Mushrooms can save forests

Code: BIO14817O

3 ECTS

Duration: 8 weeks/78 hours

Scientific Area: Biological Sciences, Ciências do Solo

Teaching languages: Portuguese

Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese

Regime de Frequência: Presencial

Sustainable Development Goals

Saúde e bem-estar - 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.

Redução das desigualdades - Reduzir as desigualdades dentro dos países e entre eles.

Consumo e produção responsáveis - Assegurar padrões de produção e de consumo sustentáveis.

Ação contra a mudança global do clima - Tomar medidas urgentes para combater a mudança climática e seus impactos (*).

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

Understand how fungi and plants evolved together, how they are currently related and what is their role in soil formation and protection.
Observe and analyze how the Funga (particularly the macrofungi) of a forest area are the support for the prosperity of the forest and for the protection of the soils.
Understand and plan how, through the management of mycological resources, forest areas that have been degraded, burned or that have suffered other types of disturbances can be recovered, both in terms of vegetation and soil characteristics.
Know how to implement good practices for the correct management of Funga, Flora and soils.

I. Funga, Flora and soil: Diagnostic features of Fungi Kingdom. The macrofungi and their trophic groups. Word wide web. The origin of soil, its morphology, formation, and role in ecosystem.
II. Management of mycological resources in forest areas: Diversity of macrofungi. Ecosystem
services provided by fungi. Recovery of disturbed areas.
III. Good practices to protect and maintain biodiversity (mainly macrofungal communities and
Flora) and to conserve soils.

Teaching Methods

Theoretical, theoretical-practical, and practical lessons with face-to-face teaching. In the theoretical and theoretical-practical lessons will be presented the concepts and contents and will proceed to the guidance of the learning process. The practical lessons will occur in laboratories and "in open space", whenever possible, through field trips, to visit places of recognized interest. Each theoretical session will consist on exposition and discussion periods, aiming the critical reflection and participation in the teaching-learning process. Audiovisual media will be used, including commented animations, illustrative of the topics addressed. In the theoretical-practical classes, concrete situations will be analyzed and discussed together with the students, who will be motivated to collaborate in suggesting cases to be addressed. In practical classes (laboratory and field) students will be able to observe and recognize the importance of fungi in the forest and in the soil formation.

Assessment

The evaluation is based on an individual work delivered and presented by the students after the completion of the teaching component, on a scale of 0 to 20 values (written - 50%; oral - 50%). For approval it is necessary to obtain an evaluation equal to 10 or higher. Themes will be suggested by the teachers. If the work delivered for evaluation is considered insufficient, the student may submit a new work for evaluation.