The course of Vertebrates of Forest Ecosystems aims to provide knowledge and develop understanding on:
- the general morphological organization of vertebrates;
- the general characteristics (morphology, biology, ecology) and taxonomic diversity of fish sensu lato (with notes on freshwater fish of the Italian fauna);
- the general characteristics (morphology, biology, ecology) and taxonomic diversity of amphibians, with particular regard to the urodelan and anuran amphibians of the Italian (and South European) fauna;
- the general characteristics (morphology, biology, ecology) and taxonomic diversity of reptiles, with particular regard to the terrestrial and freshwater species of the Italian (and South European) fauna;
- the general characteristics (morphology, biology, ecology) and taxonomic diversity of birds, with particular regard to the avifauna of forest and mountain environments; notes on the birds of Italian wetland and coastal areas;
- the general characteristics (morphology, biology, ecology) and taxonomic diversity of mammals, with particular attention to forest and mountain environments; notes on marine mammals of the Mediterranean Sea.
We also intend to provide knowledge and understanding applied to the main problems of biogeography of the terrestrial vertebrates of the Italian fauna and to the main problems applied to the conservation of the terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates of the Italian fauna (extinct species, threatened species, alien species, invasive species).
It is also intended to develop the student's independent judgment through the examination of some case studies (e.g. forest rodents, invasive species, conservation, insular environments).
The aim is to develop the student's communication skills through the preparation of a power point on a topic of choice to be presented in the exam.
The ability to learn will also be stimulated through classroom dialogue and discussion with the teacher during the course.

The exam can be prepared on the slides shown in class, which the teacher will make available to the student. For some topics scientific articles and in-depth essays could be made available.