BSc Genetics with a Modern Language / Course details

The biodiversity of our planet is increasingly at risk due to the activities of man. This unit aims to provide the conceptual background to enable you to understand the main concerns in the loss of biodiversity and how appropriate conservation strategies could help to ameliorate man’s impact. Case studies will include: grey wolves in Europe; orang-utans in Borneo and the Western black rhino.

BIOL31482 Pre-requisite is BIOL21232

Fundamentals of Evolutionary Biology: compulsory, but students can take this unit provided they are willing to catch up on essential background material e.g. population genetics, covered in the second year unit)

 

The biodiversity of our planet is increasingly at risk due to the activities of man. This unit aims to provide the conceptual background to enable students to understand the main concerns in the loss of biodiversity and how appropriate conservation strategies could help to ameliorate man’s impact. The theoretical basis of conservation biology is multidisciplinary involving population genetics, ecology, evolution, population biology, etc. Students will be expected to have some basic knowledge in these areas (see prerequisite recommendations), which will be extended and applied to conservation using a wide range of examples of conservation research and management. Lectures will be interspersed with Case Studies that exemplify the lecture material by focussing on a set of research papers on a particular conservation issue and debates to allow students to explore the complexities of topical issues.

 

Students will be able to:

• explain objectively the importance of conserving biodiversity
• explain the broad base of theory and scientific methodology underlying conservation biology
• interpret information and evidence on biodiversity and apply this to inform conservation management strategies

 

1 Introduction to Conservation: What is conservation biology and why do we need it? (CW)

2 The global protected area network: anthropogenic land use and transformation, protected areas history and bias. (SS)

3 Understanding species extinction risk: Intrinsic risk, gap and refugee species, defining risk and vulnerability, adequacy of protection. (SS)

4 Problems of small populations 1: loss of genetic diversity and adaptive potential, inbreeding depression, minimal viable populations. (CW)

5 Problems of small populations 2: Outbreeding depression and issues for captive breeding and reintroduction. (CW)

6 Case study: Gray wolves (CW)

7 Debate: the role of zoos and captive breeding in conservation (CW)

8,9 Problems of fragmented populations: population structure and gene flow, managing protected and unprotected areas, habitat corridors, translocations. (CW)

10 Case Study/data interpretation session on squirrels in Thailand. How can we use spatial genetic information on forest species to inform conservation management? (CW)

11 Modelling current and future viability. Species distribution models and population viability analysis. (SS)

12 Conservation in the Tropics: balancing human and wildlife needs, sustainable development. (CW)

13 Conservation physiology: stress and reproduction in captive and wild populations and discussion of research design (SS)

14 Debate 1: Trophy hunting, fishing and paying for conservation (SS)

15 Conservation Management in Wetland and FreshwaterEcosystems: including issues of biological invasions, eutrophication, impacts of waterextraction and pollution. (AG)
16 Debate 2: Management conflicts in Doñana and similarMediterranean wetlands. e.g. is growing rice good or bad? Is cattlegrazing good or bad. (AG)

17 Conservation for the long term: species and ecosystem responses to climate change. (CW).

18 Feedback session (All).

 

In addition to the lectures there will be a 2 hour poster session (with poster prizes and refreshments) that will be held late afternoon/evening towards the end of the course.

 

Final examination: 1 hour essay style paper (60% of marks). Coursework: 1. Two online tests that test students on both lecture and Case Study material (15% of marks). 2. Group creation and presentation of a poster within a poster session on a conservation topic chosen by the students and individual summary of a selected poster (25% of marks).

 

• Frankham R, Ballou JD & Briscoe A (2010) Introduction to Conservation Genetics. Cambridge University Press
• Primack R B (2014) Essentials of Conservation Biology. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland. Mass.
• David W. MacDonald, Katherine J Willis (Eds) (2013) Key Topics in Conservation Biology