20907 Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

Credits: 3 advanced seminar credits in Life Sciences

Prerequisites: 36 credits in the Sciences, including General Biology I, General Biology II, and Ecology. Students must also fulfill all English requirements and take bibliographic instruction in the Library.

Recommended: One of the following: Plants and Vegetation, Faunistics of Vertebrates in Israel, Insects, Field Laboratory: The Social Life of the Arabian Babbler, Selected Topics in Animal Behavior

In recent decades, scientists have become deeply concerned with the rapid and drastic decrease in habitats and species diversity. During the 1980s, a new science was born – conservation biology – that explores the reasons for the biodiversity crisis and aspects of biodiversity conservation. The course provides extensive background and discussions on how humans impact biodiversity and the possibilities for conserving biodiversity. Examples from a wide range of organisms and ecosystems are discussed.

The course illustrates how ecological principles studied in Ecology (20412) serve as a basis for planning application research in various areas, such as managing open spaces, species conservation and planning environmental projects.

The course includes a field trip to the Ramat Hanadiv Park.

Topics: Human impact on habitat destruction and disturbance; Invasive species; Overexploitation; Problems of small populations; Selection of protected areas; Design and management of protected areas; Protecting species – in situ, ex situ; Landscape scale conservation; Ecological restoration; Biodiversity under climate change.