Biogeography

Code:

BIOL4131

Acronym:

BIOL4131

Level:

400

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Biology

Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Biology
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M:BGE	16	Official study plan since 2024/2025	1	-	3	21	81
M:GF	0	plano de estudos do Mestrado em Genética Forense a partir de 2013_2014.	1	-	3	21	81

Teaching language

English
Obs.: Opcionalmente em Português

Objectives

The module Biogeography is aimed at giving a broad perspective on spatial patterns of biodiversity. It will be given an introduction to the discipline focusing on concepts and historical research on the subject. It will be discussed the distribution of single-species and communities with emphasis on methods for representing biodiversity distribution, spatial and temporal shifts in biodiversity distribution and the distribution of terrestrial biomes. It will be reviewed major biogeographical processes that originate, shit and maintain the geographic range of biodiversity. It will be discussed major geographic trends in the distribution of biodiversity, such as gradients and hotspots, from global to local scales. It will be given an introduction to methods for analysing geographic distribution including Ecological-Niche based models and Geographical Information Systems. Finally, it will be presented the concepts, aims and work methods on Conservation Biogeography.

 

Learning outcomes and competences

The Biogeography module was designed to meet the following skills:

1) Learn the origins, diversification and geography of biodiversity at different scales and how these influence conservation decisions.

2) Understand the biogeographic processes that originate and maintain biodiversity

3) Develop analytical and quantitative capacity of biogeographic patterns

4) Exercise oral and graphic scientific communication skills

5) Interpret scientific literature

6) Develop critical thinking skills

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Knowledge in Geographical Information Systems is valuable but not mandatory

Program

1. Introduction to Biogeography


2. Ecological biogeography: biotic and abiotic factors, species distribution, niche concept, regional and local biogeographic patterns


3. Historical biogeography: patterns and processes


4. Biogeography of islands


5. Biogeography and conservation


6. Summary and presentation of scientific articles

Mandatory literature

Cox C.B. & Moore P.D.; Biogeography: An ecological and evolutionary approach, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-470-63794-4
RJ Ladle, RJ Whittaker; Conservation Biogeography, John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ISBN: 978-1444335040
Lomolino M.V, Riddle B.R., Whittaker R.J. & Brown J.H. ; Biogeography, Sinauer Associates, 2010

Comments from the literature

A set of scientific papers will be distributed to students.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical classes, practical exercises and preparation of oral and written work.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	20,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	30,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	60,00
Frequência das aulas	21,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

Attendance to a minimum of 75% of classes.

Calculation formula of final grade

The evaluation component consists of 3 criteria:

1) Participation in classes and interest levels (20%)

 

2) Oral presentation of a recent scientific article (30%). This will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. a) capacity of summarizing and slide contents (10%)
2. b) quality of oral and graphic presentation (10%)
3. c) reading comprehension of the study (5%).
4. d) time management (5%)

 

3) Writing of the article abstract (50%). The summary must include:

1. a) Full citation of the article (2%)
2. b) Problem or question addressed in the article (1 or 2 sentences; 3%)
3. c) Relevant state of the art that led to the questions studied in the article (2 to 4 sentences; 5%)
4. d) Methods used in the study (1 or 2 sentences; 5%)
5. e) Study results (2 sentences and a figure or 1 table at the end of the document; 5+2%)
6. f) Study shortfalls (2 sentences; 10%)
7. g) Study innovation (2 sentences; 10%)
8. h) Reasons for choosing the article and framing in the module themes (2 sentences; 8%)

 

For the oral presentation and written summary, each student will choose a scientific article, published during the previous year, from one of the following journals: Journal of Biogeography, Global Ecology and Biogeography, Diversity and Distributions or Ecography. The PDF of the article must be sent by email on a date to be defined by the teachers. The oral presentation should be presented using PowerPoint (maximum 8 minutes). The slides of the oral presentation must be delivered via email by 10 pm the day before the presentation. The written summary (maximum 500 words) must be delivered by email by 10 pm on the stipulated delivery day.

Classification improvement

It can be performed by submitting a new scientific article and a new summary.

Observations