Main aims of this course are: (1) to understand the mechanisms underlying bioviersity patterns in the marine environment; (2) to learn about characteristics and consequences of human impact on all levels of marine biodiversity; (3) to know the conservation strategies suitable to preserve and restore marine biodiversity at population, species and ecosystem level.

Knowledge and Understanding
The acquired knowledge will concern the main anthropogenic impacts causing the current massive loss of biodiversity in the marine environment, besides the most important management and conservation strategies to counteract this loss. Furthermore, students will learn how the different levels of hierarchical organization of marine biodiversity respond differentially to the same impacts and how this requires to differentiate conservation strategies to be effective. This objective is reflected in the organization of the program which runs through the hierarchical scale of biodiversity organization (genetics, populations, ecosystems), providing for each level both basic scientific knowledge and the examination of numerous case studies. In this way, students will develop the ability to both understand complex phenomena and plan articulated management strategies.

Applied Knowledge and Understanding
The knowledge acquired will be applied on the management and conservation strategies to be implemented to protect marine biodiversity. Comprehension skills will be applied by encouraging students to deal with real case studies.

Independent Evaluation
The ability to formulate independent evaluations will be exercised thanks to the interdisciplinary and multilevel reasoning required by this discipline and by the analysis of the case studies proposed, that need the merging of complex and heterogeneous data to be understood.

Communication skills
These skills will be developed through the exercise of one's own expression (interventions during the lessons) and in the coordination of group activities, especially during numerical exercises.

Ability to learn
The many concepts learned and the connections linking them all will stimulate a “learning-by-reasoning” process, essential to fully understand ecological mechanisms.