| Responsible Department | Department of Agriculture and Ecology | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | BSc. 2 year | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Level of Course | Joint BSc and MSc | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination oral examination Practical Examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: The exam will consist of Individual oral presentation of a short report on experimental work. Each student will be asked questions directly related to the report and questions related to the the overall curriculum of the course pass/fail, internal examiner | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Requirement for Attending Exam | Completition of report for oral presentation | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 2 Week Structure: B | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | LBIB10127 The course is planned for both KU LIFE students, students from other faculties and foreign students. Therefore, the recommended prerequisites as written as named courses can be difficult to specify. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | Max 20 participants due to laboratory facilities | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||||||||||
| General part: The course will include all four strategies for biological control of pests: classical, inoculation, inundation, and conservation The major groups of organisms used in biological control will be presented: their ecology, life cycles, mechanisms of action etc. Organisms considered include predators, parasitoids, microorganisms, nematodes, vertebrates Methods for isolation and selection of biological control organisms as well as application methods will be discussed. Also included are monitoring populations and activity levels of biological control agents following application to the crop and release into the environment. Other key words include: Natural regulation of pests Risk assessment of biological control organisms, legislation and BCA registration. Ethical aspects and public acceptance. Cases on practical application of biological control within agriculture, horticulture, forestry, husbandry, urban environment and other managed landscapes. Experimental part The students will perform a limited set of experiments related to biological control. Examples are: * Characterization of insect pathenic fungi * Insect prey and insect predator interactions (behaviour etc) * Action of insect parasitic nematodes * Bio-assays using microorganisms for biological control A limited treatment of data and discussion in relation to relevant literature will be included in the student report | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The teaching and learning methods will include: Lectures: overview of strategies, organisms involved, history of biocontrol, methodologies Theoretical exercises involving: discussion of orginal scientific literature with emphasis on conceptual elements and case studies Practicals: limited experimental work in teams, by selecting from a set of options. The experiments should be performed by setting up hypothesis for discussion. The options include for example: Interaction between predator and prey, natural occurence of insect pathogenic fungi and nematodes, bio-assays using microorganisms, characterization of biocontrol organisms, bioimaging of infection processes. Colloquia: The participants decide with the main teacher about content and form of colloquia. Excursion: one field sampling excursion to find and diagnose natural enemies of pests (mainly arthropods) Supervision: each team in the laboratory will be supervised concerning methodology, data collection and treatment and discussion Preparation: for theoretical excercises, colloquia and practicals, preparation in term of literature reading is needed. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Knowledge After completition of the course the students should be able to: * Can describe and understand the strategies used in biological control * Know about about can describe the main types of organisms used for or of potential interest for biological control * Describe methods used for diagnostics, isolation, characterization, bio-assays and field experiments of relevance for biological control Skills * Ability to select an organism for biological control in a specified system * Ability to select relevant methods to study the interactions between biocontrol organism, target host and environment * Ability to analyse and decide about potential risks using biological control both in a specified system and in a more general context * Ability to use scientific literature to discuss own data Competences * Ability to transfer the knowledge into other decision processes about multitrophic interactions of ecological relevance * Ability to perform and analyse experimental work including two or three organisms * Ability to transfer the knowledge into other decision processes involving cross diciplinary elements, for example: biology, managed systems, and ethics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Literature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hajek, A., 2004: Natural enemies. Cambridge University Press Kompendium material/photocopies of scientific articles Manuals for practicals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Jørgen Eilenberg, jei@life.ku.dk, Department of Agriculture and Ecology/Section of Zoology, Phone: 353-32692 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||||||||||||
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