Ecology and Behavioural Ecology

The course is organized in two modules: ethology (1st semester) and ecology (2nd semester).
The main objective of the ethology module is to provide students with the understanding the the adaptive functions of animal behavior in an ecological and evolutionary perspective. Furthermore, it intends to describe the scientific methods aimed at designing and carrying out behavioral studies, as well as providing the ability to use an appropriate specific vocabulary.
The ecology module is aimed at acquiring multiple skills: describing the ecology of a species, understanding the characteristics of habitats and the fundamental principles of ecosystem functioning (energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, environmental factors, population dynamics and study of communities). It also intends to provide the ability to carry out simple exercises on ecological variables.

At the end of the ecology part it is expected that students have learned how ecosystems work in nature (energy flow and biogeochemical cycles), as well as simple tools for population monitoring and surveying chemical-physical parameters of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. At the end of the ethology part the student is expected to acquire the knowledge of the adaptive role of animal behaviours, the appropriate scientific terminology of the discipline, as well as the ability to understand and critically discuss the main topics of behavioural ecology reported in the literature.