Bi0710 Case studies in nature conservation

Faculty of Science
Spring 2020

The course is not taught in Spring 2020

Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Dipl. Biol. Jiří Schlaghamerský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Dipl. Biol. Jiří Schlaghamerský, Ph.D.
Department of Botany and Zoology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: doc. Dipl. Biol. Jiří Schlaghamerský, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Botany and Zoology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Prerequisites
There are no formal prerequisites. However, knowledge of fundamentals of ecology and a good idea about organismic diversity will greatly facilitiate the student's understanding of the subject matter. Attendence to to teacher's general Nature Conservation course (regularly tought in Czech) is helpful in that respect but not a necessity.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to provide the students with a number of examples - presented as case studies on various aspects of nature conservation and of environmental problems (with direct conservation relevance). These examples will cover both global issues of conservation and such more closely associated with the situation in (Central) Europe. Exploring cases of various types of threat and conservation measures in considerable detail shall deepen the student's understanding of the challenges organisations and individuals concerned with conservation have been facing, measures taken and to what extent these have been successful. Focus is on the scientific background of the processes (conservation biology, ecology) at work but attention is also given to conservation management issues, including sociological and political ones.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course, students should be able to 1) reproduce (retell) the main aspects of the case studies presented during the course, 2) explain the lessons (to be) learned from these examples, 3) demonstrate their ability to transfer those to other situations not dealt with in the course, 4) demonstrate their familiarity with English technical terms relevant in the nature conservation context and their ability to explain them.
Syllabus
  • The presented case studies will cover environmental problems such as acidification and eutrophication of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, pollution and subsequent remediation of a large river, the destruction of tropical rain forests and the paradox of infertile soil in a highly productive ecosystem, impacts of river regulations (damming, straightening the river channel, preventing the flooding of the floodplain), habitat fragmentation, the drying out of large water bodies due to overexploitation of water resources, present threats to wildlife due to poaching, problems of survival and reintroduction of large predators and other species potentially causing economic or other damage, problems of invasive species and their impact on native species and ecosystems (e.g. invasive earthworms in North America, fungal diseases and their vectors attacking tree species), the protection of "primeval forest relicts" and generally species associated with veteran trees and dead wood.
Literature
  • Will be provided to the enrolled students (selected papers and other printed material on the subject)
Teaching methods
lectures
Assessment methods
Depending on the number of students enrolled their achievment will be assessed either (preferably as long as the number of students is below ca 10) by an oral exam covering at least three of the broader topics presented in the lectures or by a written exam consisting of a series of open questions to be answered by coherent text (both possibly with the use of drawings of graphs etc. to illustrate the explanations given).
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
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