Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
3 credits
24.0 h + 12.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Van Dyck Hans;
Language
French
Main themes
1) History of behavioural ecology
2) Major concepts of behavioural ecology
3) Functional and mechanistic aspects of the study of behaviour
4) Theory, applications and discussion about a selection of issues (e.g. Living in group, Fight and assessment, Sexual conflict and sexual selection, Communication and the evolution of signals)
5) Behaviour and conservation biology
6) Behavioural ecology of the human species
Aims
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 | Behavioural ecology adopts an evolutionary approach for the study of behaviour; the relationships between behaviour, ecology and evolution are explored in this field of biology. The general objective is to develop a conceptual framework for studying and understanding animal behaviour from an ecological and evolutionary perspective. Students will be trained to formulate and test hypotheses by carefully analyzing and discussing observational and experimental behavioural ecological studies. |
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
This teaching unit focuses on the analysis and understanding of the approaches of behavioural ecology. The topcis that are covered include: 1) the history of behavioural ecology; 2) basic concepts of behavioural ecology; 3) functional and mechanistic factors explaining animal behaviour; 4) theory, applications and discussion of the approaches in this field applied to a selection of topics (p.ex. living in group, fights and evaluation - sexual conflict and sexual selection, communication and evalution of signals); and 5) behaviour and conservation.
Teaching methods
This teaching unit has two parts. There are lectures based on a series of PowerPoint presentations with frequent discussions with the students. There is also an individual practical part; each student has to prepare a report on a given topic within the field of restoration ecology. The presentations are available on the Moodle website of this teaching unit, as well as the information about the report and a number of scientific papers.
Evaluation methods
There is a written exam on the theoretical part of the lectures with open questions (comprehension questions). For the practical course, the student has to prepare a report according to our guidelines. The theoretical exam counts for 75% of the final mark, the report for 25%. The student needs to get a sufficient score or mark (10/20 or more) for each part. It will not be tolerated to compensate an insufficient mark on one of the parts by a sufficient mark on the other.
Online resources
Moodle website
Faculty or entity
BIOL
