ZA210 Environmental risks of biodiversity

Faculty of Science
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Karel Brabec, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Karel Brabec, Ph.D.
Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: Mgr. Karel Brabec, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course aims to explore biological diversity patterns driven by environmental factors. Ecological effects of natural and anthropogenically modified conditions on biodiversity will be described. Risk analyses will be presented using examples of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems (habitat modifications, climate changes, land use changes, biological invasions, chemical pollution).
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able:
- to describe basic ecosystem structure and processes
- to characterize attributes of biological diversity and evaluate its relations to environmental risks
- to apply DPSIR scheme in model terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems
- to understand ecological relationships in habitat alterations, climate change and chemical pollution
- to understand concepts of ecosystem services, invasions and ecosystem rehabilitations
Syllabus
  • 1) Introduction (ecosystem structure, biological diversity, ecological processes)
  • 2) Biodiversity – concepts, attributes, drivers
  • 3) Biodiversity – spatio-temporal patterns
  • 4) Environmental risks (typology); DPSIR scheme (Driving forces, Pressures, States, Impacts, Responses)
  • 5) Stress ecology
  • 6) Biodiversity and ecosystem processes
  • 7) Climate-biodiversity relationships
  • 8) Scenarios of land use change
  • 9) Habitat changes (Natura 2000 sites, Habitat Directive, Nature Conservation)
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Reid H. (2006). Climate Change and Biodiversity in Europe. Conservation and Society 4(1): 84–101.
  • Atlas of biodiversity risk. Edited by Josef Settele. 1st pub. Sofia: Pensoft, 2010, xv, 264. ISBN 9789546424464. info
  • Scaling biodiversity. Edited by David Storch - P. A. Marquet - James H. Brown. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, xvii, 470. ISBN 9780521699372. URL info
  • ROSENZWEIG, Michael L. Species diversity in space and time. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, xx, 436. ISBN 0521499526. info
    not specified
  • Weiskopf S.R., Rubenstein M.A., Crozier L.G., ... , Whyte K.P. (2020). Climate change effects on biodiversity, ecosystems, ecosystem services, and natural resource management in the United States. Science of The Total Environment 733, 137782
  • Zeller U., Starik N., Göttert T. (2017). Biodiversity, land use and ecosystem services—An organismic and comparative approach to different geographical regions. Global Ecology and Conservation 10: 114–125.
  • STEINBERG, Christian E. W. Stress ecology : environmental stress as ecological driving force and key Player in Evolution. 1st edition. Dodrecht: Springer, 2012, xii, 480. ISBN 9789400798977. info
Teaching methods
lectures
Assessment methods
Examination has an oral form
Language of instruction
English
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