280145 LP MA-ERD-W-3.26 Conservation Paleobiology and Historical Ecology (PI) (2022S)

This course aims at introducing students to the emerging discipline of conservation paleobiology – the use of the historical data and fossil record to address questions on biological conservation. Humans have altered ecosystems for millennia, but in contrast, even the most extensive systematic monitoring rarely encompasses more than the past few decades. Consequently, meaningful benchmarks are hard to define quantitatively and we face challenges to separate anthropogenic impacts from the natural dynamics of ecosystems. Paleoecological data can provide high-resolution records of ecosystem change and variation on timescales well beyond the limits of ecological monitoring, enabling the reconstruction of ecological baselines and the long-term trajectories of ecosystem states.

This course will address the fundamental concepts of conservation paleobiology and its applications to habitat restoration, invasion biology and biodiversity management. It includes practicals to familiarize students with the type of materials and samples and to learn the foundations of data analysis in the statistical programming language R. Eventually, the student will have acquired knowledge on the importance of the time perspective in conservation biology and the necessary skills to put to work the historical and fossil record for conservation science.

The course will address conservation paleobiology approaches in both marine and terrestrial systems, with particular focus on marine invertebrates, fishes and the archeozoological record of vertebrates.

The course will relay on e-learning activities including live streaming of the lectures. Course materials will be available online on Moodle.