| Responsible Department | Forest & Landscape
50 % Department of Agriculture and Ecology 50 % | ||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | BSc. 3 year to Post experience Master´s Programme | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||
| Level of Course | Joint BSc and MSc | ||||||||||||||
| Examination | Continuous Assessment written examination Some Aid allowed Personal notes Description of Examination: Four smaller written exams during the course Weight: 100% 7-point scale, internal examiner | ||||||||||||||
| Requirement for Attending Exam | Active participation in a problem oriented project, carried out individually or in a group, including its presentation. Participation in minimum 75% of course exercises. | ||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Lectures, exercises, excursions and project work. | ||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 4 Week Structure: C | ||||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | None | ||||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||||
| Evolution and dynamics of biodiversity: Evolution of diversity at the species, population and individual level; population dynamics and corresponding genetic processes; ecological processes and adaptation; ecotypes and resistance co-evolution between plants and associated pests; inbreeding, genetic drift, and erosion; domestication and early improvement of crop and forest plants Genetic resources and their use: What is a genetic resource?; characterisation and selection of genetic resources for domestication, breeding and cultivation; introduction to breeding methods to use genetic resources for crop and tree breeding, and biological and technological problems associated with this. Management and conservation of biodiversity and genetic resources: Effect of land use, agriculture, forestry, breeding, and biotechnology on biodiversity and genetic resources, methods for setting priority for conservation, sound principles for seed procurement for planting programmes; ex-situ, in-situ, dynamic, and static methods for management and conservation of genetic resources; conservation in different anthropogenic and ecological contexts; political problems with transfer and the use of resources; ethical values and concerns influencing conservation and use of biodiversity and genetic resources A broad range of genetic resources will be included in the course, ranging from wild plants and relatives of cultivated plants, underutilised forest and crop species, landraces and old varieties, and exotic and non-local provenances. The cases will include many tropical and subtropical species and ecosystems. | |||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||||
| The course will incorporate of a combination of lectures, presentations and discussions of scientific articles, group exercises, excursions, and project work with individually chosen case studies. Students have to produce a poster and a short oral presentation on the topic of their project. Resource persons with expertices in specialised topics, e.g. from Nordic Gene bank, will be invited to give guest lectures. | |||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||
| The course objective is to give an overview and understanding of how natural and human-induced processes create and erode genetic diversity, how such resources can be detected and characterised, and how to manage and conserve them. We further introduce ethical values associated with the use of biodiversity and genetic resources. Focus is on trees, agricultural, and horticultural species of importance for human livelihoods. After completing the course the student should be able to: Knowledge - Identify natural and human processes creating and eroding biodiversity and genetic resources. - Describe domestication regions of major agricultural and horticultural crops. - Overview methods to characterise, use, conserve, and manage biodiversity and genetic resources - Refect about ethical values associated with biodiversity and genetic resources Skills - Demonstrate an overview of the knowledge presented and discussed in the course. - Present and discuss contents of selected scientific articles within the subject field. - Participate in discussions of presentations during the course - Communicate in writing the results of an analysis of a selected topic within the subject field Competences - Apply theory to cases of biodiversity and genetic resource concern - Discuss independently different ways to conserve and manage genetic resources - Make ethic considerations related to conservation and use of biodiversity and genetic resources - Evaluate genetic resources for future need | |||||||||||||||
| Course Literature | |||||||||||||||
| Selected scientific papers, book chapters, and case studies will read during the course | |||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||
| Thure Pavlo Hauser, tpha@life.ku.dk, Department of Agriculture and Ecology/Section of Botany, Phone: 353-32818 Erik Dahl Kjær, edk@life.ku.dk, Forest & Landscape Denmark/Arboretum, Phone: 353-31624 | |||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||
| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||||||
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