Conservation and restoration of ecosystems 1400-226ORE

Lecture consist of:
A. Series of lectures in a lecture room:
1. Why should we protect ecosystems? Review of arguments, paradigm changes in man's approach towards nature. Ecosystem services.
2. Strict protection, active conservation, ecological restoration; conservation of natural processes, restoration of ecosystem services - an overview of the basic terms and directions related to the conservation and restitution of ecosystems.
3. Strict protection of natural ecosystems and conservation of processes in ecosystems. Is strict protection socially acceptable in modern Word? The role of natural disturbances in strict protection. Importance of the size of protected area. "Near natural restoration".
4. Active conservation in natural ecosystems. Do we need it and could it be beneficial - an example of forest and peatland ecosystems?
5. Ecological restoration in natural ecosystems, restoration of processes – an example of river restoration.
6. Active conservation in semi-natural ecosystems. Methods and their dependence on local conditions on example of the ecosystems of temperate Europe: meadows, heathlands, grasslands and seminatural forest types.
7. Ecological restoration of non-forest ecosystems: meadows, peatlands and heathlands. Basic assumptions and methods.
8. Invasive species - their impact on ecosystems and methods of their eradication. The concept of "novel ecosystems".
9. Nature conservation in urban areas: goals and problems. Ecological restoration as a method of recreating ecosystem services. "Green inferstructure".

B. Three days in the field (at selected dates in April-May), during which we visit various protected areas, including national and landscape parks and nature reserves; we observe and critically evaluate the methodology and effectiveness of conservation and restoration actions within various ecosystems;

Exercises:
The exercises consist of:
A. Independent research projects conducted by 1-3 person groups within selected sites located in Warsaw and its vicinities - students are asked to recognize the type of ecosystems and conditions within them, identify the needs and possible directions of conservative and / or restorative activities and prepare proposals (in form of funding applications) that describe the planned actions; objects are selected individually each year - they are sites with remnants of natural and seminatural ecosystems in Warsaw and the surrounding area, degraded to various degrees; including also legally protected areas, which (according to the coordinators of the subject) require revision of conservation objectives and methods;
B. Seminars where students report the results of their research and jointly develop action plans for endangered or degraded ecosystems they focus on.