Provide theoretical and practical skills relating to the impact of climate change on plants. Expected learning outcomes: - knowledge base of the main impacts of climate change on plants; - theoretical-practical knowledge on monitoring plant communities and their response to climate change; - learn and be able to interpret case studies; ability to apply methodologies for the study of climate change and related impacts on plants; - basic understanding of scientific articles dealing with plant and climate change
Course Prerequisites
English language (basic); basic background of plant ecology/geobotany, general and systematic botany
Teaching Methods
The teaching uses lectures and exercises. Power Point presentations are used for lecture and are made available to students in the related section on KIRO platform. During the exercises, students are guided in the organization, analysis and interpretation of data and case studies.
Assessment Methods
Learning is verified through a written exam including different types of questions: - Questions that ask you to indicate the meaning or define specific terms, aimed at verifying your understanding of the terminology used during the lessons. - Questions that require a brief description of a problem and/or a study method, aimed at verifying language proficiency, synthesis ability, and understanding of theoretical concepts. - True/False test, to verify the student's ability to answer specific questions relating to the topics covered in class At the end of the module, in progress tests can be carried out.
Texts
Scientific articles and manuals (in Italian and English), made available in the related section on KIRO platform.
Contents
The course deals with the main aspects of climate changes and their interaction with plants. The topics of the module are organized as follow: - Alpine ecosystem as a model environment for studying the impacts of climate change on plants. - Plant responses to climate change (e.g., increase of CO2, temperature, drought); impacts on phenology, physiology, evolution, plasticity and distribution. - Methods of monitoring and forecasting (e.g., manipulations, long-term monitoring, SDM, functional approaches) - Effects on biotic communities and related interactions (plant-plant; plant-microorganisms; plant-animals) - Mitigations: assisted migrations.
