AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Acquisition of the approaches of seascape ecology, with special concern to coastal marine habitats. Development of the capacity of understanding of the terminology and language typical of the discipline and elaboration and rendering of information useful for the study, characterization and management of the seascape.

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lectures

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Definition and scope of seascpe ecology. Concept of landscape. Ecological processes and spatial organization. Eterogeneity, fragmentation, omogeneization. Patches, matrices, corridors. Landscape indices. Fractal theory. Connection and connectivity. Metapopulations and metacommunity. Spatially explicit criteria. Scale; extension and resolution. Seascape, reefscape, benthoscape. Marine spatial planning. Semiotics and diagnostics of the seascape. Ecosystem status assessment. Marine environmental mapping. Diachronic maps. Remote sensing. Acoustic methods. Seatruth. Approach to the habitat, with special attention to the marine habitas of conservation interest according to the European Union: seagrass meadows, estuaries and lagoons, reefs, submerged marine caves. Principles and methods of the cartographic rendering of the seascape. Geographical Information Systems and thier use for the analysis and management of the seascape.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The basic didactic stuff is represented by personal notes and the material available on AulaWeb. To the examination purpose, it is recommended reading an article at choice among those put at disposal. As consultation textbook, to integrate the contents of the lectures, the following is suggested:

O. Musard, L. Le Dû-Blayo, P. Francour, J.P. Beurier, E. Feunteun, L. Talassinos. Underwater Seascapes. From Geographical to Ecological Perspectives. Springer International Publishing, 291 pp. ISBN 978-3-319-03439-3