- Docente: Andrea Pasteris
- Credits: 6
- SSD: BIO/07
- Language: Italian
- 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 has 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 will 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
The experimental measure of ecotoxicity:
- toxicity tests;
- application of statistical hypothesis testing to toxicity evaluation;
- evaluation and consequences of type I and type II errors;
- analysis of the exposure-response relationship;
- toxicity values (EC50, NOEC, LOEC);
- toxicity tests and the REACH regulation;
- the species sensitivity distribution approach and estimation of the hazardous concentration;
- ecological risk assessment (ERA).
Biomonitoring methods and ecological quality indices:
- the reference condition;
- the BEAST method;
- chemical quality criteria, the example of ERL and ERM;
- the multimetric approach, the Benthic Index of Biological Integrity (B-IBI);
- the RIVPACS method;
- the extended biotic index (IBE);
- the MacrOper system;
- toxicity tests as a biomonitoring tool;
- thesediment quality triad and other "weight of evidence" approaches;
- biomonitoring and the Water Framework Directive of the European Union. .
Readings/Bibliography
Copies of the lesson slides.
Audio recordings of the
lectures.
Papers from scientific
journals and chapters from books
or technical
reports related to
specific case studies.
Teaching methods
Lectures.
Data analysis classes in the computer room.
Both
during the lectures and during the
computer clesses 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 grade is the weighted average between:
- score obtained in a computer test with a maximum duration of 60 minutes (weight: 1);
- score obtained in an oral examination with an approximate duration of 45 minutes (weight: 4).
The computer test consists of an exercise in data analysis similar to those carried out during the computer classess.
The oral exam is divided into two questions, each related to one of the two main areas in which the course contents are divided:
- experimental measure of ecotoxicity;
- methods of biomonitoring and indices of ecological quality.
The questions are randomly selected from a pool prepared on the basis of course content.
Teaching tools
Classroom with computer connected to video projector.
Computer room (15 places) for data analysis classes.
Office hours
See the website of Andrea Pasteris
SDGs
This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.