Urban Ecology and Evolution 1400-233UEE-OG

Fundaments of Urban Ecology
• How are cities different relative to natural habitat?
• Urban ecology
• Historical background
• Biophysical Environment of cities
• Urban Metabolism
Urban Ecology & Evolution
• Key concepts in eco-evo research
• Urban avoiders, adapters, exploiters
• Urban physiology
Urban Evolutionary Biology
• Phenotypic plasticity
• Genetic change
• 4 forces of evolution in an urban context
• Epigenetic modifications
• Observational vs experimental approaches
• Challenges and Misconceptions in Urban Adaptation research
The Human Niche
• Green Infrastructure
• Socio-eco-evo interactions
• Human Evolution
The Warsaw Study System: Urban Eco-Evo in Practice
• The nestbox
• The city
• Replicated cities

Type of course

general courses

Course coordinators

Marta Szulkin

Learning outcomes

KRK B1 Level I
KNOWLEDGE
K1_W09: Understands natural phenomena and processes occurring at the individual, population and ecosystem levels
K1_W12: Knows the history of life on Earth and describes the mechanisms of evolution including their molecular basis
SKILLS
K1_U03. Reads with understanding scientific and popular science biological texts in native language and English and communicates in English at B2 level.
K1_U10. Learns independently the issues indicated by the tutor
SOCIAL ABILITIES
K1_K01. Expands interests within the natural sciences
K1_K08. Critically analyses information appearing in the mass media and in the professional litterature
LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH
K_U03 Bi2. Uses scientific and popular science biological texts in Polish and English and communicates in English at the B2+ level

KRK B1 Level II
KNOWLEDGE
K2_W01. Understands the complexity of processes and phenomena in nature, the solution of which requires an interdisciplinary approach based on empirical data
K2_W18. Recognizes the dynamic development of natural sciences and the emergence of new research disciplines, and identifies the most significant trends in the development of biological sciences in the field of specialization studied by him/her
SKILLS
K2_U01. Selects and applies research techniques and tools adequate to the problems of the studied speciality of biological sciences
K2_U08. Is able to critically develop a selected biological problem on the basis of literature data and results of own research, formulating own opinions and conclusions
SOCIAL ABILITIES
K2_K01. Understands the need for lifelong learning, inspiring the development of this need in others
K2_K03. Is able to convey knowledge on the latest achievements of natural sciences to the society and explain the rationale of conducting basic scientific research
LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH
K_U03 Bi2. Uses scientific and popular science biological texts in Polish and English and communicates in English at the B2+ level

KRK Doctoral School of exact & natural sciences -Level III
KNOWLEDGE
K3_W02: Knows and understands the methodology of conducting scientific research to the extent that it allows to formulate and solve research problems using methods and research tools appropriate for the given scientific disciplines.
SKILLS
K3_U02: Can critically analyse and evaluate scientific research results and their contribution to the development of science
SOCIAL ABILITIES
K3_K01: Is ready to critically analyse scientific output within a given scientific discipline, including his/her contribution to its development.
LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
K_U03 Bi2. Uses scientific and popular science biological texts in Polish and English and communicates in English at the B2+ level.

Assessment criteria

Course credit is based on a graded exam (multiple choice and open questions).
To pass the written exam, students must achieve a minimum grade of 60%.

Bibliography

Szulkin M, Munshi-South J & Charmantier A (Editors). 2020. Urban Evolutionary Biology. 303 pages. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

The Second Edition of the Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology (2nd edition; Editors: Anderson P, Douglas I, Goode D, Houck M, Maddox D, Nagendra H, Yok TP). pp. 383-398. Routledge.

Rivkin et al. 2018. A Roadmap for Urban Evolutionary Ecology. Evolutionary Applications. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12734

Winchell et al. 2022. Moving past the challenges and misconceptions in urban adaptation research. Evolutionary Applications (in revision, likely to be out by September 2022).

Thompson et al. 2022. Phenotypic variation in urban environments: mechanisms and implications. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.09.009

Notes

Term 2023Z:

Winter semester; 2-weeks long „block” course in September (full-time for 2 weeks, 18-29/9/2023; lectures will be in the morning, practicals in the afternoon).

Term 2024Z:

Winter semester; 2-weeks long „block” course in September (full-time for 2 weeks, 16-27/09/2024; lectures will be in the morning, practicals in the afternoon).

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 1400-233UEE-OG in USOSweb