Global Change Ecology and Societal Challenges

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable

Teaching Methods

Teaching will combine expository lectures, projet work, guided discussions and multimedia material (e.g. documentaries). Whenever possible, national and international experts will be invited to share their experiences. 

Learning Outcomes

The student should understand the causes, consequences and inter-relationships between the main drivers of global change on the climatic and biological systems. The student should understand the magnitude and speed of the current global changes in the context of past changes and develop their critical thinking regarding the global trajectories for biodiversity in the face of alternative development cenarios. 

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Understanding the past

   1.1 Global ecological changes on the geological and historical record

   1.2 Global cycles and the Earth System

2. Understanding the present

   2.1 The agricultural revolution, urbanization and human population growth

   2.2 Climate change (CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Eutrophication; Ocean

        acidification; Sea level rise; Chemical, light and sound pollution)

   2.3 Biological change (Biodiversity loss, the sixth mass extinction; Habitat loss, degradation &

        fragmentation; Defaunation; Biological invasions; Functional extinctions and extinction cascades; Novel

        ecosystems)

3. Understanding the future

   3.1 The Anthropocene

   3.2 Planetary boundaries

   3.3 Circular Economy and Sustainability

   3.4 Future Earth; Modelling foreseeable futures

   3.5 Predicting ecological tipping points

4. Societal challenges

   4.1 The UN Sustainable Development Goals

   4.2 Land sharing and land sparing

   4.3 One health

   4.4 Degrowth

Head Lecturer(s)

Ruben Huttel Heleno

Assessment Methods

Assessment method
Mini Tests: 40.0%
Reports and oral presentations: 60.0%

Bibliography

Rosenblum, E. B. 2021 Global Change Biology: The Study of Life on a Rapidly Changing Planet. Oxford University Press.

 

Arias et al., 2021: Technical Summary. In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC, Cambridge University.

 

Cowie et al., 2022 The Sixth Mass Extinction: fact, fiction or speculation? Biological reviews (doi:10.1111/brv.12816)

 

Steffen et al 2015 Planetary boundaries Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science 347, 1259855 (doi:10.1126/science.1259855)

 

Specific scientific papers will be regularly provided and discussed in class.