Learning objectives
The course is aimed at providing a basic theoretical background required for studying the mechanisms underlying animal organisms responses to environmental changes and main evolutionary ecological issues.
Prerequisites
Ecology examination
Course unit content
Darwin's Influence on modern thought
Species concepts.
Ecological developmental biology.
Short-terms and long term responses to the environment: regulative responses, acclimation responses, developmental responses and evolutionary responses.
Homeostatic constrains
Phenotypic plasticity and reaction norms.
Character displacement
Allometric relationships
Phylogenetic and allometric constrains
Dormancy
Circadian oscillation and gene clock
Molecular bases of phenotypic plasticity.
Case studies
Phylogeography and history of giant Galapagos tortoises.
Physiological and metabolic responses to hypoxia in invertebrates
The egg bank of freshwater crustaceans.
Environmental and genetic control of sexual reproduction in Daphnia.
Genetics and ecology of a colonising population of Daphnia obtusa in Lake Orta
Hatching phenology and hydroperiod predictability in Mixodiaptomus kupelwieseri.
The clonal ecology of Heterocypris incongruens
Effect of genotype and photoperiod on diapause strategies in Eucypris virens
Maternal effects and hatching phenology in eggs of H. incongruens and E. virens
Hypoxia and starvation tolerance in individuals from a riverine and a lacustrine population of Darwinula stevensoni
Natural variation in a Drosophila gene and temperature compensation
An outline of the ecology of sex. Short-term and long term costs and benefits. The Red Queen Hypothesis. Sex determination mechanisms.
Case studies
The freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum
Experimental evidence for the evolutionary significance of temperature-dependent sex determination
The Wolbachia effect.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Begon M., Harper J.L., Townsend C.R. 1989. Ecologia. Individui, Popolazioni, Comunità. Zanichelli.Cochburn A. 1991. An introduction to evolutionary ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications.De Witt T.J. & Scheiner S.M. 2004 Phenotypic plasticity. Oxford University Press.Hartl D.L, Clark A.G. 1993. Genetica di popolazione. Zanichelli.Randall D., Burggren W., French K. 1999 Fisiologia animale. Zanichelli.Ridley M. 1996 Evolution. Blackwell ScienceSibly R.M., Calow P. 1986. Physiological ecology of animals. An evolutionary approach. Blackwell Scientific Publications.Stearns S.C. 1992. The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press.
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons
Assessment methods and criteria
Report on a case study and oral examination
Other information
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