PLANT BIODIVERSITY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2021/2022
- Teacher
- RENATO GERDOL
- Credits
- 6
- Curriculum
- BIODIVERSITA' ED EVOLUZIONE
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/02
Training objectives
- The main goal of the course is to provide the basic tools for understanding and assessing plant diversity on a taxonomic ground. The course deals with all taxa of autotrophic plants and also provides basic knowledge of micro-organisms and fungi.
The specific objectives of the course are:
• Knowing the principles of Plant Taxonomy.
• Knowing taxonomic characters and scientific nomenclature of taxa.
• Knowing the taxonomy of the main groupings of plants, micro-organisms and fungi.
• Possessing the techniques and methods of plant classification.
• Acquiring a good knowledge of the vascular species native to the Italian territory. Prerequisites
- Previous attending of specific courses is not mandatoru. However, knowledge of Plant Biology is compulsory for a full understanding of this course.
In particular, basic knowledge is required of:
• Plant cell biology.
• Plant morphology.
• Biochemistry of chemical compounds in plant tissues.
• Principles of plant physiology.
• Principle of plant genetics. Course programme
- The course consists in 50 hours of teaching activities, including both frontal lessons (42 hours) and practical activities (8 hours).
Theory
Principles of plant taxonomy (6 hours).
Taxonomic characters, classification systems, nomenclature rules, Reproduction mechanisms and metagenetic cycles.
Micro-organisms (2 hours).
Archaebacteria, Eubacteria (Bacteriophyta; Cyanobacteriophyta: Chroococcales, Hormogonales).
Fungi (8 hours).
Eukaryota. Myxomycota, Oomycota, Eumycota (Chitridiomycetes; Zygomycetes; Ascomycetes: Saccharomycetales, Endomycetales, Eurotiales, Dothideales, Pezizales; Basidiomycetes: Heterobasidiomycetidae, Homobasidiomycetidae; Fungi imperfecti).
Algae (6 hours).
Heterocontophyta (Bacillariophyceae: Centrales, Pennales; Chrysophyceae; Phaeophyceae: Ectocarpales, Laminariales, Fucales); Rhodophyta (Rhodophyceae); Chlorophyta (Chlorophyceae: Volvocales, Chlorococcales, Ulvales, Conjugales, Siphonales, Charales).
Lichens (2 hours)
Principles of taxonomy and identification of lichens.
Bryophytes and ferns (4 hours)
Bryophyta (Bryopsida, Marchantiopsida); Pteridophyta (Psilotopsida; Lycopodiopsida; Equisetopsida; Filicopsida).
Seed plants (14 hours)
Coniferophytina: Ginkgoopsida, Pinopsida; Cycadophytina: Gnetopsida, Cycadopsida; Magnoliophytina: Magnoliopsida, Liliopsida).
The main angiosperm families in the Italian flora: Ranunculaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Fagaceae, Betulaceae, Ulmaceae, Rosaceae, Fabaceae, Aceraceae, Apiaceae, Salicaceae, Brassicaceae, Ericaceae, Oleaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Cichoriaceae, Liliaceae, Poaceae, Orchidaceae, Cyperaceae.
Practical activities
Observation of living plants in the Botanical Garden (4 hours).
Collection and identification of native vascular plants (4 hours). Didactic methods
- The teaching activites are organized as follows:
• Frontal lessons addressing theory of plant taxonomy.
• Practical activities in the Botanic Garden with observation of living plants.
• Practical activities (in the field and in lab) with collection and subsequent identification of native vascular plants. Learning assessment procedures
- The aim of the examination is to verify to what extent the learning objectives have been reached by the student. The exam consists in two parts.
• Oral discussion of theoretical topics.
• Practical test based on the identification of native vascular plants.
The minimum score to pass the exam is 18/30. In case of failure the exam can be repeated at any time. The exam score is partitioned as follows: 20/30 to the oral discussion and 10/30 to the practical test. The exam is not positive if the student scores < 10/30 in the oral discussion or < 5/30 in the practical test. Reference texts
- The teacher’s handouts are only suited as a trace for selecting the items to be considered during the examination. In-depth study on modern taxonomic textbooks is compulsory. Most of the topics can be found in:
Strasburger: Trattato di Botanica, parte sistematica. Antonio Delfino Editore.
