All organisms are not equal when exposed to environmental contamination. Inter- and intra- specific variation in responses to pollutants triggers a cascade of effects, affecting biodiversity and its resilience. These effects will be presented from physiological functions up to populations demography and genetics, through life-history traits and behaviour.

Aims

To provide awareness and understanding of organisms response to environmental contamination from individual to meta-populations.

Objectives

At the end of the Unit, you should:

1. Understand the dynamics of pollutants in the living compartment of ecosystems.
2. Grasp the physiological mode of action of the main types of pollutants and their effect on traits at the level of the whole organism.
3. Project the consequences at the population level, while accounting for evolutionary forces (selection, heredity).

1st : continuous assessment

• Written theory examination (40%)
• Laboratory reports and oral presentations (60%)

2nd exam : oral presentation

By completion of University Evaluation Questionnaire by students, annual assessment by Unit Coordinator.

Topics covered include:

• Metabolism and energetic status
• Life-history strategies
• Population dynamics (including metapopulations) and demogenetics

At the end of this Unit, you should be able to:

1. Mobilize classical concepts in ecology to interpret the effect of pollutants on populations.
2. Make use of state-of-the-art modelling tools to predict the effects of pollutants on population dynamics and evolution.

• C. Newman. 2014. Fundamentals of Ecotoxicology: The Science of Pollution. CRC Press.
• C. Molles, A.A. Sher. 2018. Ecology: Concepts and Applications. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
• Jager. 2019. Making Sense of Chemical Stress. Application of Dynamic Energy Budget Theory in Ecotoxicology and Stress Ecology. Version 2.0. Leanpub. https://leanpub.com/debtox_book.