Ecology and Management of Invasive Species

Code: PAO14832O

3 ECTS

Duration: 15 weeks/78 hours

Scientific Area: Environment and Ecology Sciences

Teaching languages: Portuguese

Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese

Regime de Frequência: B-learning

Sustainable Development Goals

Erradicar a fome - Acabar com a fome, alcançar a segurança alimentar e melhoria da nutrição e promover a agricultura sustentável.

Saúde de qualidade - Assegurar uma vida saudável e promover o bem-estar para todos, em todas as idades.

Educação de qualidade - Assegurar a educação inclusiva, e equitativa e de qualidade, e promover oportunidades de aprendizagem ao longo da vida para todos.

Proteger a vida marinha - Conservação e uso sustentável dos oceanos, dos mares, e dos recursos marinhos para o desenvolvimento sustentável.

Proteger a vida terrestre - Proteger, recuperar e promover o uso sustentável dos ecossistemas terrestres, gerir de forma sustentável as florestas, combater a desertificação, deter e reverter a degradação da Terra e deter a perda da biodiversidade.

Learning Goals

The trainee should become able to recognize the main invasive species in our territory, the problems associated with these species and the available ways for their management. It is expected that the trainee will be able to apply this knowledge in practice in concrete situations involving the management of invasive species. It will also acquire skills to develop advanced technical work and scientific work on the issue of invasive alien species. This will be possible because in addition to learning basic concepts, it will learn advanced scientific concepts related to the subject. Among these we will have, for example, the study of dispersal processes of invasive species, risk analysis and hypotheses, as well as polemics, related to invasions.

Introduction to invasive species. Basic concepts about invasive species. Impacts of invasions. Invasion pathways, vectors and entry routes. Invasive species present in our territory. Species with high risk of invasion. Prevention, control and mitigation of invasive species. Prediction and risk assessment. Prediction and risk assessment. Causes of invasions. Scientific hypotheses about invasions. Dynamics of invasions: the expansion of invaders. Global change and invasions. National, Iberian and European legislation.

Teaching Methods

This an e-learning course aimed at graduates who wish to learn about the subject of invasive alien species. The contents are freely available (like a MOOC - Massive Open Online Course) but subject to registration for access. To obtain a certificate from the University of Évora, prior enrollment in the academic services is mandatory. The course takes place with the support of the teacher during periods of 4 weeks for each edition. However, it will be possible to carry out the course almost autonomously. The course works using dozens of small videos that must be watched, with an average of 10 to 15 minutes, available online, after which it is also mandatory to answer questionnaires. Information is presented sequentially without skipping topics.

Assessment

The course works using dozens of small videos available online, that must be watched, and are on average 10 to 15 minutes long, after which it is also mandatory to answer several questions about the subjects of the videos. The progression is sequential, and it is not possible to skip components of the formation before successfully completing each theme. Continuous assessment based on the response to online questionnaires after each video (50%). Final knowledge assessment test (50%). Quantitative evaluation using a 0 to 20 grading scale.