510373 - BIOLOGY OF THE PRESERVATION OF FLORA

courses

ID:

510373

Duration (hours):

54

CFU:

SSD:

BOTANICA AMBIENTALE E APPLICATA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (02/03/2026 - 12/06/2026)

Course Objectives

Understanding main threats on plants and being able to undertake actions to halt plant biodiversity loss. Provide a theoretical and scientific knowledge base on sampling, monitoring and assessment of the conservation status of endangered wild flora. Learn and be able to act in a regulatory framework of plant conservation, at both local and global scales.

Course Prerequisites

English; fluent Italian. Basic background of plant ecology (e.g., ecological factors, life form, climate, bioclimate, vegetation and its global distribution, plant population and communities, adaptations, biodiversity conservation), systematic (plant classifications systems, phylogeny, nomenclature, distinctive characters, main Italian plant family and species) and general botany (anatomy of plant cells; main tissues; leaf, steam, root, and flower’s traits; plant reproduction strategies; seeds and fruits).

Teaching Methods

The teaching uses lectures, classroom, and exercises in nature. Power Point presentations are used for lectures and are made available to students in the section dedicated to teaching on the KIRO platform. During the exercises, students are guided to determine the conservation status of plants (IUCN criteria) and to estimate some characteristics of populations in nature (e.g., size, reproductive potential). Demonstration activities will also be carried out. Attendance at lectures and exercises is strongly recommended.

Assessment Methods

Learning is verified by a written exam consisting of 10 open questions, including: • Questions that ask you to indicate the meaning or define specific terms, aimed at verifying the understanding of the terminology used during the lessons. • Questions that require a brief description of a conservation problem, a regulation, a sampling and / or species conservation method, aimed at verifying the property of language, the ability to synthesize, the understanding of theoretical concepts.

Texts

Scientific articles and technical manuals (in Italian and English), made available by the student teacher in the section dedicated to teaching on the KIRO platform - Primack e Boitani 2013. Biologia della Conservazione. Zanichelli

The course deals with main aspects of plant conservation biology, including: - main threats and conservation need to plant diversity - methods for the assessment of the extinction risk (according with the IUCN Red Lists criteria), with exercises and examples; - legislation on plant biodiversity conservation (CBD, GSPC, ESPC; Berne; Whashington CITES; Dir. 92/43 EEC Habitat) at both global and local scales. - Restoration ecology, especially plant translocations, with insights on methodologies and study cases (e.g. Life and other projects, etc.), including field trips and practical exercises; - Basics of plant monitoring techniques, with practical exercises in the wild and data analysis; - Functional plant biodiversity and its implication for community structure. - Theoretical and applied topics on seed science and conservation, with particular focus on the role of seeds for plant conservation. - Scientific papers presentation and discussion throughout the course.

Course Language

Italian

More information

Exercises in nature will be carried out in mountain environment. Students are strongly recommended to wear proper clothes (e.g. trekking shoes, rain jacket, hat, etc..) For students with specific needs, who cannot attend the teaching activities in person and applied for Inclusive Teaching Modes (Domanda per Modalità Didattiche Inclusive), appropriate learning material for fruitful self-study will be available. If requested, the self-study could be supported by tutoring or supplementary teaching activities, and devoting meeting, online too, with time flexibility depending on the needs. The training program of this course is updated with the action plan of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular reference to objectives 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts) and 15 (Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss).