MAOK4012 Nature in the Anthropocene
- Course codeMAOK4012
- Number of credits5
- Teaching semester2026 Autumn
- Language of instruction and examinationEnglish
- CampusEvenstad
Human presence and its negative impact on nature is documented at local, regional and global scales, affecting natural biodiversity in populations, species, and ecosystems in most biomes of our planet. The global human demography changed from only a minute population size in the time of the stone age, and increased significantly with the invention of the farming of land areas around 10 000 years before present, and has continued with a strong population growth. In the last 500 years, the human population size has grown exponentially, with a gross estimate of 11 billion people being expected to inhabit the planet earth in the year of 2100. Humans are an adaptable species due to its physiological range, technological innovations, and food production, and can live under most of the environmental conditions on the planet. The large population size demands an increasing use of natural resources for food, housing and commercial business, which has led to the strong encroachment into most ecosystems. The negative impacts of humans on nature are diverse in form and function and range from e.g. freshwater pollution, plastic contamination, habitat loss and fragmentation, rapid species extinctions, overharvesting, to the cascading effects of increasing temperature under climate change. This course will illuminate a set of cases of some well-studied and documented human impacts on nature. In light of natural selection, and eco-evolutionary processes, these cases will be studied to reflect upon the current state and future projections with regard to viability, evolution or extinction. A theoretical and empirical contrast is used in the course to view human impacts on various spatio-temporal scales, and under different structural hierarchies (ecosystems, species, meta-populations). The course will introduce population genetics as a tool for detecting negative impacts from human activities, and for detecting management units for conservation biology and wildlife management. The course ends with a seminar revealing examples of ecological impact assessment within Norway.
Learning outcome
After successful completion of the course, the student will have the following knowledge, skills, and general competence.
The student
- Acquires a broad understanding of the multi-facetted human impacts on natural ecosystems.
- Acquires a generaloverview of how the long ecological-evolutionary processes via natural selection has shaped the current biodiversity at the species level and below the species level.
- Acquires an understanding of how the presence and resource demands of humans can affect various processes of natural selection and evolution under the new selection regimes.
- Acquires an understanding of how humans can address challenges of negative interactions with natural processes, and suggest mitigating implementations in conservation biology.
- Acquires an understanding of genetics and population genetics, and how they can be used as tools for detection and mitigation in the management and protection of natural biodiversity.
- Acquires an understanding of how we can use population genetics to detect and suggest new management units based on their own evolutionary history, being essential for management.
The student
- Can identify some major sources of negative human impacts on biodiversity levels in nature.
- Can understand how population genetics are important for evaluating populations in species.
- Can understand how we contrast theory and empirical findings for assessing human impacts.
- Can critically assess various options in conservation biology and management of biodiversity.
- Can understand the process of how an ecological impact assessment is conducted in Norway.
The student
- Can understand/reflect on how humans can negatively affect biodiversity at different levels.
- Can understand/analyse challenges of small-population-issues with regard to conservation.
- Can reflect on if, and how, we should interact to conserve a potential endangered species.
- Can understand/reflect on the complexity of implementing potential mitigation measures.
- Can understand/reflect on the need to incorporate eco-evolutionary theory and solid empirical research in the assessment of negative impacts from human encroachment.
- Can understand the Norwegian procedures with regard to an ecological impact assessment.
Campus-based lectures, seminars, self-study, group work, presentations in class and class discussions. The course will draw heavily on scientific articles and technical reports as reading material and as material for discussion.
| Form of assessment | Grading scale | Grouping | Duration of assessment | Support materials | Proportion | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Written examination with supervision | ECTS - A-F | Individual | 4 Hour(s) |
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