PALEOECOLOGY
cod. 02626

Academic year 2013/14
2° year of course - First semester
Professor
Academic discipline
Paleontologia e paleoecologia (GEO/01)
Field
A scelta dello studente
Type of training activity
Student's choice
47 hours
of face-to-face activities
6 credits
hub: PARMA
course unit
in - - -

Learning objectives

The course deals with marine paleoecology and its objective is to show how fossils can be used for paleoenviromental reconstruction at level of individual, population and community.

Prerequisites

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Course unit content

- Definitions and subdivision of paleoecology; relationships between ecology and paleoecology);
- Basic concepts of ecology and the marine ecosystem (physical environments, life modes and trophic strategies of marine organisms);

- Environmental control on organism distribution in the marine environments;

- Taxonomic uniformism and functional morphology;

- Fossils as environmental indicators;

- Paleoenviromental reconstruction at population and community levels;

- Quantitative analysis of fossils assemblages;

- Applications: examples of paleoenviromental/paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions based on foraminifera.

Full programme

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Bibliography

1)Brenchley P.J. & Harper D.A.T., 1998. Palaeoecology: ecosystem, environments and evolution. Chapman & Hall.

2)Goldring R., 1991. Fossils in the field. Information potential and analysis. Longman Scientific &Technical.

3)Raffi S. & Serpagli E., 1993. Introduzione alla Paleontologia. Utet.

4)Murray J.W., 1993. Ecology and paleoecology of benthic foraminifera. Longman Scientific &Technical.

5)Murray J., 2006. Ecology and Applications of benthic foraminifera. Cambridge University Press.
6)Pinet P.R., 2006. Invitation to Oceanography. Jones & Bartlett.

7)Odum E.P., 1988. Basi di Ecologia. Piccin Editore.

Teaching methods

oral and practical lesson

Assessment methods and criteria

oral exam

Other information

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