ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 99 Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 24 Interactive Classroom: 24 Total: 150
Use languages Spanish, Galician
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Functional Biology
Areas: Ecology
Center Higher Polytechnic Engineering School
Call: Second Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
The objectives of this course are that the students:
1) know the structure of ecosystems and how their internal processes operate at different levels of organization (individuals, populations, communities and the ecosystem itself).
2) know the differences in structure and function between forest and other terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems.
3) know the processes of alteration suffered by ecosystems and, at a basic level, the existing legal tools for environmental protection.
4) integrate their knowledge of ecology with those of related subjects (biology, zoology, botany, geology, soil science, climatology ...) and be able to apply them to the analysis of the environmental characteristics of a territory using geographic information systems, diverse bibliography and field work.
5) can use what has been learned here as a basis for other courses in this program (Reforestation, Environmental impact assessment and correction, Environmental management, Land planning, among others) and in the Master in Forestry Engineering, where there is a specialty focused on the management of natural spaces.
The course contents specified in the programme memoir are:
The organisms and the environment. Structure and function of populations. Structure and function of communities. Structure and function of ecosystems. Terrestrial ecosystems: forest ecosystems, other terrestrial ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems. Coastal ecosystems. Introduction to species and ecosystems conservation. Ecosystem disturbance.
These contents will be developed in the following syllabus:
THEORY SYLLABUS
1. Systems,
PART ONE: ECOSYSTEMS
2. The environment.
3: Climate.
3. Terrestrial ecosystems: structure. Biomes
4. Terrestrial ecosystems: primary production.
5. Terrestrial ecosystems: secondary production and decomposition.
6. River ecosystems.
7. Inland wetlands.
9. Coastal ecosystems.
PART TWO: ORGANISMS, POPULATIONS, COMMUNITIES
10. Organisms and their environment
11. Population: structure.
12. Population: dynamics.
13. Community: structure.
14. Community: dynamics
PART THREE: PROTECTION OF ECOSYSTEMS BY LAW
15. Protection of ecosystems by law.
Every section of the syllabus will be developed in 2-3 hours of class work. The students will have dedicated an hour of personal work to the preparation of the theoretical classes reviewing the materials delivered previously, which will be discussed in the face-to-face sessions.
PRACTICES
FIELD PRACTICES
The time alloted for in person practices (12 h) will be devoted to make two study trips to recognize botanical species and ecosystems with representation of different types of forests, scrub, wetlands and forest plantations of interest within Galicia. The first will cover Terra Chá and the Mariña Luguesa and the second the mountains in the southeast of the province of Lugo and Quiroga Valley. They will be organized jointly with the Forest Botany course, and 2 hours out of the total of 14 attributable to these activities correspond to that course .
COURSE PAPER
Each student will carry out a course work that will consist of the description of the physical environment, the occupation of the territory and the ecosystems present in a small hydrographic basin of their choice. The studen will develop his capacity to collect information about the natural environment, and the ability to synthesize it into a descriptive report of the study area that includes thematic maps elaborated with geographic information systems and information obtained in field work, the relevant bibliography and the network.
BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
Begon, M; Harper, J L; Townsend, C R (1994). Ecología: individuos, poblaciones y comunidades. Omega, Barcelona.
Smith, R L; Smith, T M (2001). Ecología. Pearson Educación, S.A., Madrid.
Terradas, J (2001). Ecología de la vegetación. De la ecofisiología de las plantas a la dinámica de comunidades y paisajes. Omega, Barcelona.
Kimmins, J P (1996, 2nd ed.). Forest ecology. A foundation for sustainable management. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.
COMPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chapin, S C I I I; Matson, P A; Mooney, H A (2002). Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. Springer, New York.
Freedman, B. (1995 2ª ed.). Environmental ecology. The ecological effects of pollution, disturbance and other stresses. Academic Press, Inc. San Diego.
Kuennecke, B H (2008). Temperate forest biomes (Serie: Greenwod guides to biomes of the world). Greenwod Press, Westport (Connecticut).
Little, C (2000). The biology of soft shores and estuaries (Serie: Biology of habitats). Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Little, C; Kitching, R L (1994). The biology of rocky shores (Serie: Biology of habitats). Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Primack, R B; Ros, J (2002). Introducción a la ecología de la conservación (Serie: Ariel Ciencia). Ariel, Barcelona.
Roth, R A (2008). Freshwater aquatic biomes (Serie: Greenwod guides to biomes of the world). Greenwod Press, Westport (Connecticut).
This course will contribute to the development or improvement of the following competences that appear in the Programme Memoir:
BASIC COMPETENCES
CB1 - That the students would have acquired and understood knowledge in a study area that, starting with the basis of the general secondary education, is based on advanced textbooks, including also knowledge coming from the vanguard of the study field.
