Populations, Communities and Landscapes
main objectives
Reminder of overall objectives in Ecology at bachelor level:,- Know how to describe and analyse the way more or less human-modified environments function,- Be aware of the relevance of a good basic knowledge of ecology for understanding the effects of farming practices and their impacts on the environment.,,This module will enable you to:,- Distinguish two levels of organisation i.e. the population and the community ,- Associate life history traits of plant or animal species with a population dynamics model ,- Appreciate the advantages of modelling for studying naturel phenomena,- Know the principle applications of the study of population dynamics,- Analyse flow of energy and matter between different trophic levels ,- Understand the importance of interactions between species within ecosystems, in order to better manage the latter,- Know some basic concepts of landscape ecology for studying the influence of landscape structure on plant and animal populations and communities. ,
general content
1/ Population ecology ,- Definitions, examples of real population fluctuations, methods for studying populations,- Population dynamics models – exponential, logistic et age-structured models,- Competition and predation – Lotka and Volterra models,- Metapopulation models,,2/ Community ecology,- Diversity and types of interaction between species – positive interactions (amensalism, commensalism, mutualism) – symbioses ,- Trophic networks ,- Succession (plant communities, succession and series) ,- Effects of constraints and disturbance, Species assemblage, diversity and productivity ,,3/ Landscape ecology,- Landscapes as studied by ecologists, their dynamics, description and influence on the distributions of living organisms ,- Landscape influence on population viability relevance for biological conservation,
pedagogy
Flip-classrooms, lectures, classroom work, practical work and a literature review on the theme of ‘Interactions between species which could contribute to the farming of the future’.,,Assignment: Literature search and synthesis on the topic of Interactions between species which can contribute to the agriculture of the future",Note: This exercise provides material which is used again within the communication module IL3 S5,"
evaluation
Written examination,Literature review,
Bibliography
Begon M., Townsend C.R. & Harper J.L. 2006 Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems – Fourth Edition, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.,,Gotelli N.J. 2008 A Primer of Ecology – Fourth Edition, Sinauer Associates Inc., Massachusetts.,