Ecological Modelling

Code: PAO02064L

5 ECTS

Duration: 15 weeks/130 hours

Scientific Area: Environment and Ecology Sciences

Teaching languages: Portuguese

Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese

Presentation

The course covers the fundamental topics in Ecological modeling, allowing the student to build and interpret ecological models.

Sustainable Development Goals

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

Água limpa e saneamento - Garantir disponibilidade e manejo sustentável da água e saneamento para todos.

Vida na água - Conservação e uso sustentável dos oceanos, dos mares, e dos recursos marinhos para o desenvolvimento sustentável.

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

Acquisition of technical skills enabling some professional activity on environmental matters.
To increase the comprehension of how ecosystems function. To introduce students to the theoretical representation of ecological processes. To provide the tools for the simulation of ecosystem behaviour.
Competences:
Capacity to represent a complex ecological system on a conceptual diagram.
To be able simulate the behavior of an ecological system, using adequate software.
To be able to evaluate the results of a simulation model.
Capacity to use models to analyze ecosystem behavior.

Types of models. Issues of scale while building models. The components, the steps and the tools of the ecological modeling process. Population dynamics models. The analysis of Model Behavior - types of stability. Models for primary producers. Individual growth models in animals.

Teaching Methods

Pedagogical resources include texts and videos.
Discussion of scientific literature.
Student's assessment is continuous and involves the components usually used in on-line courses - production and discussion of essays and glossaries, debates, literature reviews, net searching. Access to several contents and exercises using e-learning (Moodle platform).