ecological niche and competence. Mechanisms of competence. Competitive exclusion and coexistence models. Competence and vital strategies.



12. PREDATION

Types. Prey defenses. Numeric and functional responses. Regulation of predator and prey populations. Predator-prey models.



13. MUTUALISM

Types. Distinctive traits of mutualists. Evolutionary aspects. Mutualistic models.



14. APPLICATIONS OF POPULATION ECOLOGY

Exploitation and maximum sustainable yield. Models for the regulation of fisheries. Principles and methods in plague control. Biological control and integrated management.



15. COMMUNITY

Concept of community. Qualitative and structural descriptors. Models of abundance distribution. Diversity indices. Applications of diversity.



16. PRIMARY PRODUCTION

Metabolic diversity. Primary production efficiencies. Primary production distribution in the Biosphere. Control of the primary production. Methods to measure primary production.



17. SECONDARY PRODUCTION

Resource characterization. Feeding strategies. Secondary production efficiencies. Decomposition. Control of secondary production. Methods to measure secondary production.



18. TROPHIC CONNECTIONS

Properties of trophic chains and webs. Top-down vs. bottom-up control. Keystone species. Ecological pyramids. Energy fluxes in different ecosystems.



19. BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

General aspects. Circulation of nutrients in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Types of cycles. Carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur cycles.

20. TEMPORAL CHANGES IN ECOSYSTEMS

Fluctuations. Cycles and rhythms. Types of succession. Stages in the climax theories. Succession mechanisms. Succession tendencies. The concept of stability.



21. DISPERSION E INSULARITY

Mechanisms. Insularity and species richness. Dynamics of insular communities. Applications of island biogeography.



22. ENVIRONMENTAL ALTERATION

Environmental variability and natural catastrophes. Human interference: types and stages. Pollution and its effects.



23. GLOBAL CHANGE

Homeostasis and homeorhesis of the Biosphere. Gaia Hypothesis. Current threats: ozone layer and global warming. Human demographics and previsions.



24. BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Importance of the biodiversity. Processes that regulate biodiversity. Extinction causes. Vulnerability of species. Conservation strategies.



PRACTICALS PROGRAMME

Laboratory practicals:

1. Long practical: Response of communities to environmental change.

-Planning ecological studies

-Sampling in the field

-Sample analysis in the laboratory

2. Short practical: Sample size determination.



Field practicals:

1. Field trip to a natural protected area

-Analysis of the environmental problems

-Management plans



Classroom practicals:

-Exercises on Ecology



Seminars:

-Planning ecological studies

-Data treatment

-Discussion of the results

-Presentations

The course includes the following methodologies:



Lectures: The main objective is to transmit the contents of the course. The lecturer uses audiovisual materials.



Classroom practicals: They complete, reinforce and apply concepts of the course that have been seen in the lectures. The students solve problems and practical cases related to Ecology individually or in small groups (e.g. determination of a sample size, study of the affinity and classification of communities, construction of life tables, analysis of the population dynamics and the interaction among species, study of the functional processes of ecosystems – e.g. production, decomposition –, analysis of food webs and transfer of energy in ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles...).



Field and laboratory practicals: These are coordinated with the seminars. They are given to smaller groups and the objective is to make students develop a study about Ecology. They use equipment and methodologies that are used in Ecology in the field and laboratory in order to analyze the response of communities to environmental factors.



Seminars: They are coordinated with the field and laboratory practicals. They are oriented towards the planning of an ecological study, treatment of the field and laboratory data, discussion of the results and their presentation.



Field trip: It shows the students the current environmental problems, with special emphasis on the management of natural protected areas.

Ordinary exam call



-Continuous assessment system:

In January an optional exam will be offered with the concepts of the first four-month period. The students will need a minimum mark of 5 out of 10 to pass it.



The exam will be written (multiple choice, short questions, interpretation of figures and problems) and it will be the 70% of the final mark. Practicals will comprise the other 30% of the total mark. Both the written exam and the practicals need to be passed to compute a final score.



-Final assessment system:

The students will have the right to be evaluated by a final evaluation, but will need to present the renounce of the continuous assessment within 18 weeks from the start of the course. The final exam in this case will be written and 70% of the final mark will come from concepts related to the lectures and the other 30% from activities in the practicals. The student will need to demonstrate that it has achieved expertise on the practical aspects of the course. Both the written exam and the practicals need to be passed to compute a final score.



-For students subject to either continuous or final assessment, it will be enough not to sit for the final examination to receive a mark of not presented.



-During the evaluation tests it is forbidden to use books, notes or notebooks, as well as any kind of phone, computer or electronic device. If unethical or dishonest behaviour is detected the protocol to deal with unethical and dishonest behaviour in evaluation tests and academic assessments in the UPV/EHU will be applied.



If the health condition does not enable the evaluation of the entire school or some students, under the conditions described above, the guidelines in effect given by the Rector will be followed.

Basic bibliography

-Begon M, Townsend CR & Harper JL. 1999. Ecología: individuos, poblaciones y comunidades. Omega, Barcelona.

-Krebs CJ. 1986. Ecología: Análisis experimental de la distribución y abundancia. Pirámide, Madrid.

-Molles MC. 2006. Ecología: conceptos y aplicaciones. McGraw-Hill Interamericana, Madrid.

-Ricklefs RE. 1998. Invitación a la ecología: la economía de la naturaleza: libro de texto sobre ecología básica. Editorial médica Panamericana, Bogota.

-Smith RL & Smith TM. 2007. Ecología. Addison-Wesley, Madrid.

In-depth bibliography

-Akçakaya HR, Burgman MA & Ginzburg LR.1999. Applied population ecology. Principles and computer exercises. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Massachusetts.
-Alberti, M. 2008. Advances in urban Ecology. Springer.
-Allaby M. 2004. Dictionary of Ecology. Oxford University Press, New York.
-Allan JD. 1995. Stream ecology. Structure and function of running waters. Chapman & Hall. London.
-Gotelli NJ & Ellison AM. 2004. A primer of ecological statistics. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Massachusetts.
-Jeffers JNR 1991. Modelos en ecología. Oikos-tau, Barcelona.
-Longhurst A. 1998. Ecological geography of the sea. Academic Press, London.
-Magurran AE. 2008. Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Science Ltd, Victoria.
-McCune B & Grace JB. 2002. Analysis of ecological communities. MjM Software desing, Oregon.
-McLusky DS & Elliott M. 2004. The estuarine Ecosystem. Ecology, threats and management. Oxford University Press, New York.

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
-Ecología
-Ecosistemas
-Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America
-Journal of applied ecology
-Journal of ecology
-Oikos : synthesising ecology
-Trends in ecology & evolution