Ecology 1: Concepts, Tools, and Applications

The overall objective is to consolidate the foundations in ecology acquired by students and to give them the tools they need to apply them in an integrated way to interpret the functioning of ecological systems. The course includes: 1) lectures on ecological concepts from the population scale to the macroecological scale, using examples of applications that place the discipline in the current ecological and societal context; 2) practical and supervised work focused on tools (sampling strategies, modeling, data analysis); 3) field teaching, during which students are encouraged to ask relevant scientific questions based on their observations in the field and to use their knowledge to answer them in a reasoned manner.

Summary of EU content:

- CM: History of the emergence of concepts in ecology; Population dynamics/metapopulations; Biotic interactions and food webs; Community ecology, metacommunities; Ecosystem ecology/functional ecology; Concepts of macroecology/biogeography; Global change and ecosystem functioning;

- Field: Integrative analysis of ecosystem functioning in situ;

- TD/TP: sampling and experimentation strategies in ecology; modeling in population dynamics/metapopulations, community ecology/metacommunities, food webs; biodiversity measures (alpha, beta, etc.).

- Knowledge of the history of the emergence of concepts in ecology;

- Mastery of the theoretical foundations of ecology, from the population level (linking to population genetics, which is covered in the S1 evolution course) to the macroecological level;

- Ability to make connections between the theoretical corpus of ecology and evolutionary biology;

- Knowledge of societal issues related to biodiversity and the functioning of ecological systems;

- Proficiency in basic ecological modeling tools (population/metapopulation dynamics, communities, food webs);

- Ability to implement a sampling or experimentation strategy to answer an ecological question;

- Ability to characterize biodiversity at different scales (alpha, beta, gamma), knowledge of inventory and analysis methods.

- Advanced level in general ecology

- Skills acquired in the Ecology Bachelor's Degree program (functional ecology, community ecology).

Continuous assessment: 100%