82671 - Anthropogenic Alterations, Monitoring and Management of Ecosystems

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student has a good knowledge on some environmental alteration caused by human activity, of their consequences at a functional level, of the principles that underlie the methods for mitigation and restoration of habitats.

Course contents

Measuring anthropogenic alterations of ecosystems
Methods for assessing the taxonomic composition and abundance of ecological assemblages.
Definition of biodiversity, components of biodiversity, definition of ecosystem services.
Measuring biodiversity within ecosystems: species diversity, richness, evenness, diversity indices, taxonomic distance, taxonomic diversity and distinctess.
Measuring biodiversity between ecosystems: alpha, beta, gamma diversity.
Multivariate analysis applied to ecological data analysis, in particular to the taxonomic composition of ecological assemblages: similarity measures, cluster analysis, ordination methods (multi dimensional scaling, principal component analysis).
Functional diversity.

Conservation of biodiversity in the Eurepean Union
the Natura 2000 Network, "Habitat" and "Birds" directives.

Pollution
Non-toxic pollutants in water, concentration of oxygen in surface waters and effect of pollutants, eutrophication.
Toxic pollutants and ecotoxicology, fate and effect of pollutants. Fugacity models for the prediction of fate of pollutants in the environment.
Fate of pollutants in organisms, toxicokinetics, upteke, distribution, storage, metabolism (phase I and phase II), excretion, bioaccumulation, bioconcentration, biomagnification.
Effects of toxic pollutants at the molecular and cellular level, biomarkers.
Toxicity tests, toxicity values.
Interaction between toxic substances: additivity, potentiation (synergism) and antagonism.
Effects of toxic substances on population and community level.
The Lake Orta case study.

The REACH regulation
Objectives of the rgulation. The European Chemicals Agency. Registration, evaluation, authorization, restriction.

Environmental biomonitoring
Definition of environmental biomonitoring, the different approaches in environmental biomonitoring.
Characteristics of biomonitoring in comparison to chemical and physical monitoring.
Integrated approaches to environmental monitoring (weight of evidence).

The Water Framework Directive of the European Union Objectives of the directive, definition of status, quantitative status, chemical status, ecological status.
Chemical status: environmental quality standards and their identification.
Ecological status: biological, physico-chemical, hydromorphological quality elements.
Categories and types of water bodies, type-specific reference condition, definition of the ecological status levels.
Examples of methods for the assessment of biological, chemical and physico-chemical, hydromorphological quality elements:
River basin districts and autorities.

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive
Objectives, qualitative descriptors, the phases of the strategy (application cycles), the reports of the European Commission.

Climate change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its reports.
Global temperature trend from 1850 to the present, available datasets.
Reconstruction of the temperature of the last two millennia. Concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere since the late 1950s.
Past concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases based on ice core measurements.
Attribution of global warming to human activity.
Effects of climate change on ecosystems.

Readings/Bibliography

Required for exam preparation (available on the Virtuale platform (https://virtuale.unibo.it):

• Copies of lecture slides.
• Worksheets and datasets for data analysis exercises.
• Quiz for the written exam.

Recommended, especially for non-attending students:

• Video and audio recordings of lectures.

References for further information:

• Clarke, K.R., Gorley, R.N., Somerfield, P.J., Warwick, R.M. 2014. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation, 3rd edition. PRIMER-E, Plymouth, UK.
• Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.
• Regulation (EC) No. Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC, and 2000/21/EC.
• Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy.
• Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive).
• IPCC, 2023. Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II, and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland. DOI: 10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647.001.
• IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. DOI:10.1017/9781009157896.
• IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Cambridge University Press., Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA. DOI:10.1017/9781009325844.

Teaching methods

Lectures.

Computer classes (data analysis).

Both during the lectures and during the computer clesses student-teacher interaction and discussion between students is actively encouraged.

All activities are held in person.
Remote or blended learning will be activated only upon specific indications from the University in the event of emergency situations.

Lectures will be video-recorded for the benefit of students who are unable to attend.

Given the type of activity and teaching methods adopted, attendance at this training program requires all students to participate in Modules 1 and 2 of the e-learning training on workplace safety (https://site.unibo.it/tutela-promozione-salute-sicurezza/it/corsi-di-formazione/formazione-obbligatoria-su-sicurezza-e-salute-per-svolgimento-di-tirocinio-tesi-laboratorio).

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Assessment methods

There is a single exam for the integrated course in Sustainable Development: Principles and Methods (this course + Environmental Sustainability Assessment).

The exam consists of a written and an oral test.

The written test must be taken before the oral test, and a passing grade is required in order to take the oral test.

Attendance at lectures and labs is not used as an evaluation criterion and has no direct impact on the grade assigned. However, regular attendance, thanks also to direct interaction with the instructor, is believed to contribute to achieving a good level of preparation. Attendance at the data analysis labs, in particular, allows students to work with the instructor on exercises similar to those included in the written exam.

 

The written exam is computer-based and consists of a quiz with multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, cloze tests, and calculation exercises. The Esami on Line platform (https://eol.unibo.it) is used for the exams, corrections, and assessment.

The written exam questions are based on the entire content of both courses that comprise the integrated course. In relation to the learning objectives, the written exam is intended to assess both the level of knowledge and skills (the latter primarily through numerical exercises).

Each correct answer is assigned a score of 1 (multiple choice questions, cloze tests, and simple numerical exercises) or 2 (open-ended questions, more complex numerical exercises). Each missing or completely incorrect answer is assigned a score of 0. Fractional points may be assigned for incomplete or partially correct answers.

A complete and correct answer to all questions results in a score of 32. The written exam is considered passed if a score of 18 or higher is achieved.

The written exam may be divided into two partial exams that can only be taken during class (interim tests). Both partial exams are based on the content of both courses in the integrated course and, taken together, cover all the topics covered in the integrated course.

 

The oral exam consists of 2-4 open-ended questions covering the content of both courses in the integrated course. Topics from the entire syllabus may be the subject of the questions. The questions may also be formulated as requests to complete, clarify, specify, or elaborate on the answers given in the written exam.

With reference to the learning objectives, the oral exam is intended to assess both the level of knowledge and skills achieved (the latter primarily through review of the numerical exercises ofthe written part).

The maximum score assigned for the oral exam is 32. The exam is considered sufficient if a score of 18 or higher is achieved. 
Grading: 
30-32: complete and precise answers to all questions, orderly presentation using technically correct language, good ability to grasp connections between different topics in the syllabus. 
28-29: substantially complete answers with minor inaccuracies and/or small deficiencies in the presentation, good ability to grasp connections between different topics in the syllabus. 
26-27: substantially complete answers with significant inaccuracies and/or deficiencies in the presentation, adequate ability to grasp connections between different topics in the syllabus. 
24-25: Incomplete or substantially inaccurate answers, confusing presentation with poor language proficiency, the student nevertheless demonstrates a knowledge, albeit superficial, of all the topics covered in the questions. 
18-23: Incomplete or substantially inaccurate answers, confusing presentation with poor language proficiency, the student is unable to answer one or more of the topics covered in the questions.

 

The final grade is the average of the scores obtained in the written and oral exams. The assessment is expressed as a grade up to thirty cum laude.

Teaching tools

Classroom with computer connected to video projector.

Computer lab. 

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Pasteris