Protection and Management of Biodiversity

The content of the course includes the following:

• Introduction

• Biodiversity (general concepts and terms, genetic diversity, diversity of species, habitats, ecosystems, landscapes, distribution of biodiversity on a global scale).

• Biodiversity values.

• Pressures - Threats of the biodiversity

• Existing conservation status

• Climate change and impacts on biodiversity

• Extinction (concepts, rates of extinction in different ecosystems)

• Conservation of populations and species - population dynamics. • Protected areas (planning and management, landscape ecology)

• Conservation outside protected areas

• The challenge of sustainable development

Laboratory exercises: Laboratory exercises include field work to various agro-ecosystems, in order to record species diversity, as well as the current status and the pressures and threats. Using this information and according to the literature management measures are proposed aiming to the maintenance of the biodiversity of agro-ecosystems.