Learning objectives
The course provides the basic instruments for analysing the landscape starting from the timeframe of the events which shaped the current landscape. This requires providing knowledge on the academic tools of paleo-ecology, viewed as the study of the history of an ecosystem.
Course unit content
Living organisms depend on their environment. Their capacity to modify their environment varies greatly among species. Through time, human beings have become the Earth dominant species by extending their ability to alter their natural settings. The basic concept of Ecology (the interaction of resources and conditions with living organisms, adaptation and homeostasis, population dynamics, migration etc) will be reviewed and used to explore the relationship of human civilization and the environment. We will study the impact of the geology, geomorphology, occurrence of natural disasters (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods) and climate change on mankind. The development of civilization and the natural history of the Italian peninsula will be used as a case study. The reconstruction of past environments will play an essential role in the teaching of the course.
Bibliography
Educational material is on the course website.
