Sciences and Teaching of Natural Systems

General objectives At the end of the course the student will have acquired a descriptive knowledge of patterns of marine biodiversity at the global and regional scale (with a focus on the Mediterranean). The student will also be able to describe the traditional and modern methods of study of the biodiversity. Furthermore, the student will define the theoretical and methodological principles of the modern biological systematics., being able to use and apply (especially after the lab practices) the methods of phylogenetic inference. Finally, the student will be able to provide examples of building modern biological classifications. Specific objectives Knowledge and understanding: The student will acquire the knowledge of the quantitative and spatial patterns and of the dynamics of the marine biodiversity, as well as of the traditional and modern methods of study; will understand how and to what extent the knowledge on patterns and dynamics on biodiversity (especially marine) are relevant to EcoBiology, and how an evolutionary framework is the only possible one. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: The student will acquire the skills to use methods to estimate and analyse biodiversity, to make phylogenetic inferences, and to use the critical tools for the selection of the best fit methods to different case-studies. Critical and judgmental capacities: During the laboratory practices, the student will develop critical and judgmental skills by coping with potentially different dataset (morphological, genetical, molecular, geographic, ecological), having to design experimental protocols appropriate to test hypotheses. Communication skills: Students, especially during the laboratory practices, are encouraged to interact with each other and with the teachers to implement practical activities (observation, identification, analysis and critical comments of the experimental datasets; hypotheses to test; methods and models to use). Learning skills: The student will acquire the language of modern Systematic Biology, in terms of both taxonomic nomenclature and descriptive nomenclature of the experimental methods in the study of Biodiversity and in phylogenetic inference. These skills will make the student able to face future ecobiological studies, including experimental activities where a high level of methodological integration is required to the modern biologist.