37362 - Ecologic Methods for the Analysis and the Management of the Environment

Academic Year 2017/2018

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Ravenna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Environmental Assessment and Management (cod. 8418)

Learning outcomes

After completing this course, the student should have the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to measure and predict the effects of human activities on populations, communities and ecosystems and to integrate this information in ways relevant to environmental management.

The student should be able to:

- implement bioassessment methods based on structural and functional characteristics of populations, communities, ecosystems;

- assess ecotoxicity;

- integrate information of different nature, using "weight of evidence” approaches;

- perform ecological risk assessment, both predictive and retrospective, in particular the analysis of the ecological effects of contaminants and other stressors;

- discriminate between natural variability and anthropogenic alteration and assess the impact of human activities on ecological systems, using appropriate sampling designs.

Course contents

Basic principles of significance testing and experimental and design, applied to the assessment of ecotxicity and of the impact of human activities on ecological systems:
- objectives and hypotheses;
- replication;
- sampling
- control
- interspersion
- analysis of variance and post-hoc tests;
- Type I and II errors, power of a ststistial test.

The experimental measurement of ecotoxicity:
- toxicity testing;
- analysis of the exposure-response relationship;
- toxicity values (EC50, NOEC, LOEC);
- toxicity testing and REACH regulation.


Biomonitoring methods and indices of ecological quality based on the structure of the in situ assemblages:
- the reference condition;
- the BEAST method;
- the multimetric approach, indices of biological integrity;
- the RIVPACS method;
- The extended biotic index (EBI);
- The MacrOper method;
- biomonitoring and the UE Water Framework directive.

Toxicity testing as a biomonitoring tool.

The sediment Quality Triad and other weight of evidence approaches.

Ecological risk assessment (ERA):
- the USEPA framework;
- extrapolation of laboratory data, the species sensitivity approach;

Readings/Bibliography

Copies of the slides of the lectures.
Audio recordings of the lectures.
Papers from scientific journals and chapters from books or technical reports relating to specific case studies.

Teaching methods

Lectures.
Data analysis classes in computer room.
Both during the lectures and during the data analysis laboratories student-teacher interaction and discussion between students is actively encouraged.

Assessment methods

The learning assessment aims at a complete and balanced evaluation of the degree of achievement of all the objectives defined in the "learning outcomes" section.

The assessment is expressed as a grade up to thirty cum laude.

The final grade is a weighted average of:
grade allocated to all of the documents produced by the student during the laboratory classes (weight: 1);
grades achieved in an oral examination lasting approximately 45 minutes (weight: 5).
The weight given to the two tests is proportional to the number of credits which are respectively dedicated to laboratory activities (1 cfu) and to lectures (5 cfu).

For a complete and balanced evaluation of the achievement of the learning objectives, the oral examination is divided into three questions, each relating to one of the three fields ors which make up the contents of the course:
- basic principles of significance testing and experimental design, measurement of ecotoxicity, ecological risk assessment;
-  biomonitoring methods and ecological quality indices.

Again for a complete and balanced evaluation of the achievement of the learning objectives, laboratory classes are based on computations, statistical tests and indices which are used in the three fields previously reported.

Upon request, the opportunity to take a replacement test is given to students who were unable to attend the laboratory classes.

Teaching tools

Classroom with computer connected to video projector.
Computer room for data analysis classes.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Pasteris