Invasion and Conservation Biology

Course manual 2021/2022

Course content

The field of conservation biology and that of invasion biology are both very broad, including elements of ecology, genetics, and evolutionary biology, as well as ethics, politics and sociology. Of course it is impossible to teach this all comprehensively in just four weeks. In this course, we therefore will mostly focus on the mechanistic and theoretical underpinnings of the biological processes that take place in small populations –for endangered species– and expanding populations –for invasive species. Topics include, but are not limited to: the importance of genetic variation (or a lack of it), the demographic structure of populations, the effect of inbreeding and mating system, population viability modeling, and local adaptation.

The first two weeks will be devoted to a mixture of lectures and (computer) practicals. The lectures will explain the basic concepts and mechanisms and the theoretical and statistical methods used to analyse them. In the computer practicals the students will get hands-on experience with these subjects through the exploration of simulation models and through the analysis of existing datasets. During all this we will illustrate how understanding of these processes is practically applied for conservation of endangered species.

In the last two weeks the students will, in pairs, receive a dataset or theoretical problem concerning an endangered or invasive species. They will analyse this data using the techniques they have learned in the previous weeks and write a short report about this and present their result in a poster session.

Study materials

Literature

• Papers will be distributed which will then be discussed during the lectures

Practical training material

• Computer tutorials developed for this course

Software

• R

• Ramas GIS

Objectives

• Acquire knowledge of the influence of population size on genetic diversity.
• Acquire knowledge of the importance of mating systems for conservation biology.
• Acquire knowledge of metapopulation dynamics and theory of evolution of dispersal strategies and their influence on population persistence.
• Acquire skills in genetic data analysis techniques pertaining small populations and expanding populations.
• Understand the role of adaptation taking place in small endangered populations and in invasive populations.
• Use these skills to develop plans concerning the conservation of endangered species and the control of invasive species.
• Be able to study, present and discuss relevant literature.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Computer lab session/practical training
• Self-study
• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
• Supervision/feedback meeting
• Presentation/symposium

Learning activities

Attendance

Requirements of the programme concerning attendance (OER-B):

1. Attendance during practical components exercises is mandatory.

Additional requirements for this course:

Attendance of the literature discussion groups is mandatory.

Absence needs to be communicated to the course coordinator.

Assessment

The exam counts for 50% of the final grade, the report of the student projects counts for 40% and the poster counts for 10%. All partial grades need to be higher than a 5.

Inspection of assessed work

For the test, I will discuss the questions and answers during one of the contact hours. For the report, the grades will be made available with short written feedback. 

Assignments

In the last two weeks of the course the students will work in pairs on a small project that involves data analysis to answer a research question on a topic of either conservation of invasion biology.

The results will be shown in a poster to their fellow student and they are also required to write a short thesis about this. Details about the projects and the grading will be made available via Canvas. 

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Contact information

Coordinator

• Patrick Meirmans