Teacher
|
CHIOCCHIO Andrea
(syllabus)
Biogeography, definitions and background; history of biogeography; zoogeography and phytogeography. The distribution of species: concept of range and concept of species; geographical and ecological limits of species range; evolution of the species range through time; representation of the species range; distribution patterns and chorotypes; endemism and biodiversity hotspots. Processes determining species distribution: dispersal and migration, speciation and vicariance, extinction, evolutionary radiation; biogeographical barriers and corridors. Effect of climate change on species distribution: Pleistocene glacial cycles; glacial refuges; pre-Pleistocene climate changes; geological and climatic changes, continental drift. Methods for studying biogeography: from fossils to genes; phylogeography. The biogeographical regions: Palearctic, Nearctic, Neotropical, Afrotropical, Oriental, Australian, Antarctic; sub-regions, the western Palearctic and the Mediterranean region; transition zones, the Panama isthmus and the Wallacea. Island biogeography: colonization, the species-area-distance relationships; insular equilibrium and turnover; the MacArthur-Wilson model; main features of insular species. Introduction to Marine Biogeography. Biogeography of the Italian fauna and flora: history, patterns, areas of biogeographical interest, refuges and hotspots, secondary contact zones. Applied biogeography and conservation: the impact of human activities and climate change on species distribution; biological invasions; new frontiers of biogeography.
(reference books)
Lomolino, M. V., Riddle, B. R., & Whittaker, R. J. (2017). Biogeography. Sinauer.
|