Bachelor's degree

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This course builds on the Evolutionary Foundations course to introduce key concepts in evolutionary ecology in order to understand and formalize, in a simple way, the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that shape biodiversity at different scales of integration.

This course unit is designed as a coherent whole, with lectures, tutorials, and practicals complementing each other. Concepts are introduced through examples and then formalized using mathematical models, which are tested against experiments and real-world data.

It will cover population dynamics (intra- and interspecific competition) and ecological niche, and will detail the mechanisms of evolution and their genetic consequences at the population level: natural selection (including sexual selection), the influence of reproductive regimes, and genetic drift. The tutorials will enable students to grasp the mathematical formalization of concepts covered in class and their simple computer modeling, as well as data set analysis. The practicals will enable small groups to carry out and analyze two experiments, each lasting one month (with a report and oral presentation), in order to develop scientific methodology and reasoning.

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The EU is organized into five main themes:

Topic 1: Genetic mapping and recombination. Concepts of molecular biology related to gene expression, DNA repair, and epigenetic processes.

Theme 2: Introduction to molecular evolution: Measuring the intensity of selection in genetic divergence. Molecular clock and variation in rates of evolution created by the action of natural selection. Neutral theory of evolution.

Theme 3: Introduction to genomics: composition and size of genomes. Importance of repeated elements. Concept of genetic linkage and local selection effects. Influence of demography.

Theme 4: Molecular tools for biodiversity: Barcoding, eDNA, metabarcoding. Molecular taxonomy. Limitations related to hybridization. Applications in conservation.

Theme 5: Extranuclear heredity . Symbiosis, parasitism, and co-evolution (intracellular: e.g., Wolbachia). Extended concept of phenotype.

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Genesis, nature, and future of deposits in sedimentary basins.

Series of 15 lectures/conferences/debates and practical/tutorial sessions

Course content / Integrated practicals / Tutorials (sedimentary basins, continental weathering,

sediment transport, detrital and carbonate environments, factors affecting sedimentation: Sequential stratigraphy, diagenesis)

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This teaching unit will aim to address the elements necessary for understanding the lifestyle of large groups of single-celled organisms that form the basis of ecosystem functioning (viruses, bacteria, archaea, and single-celled eukaryotes, etc.). The courses cover the biological organization of each type of organism, their modes of reproduction, and their diversity, leading to concepts of ecology. We will discuss the role of these microorganisms in the functioning and dynamics of ecosystems, considering the interactions that these organisms have with other living beings (the concept of "symbiosis" in all its forms).

The practical work will enable:

 - the implementation of techniques enabling bacterial enumeration (CFU) and the identification of a particular strain from an environmental sample

 - highlighting the diversity of phytoplankton (single-celled algae) in aquatic environments (freshwater)

 - highlighting the specificity of interactions between bacteria and bacteriophages

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The main objective is to learn the basics of comparative anatomy of chordates, so that they can be compared and classified, before tracing the key stages of their evolutionary history. The lessons are integrative in that they draw on both current organisms and the fossil record to document the evolutionary history of the clade in its entirety and in all its aspects. Anatomical, biomechanical, phylogenetic, and ecomorphological approaches will be addressed in lectures to illustrate the diversity and major characteristics of chordates. Practical work (and tutorials) will illustrate the evolution of the diversity of integuments, the skeleton, musculature, and the digestive and respiratory systems over long periods of time.

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The EU aims to provide an overview of the diversity of angiosperms, approached both through the prism of the most recent phylogenies proposed bythe Angiosperm Phylogeny Group ( APG). This phylogenetic framework will be supported throughout the EU by concrete observation of the vegetative and floral characteristics of a selection of taxa distributed across the entire phylogeny, in order to identify the synapomorphies of the main clades, any homoplasies, and adaptations (floral biology, pollination, trophic interactions, etc.).

Students also learn about the diversity of angiosperms from a floristic perspective by creating a herbarium of species generally found in the Mediterranean region. This gives them an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the use of a flora and digital identification tools (Pl@ntNet, e-Flore by Tela Botanica, etc.).

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- difference between weather and climate

- structure of the atmosphere, radiation balance, greenhouse effect, wind circulation, low-pressure systems/high-pressure systems, tropical cyclones, tornadoes

- general ocean circulation (Munk, major currents, Conveyor Belt)

- geographic distribution and definition of climates

- current climate change

- global water cycle, hydrological balance, water balance, energy balance above a cultivated plot to estimate evapotranspiration

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