CB2 - That the students should be able to apply their knowledge to their job or vocation in a professional way and that they posses the competences that are usually displayed by the elaboration and defense of ideas and the solution of problems belonging to their study areas.
CB3 - That the students should be able to collect and interpret relevant data (usually belonging to their study area) to make judgements including reflections on relevant subjects of social, scientific or ethical nature.
CB4 - That the students could transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions to a public either specialized or not.
CB5 - That the students would have developed the learning abilities needed to start further studies with high degree of autonomy.
GENERAL COMPETENCES
CG2 - Competence to analyze the ecological structure and functioning of forest systems and resources, including landscapes.
CG3 - Knowing of the deterioration processes affecting to forest systems and resources (pollution, plagues and illnesses, fires, etc.) and competence for the use of techniques for forest environment protection, hydrologic-forestal restoration and biodiversity conservation.
TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCES
CT1 - Ability for analysis and synthesis.
CT2 - Ability for reasoning and argumentation.
CT3 - Ability for work individually with self-criticism.
CT5 - Ability to obtain adequate, diverse and up to date information.
CT6 - Ability to elaborate and present well-organized and understandable texts.
CT8 - Compromise of truthfulness in the information that offers to others.
CT9 - Skills in technologies of information and communication (TIC).
CT10 - Use of bibliographic and Internet information.
CT12 - Ability for problem solving by the integrated application of their knowledge.
SPECIFIC COMPETENCES
CECF4 - Forest ecology.
ON-SITE TEACHING
In order to achieve the objectives of the course, the following teaching methods will be used (in parenthesis the associated competences):
Lectures for the presentation of the theoretical contents of the course (CB1, CB5, CG2,CG3, CT1, CT2, CT6, CT12, CECF4).
Small-group tutorials to explain the use of computer tools needed for the course paper. (CT9).
Project based learning applied to the course paper (CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CG2, CG3, CT1, CT2, CT3, CT5, CT6, CT8, CT9, CT10, CT12, CECF4 ).
Field trips to know in place some examples of the ecosystems studied in the course and the perturbations that they endure (CB1, CB2, CB3, CG2, CG3, CT1, CT2, CT12, CECF4).
Use of the Virtual Campus to supply the course materials needed to follow the classes and to elaborate the course paper.
STUDENT'S PERSONAL WORK
The activities complementing the on-site activities will be:
Study of the theory.
Work on the course paper
The following methodologies will be used to assess the indicated competencies (their weighting in the final grade is in brackets):
Written test (70%): CB1, CB5, CG2, CG3, CT1, CT2, CT6, CT12, CECF4. Complementary to the continuous evaluation.
Continuous evaluation: work presented (30%): CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CG2, CG3, CT1, CT2, CT3, CT5, CT6, CT8, CT9, CT10, CT12, CECF4.
The written tests will be carried out on the dates set in the official exam calendar, but the course work will be delivered no later than one week before the date of the written tests. The exact dates will be made public at the beginning of the course.
If the work is presented in the first chance and the overall grade is Fail, it will not be necessary to resubmit the work in the second chance call, and in this case the grade of the work will be the same as it already had. However, you can submit a corrected and improved version if you want to increase the rating. Likewise, people who have submitted the work in a previous year will not be obliged to submit it again and the qualification obtained at the time will be maintained, although they may choose to present a new version of the work to improve the qualification.
To pass the subject, the weighted sum of the scores of the written test and the course work must exceed 5 points (out of a total of 10). On the second opportunity, the written test will have to be repeated regardless of the partial mark obtained on the first opportunity.
The evaluation for the students of the second and successive registrations will be the same as for those of the first registration, except the evaluation of the course work. Students with exemption from attendance will be evaluated in the same way as the others.
For cases of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the provisions of the "Regulations for the evaluation of the academic performance of students and review of qualifications" will apply.
Each ECTS credit corresponds to 25 working hours, of which 8 will be on-site work and the remaining 17 hours will be dedicated to the study of the theory, to the elaboration of the course paper and to the preparation of the written examination.
This course is part of the basic training that an engineer needs to develop her future activity, in particular, it is related to the knowledge of the environment where that activity will be developed. Despite including many applied matters, Ecology contains many theoretical contents which define terms, describe structures and analyze the functioning of ecosystems at several organization levels. It is necessary to relate tightly all this kNowledge because the assessment will try to determine the integration and analysis abilities of the student, instead of his memorizing ability.
Therefore, the personal work must be focused to the revision of the concepts explained in class and to relate them all. It is necessary to review the syllabus as it is presented and relate the new concepts to those presented before. In this process, doubts and questions will appear and tuition hours are the correct place to solve them.
Carlos Real Rodriguez
- Department
- Functional Biology
- Area
- Ecology
- carlos.real [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Lecturer