08632 - Human Ecology

Course contents

MOD1

Evolution of the human-environment interactions.

Natural and human environment. Human ecosystems. Energy flows, food chains and carrying capacity in human ecosystems. Climate and environmental changes in human evolutionary history. The human peopling: origins and spread. The hunter-gatherers. The Neolithic transition. The domestication of plants and the origins of agriculture. Domestication of animals. The economies of food production.

Human adaptability.

Ecological niches and biological adaptations. Environmental stresses, homeostasis and human adaptability. Physiological acclimatization. Acclimatization during development. Genetic adaptation. Cultural adaptation and biocultural interactions. Adaptive  physiological traits and genetic markers. Climates and biomes. Human adaptability to climatic environments. Biological and cultural adaptations in extreme environments: savannah, desert areas, equatorial forest, circumpolar areas, high altitudes.

Environment and human population dynamics.

Structure, growth and regulatory mechanisms of human populations. Measures of demographic increase. The demographic transition.  Resources and population. Climate and biomes. Human adaptability to climatic environments. Biological and cultural adaptations in extreme environments: savannah, desert areas, equatorial forest, circumpolar areas, high altitudes.

From the natural environment to the Anthropocene.

The sixth mass extinction: climatic or anthropogenic factors?  Origin of urbanisation. The city as an ecological system. Demographic and biological repercussions of urbanisation. The ecological transition. Ethnic groups in danger of extinction. Survival international.

 

MOD. 2

Epigenetic variability. Concept of phenotypic plasticity. Examples related to nutrition, socioeconomic status, high altitude. [4h]

Physiological variability, health and environment. Exposomes in human evolution. Endocrine disruptors and chemicals produced by urbanisation and their effect on biology and health with particular reference to epigenetic profiles (dioxin, pesticides, bisphenol A from plastics, antifungals from agriculture, etc.). Thyroid function in different human populations and relationship with the natural environment. Examples of adaptation to natural arsenic-rich environments. [4h]

Ageing and longevity. i) Role of the elderly in different human populations and link to resources and habitats. ii) Sexual dimorphism in the ageing process and the advantage of women. iii) Link between longevity and reproduction (resource allocation model). Environmental factors and epigenetic clocks. [4h]

Human ecology and nutrition. Cultural and technological evolution, lifestyle transformations, dietary changes and maladaptation processes. Concepts of modern diseases: malnutrition and obesity (focus on energy surplus and evolutionary mismatches). Taste receptors as complex ecological sensors of the environment. [4h]

 

Office hours

See the website of Davide Pettener

See the website of Cristina Giuliani