B015441 - CAMPO MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD STAGE

Italian

The activity of the Multidisciplinary Field of Natural Sciences consists of naturalistic observations, exercises and elaborations concerning the geological, botanical and zoological aspects of an assigned area.

textbooks used in the Courses of Geology, Botany and Zoology. Technical and didactic notes

Learning of the most common methods of field (abiotic and biotic) data sampling for environmental surveys. Students will learn how to elaborate the data and produce a final report, including thematic maps using GIS softwares.

Students are expected to have already attended courses in geology, zoology and botany. Having passed at least one exam in each discipline is strongly recommended.

Lectures, field lessons and demonstrations on data sampling and on data elaboration. After a two days introduction to the naturalistic features of the area, students will be working in small groups, each conducting a survey on a portion of the study area.

Report about the naturalistic features of the assigned area and production of thematic maps.

The Multidisciplinary Field of Natural Sciences consists of a 10-day experience of naturalistic surveys in a Natural Park of Tuscany. After a general introduction to the main features of the area by lectures, groups of 3-5 students will carry out geological and botanic surveys of an area covering one square kilometer. Data will be used to realize a geological map, its geological section and a vegetation map. Different sampling methods will be applied to study invertebrates from different habitats present in the areaand the abundance of the identified taxa will be used to elaborate biodiversity indexes. More abundant bird and/or mammal species will be censed through standard methods.
The most important relationship among the geological, botanic and animal components will be studied.

Students are expected to synthesize the results in a final report including texts, cartographic and graphics products, as well as general conclusions derived from the elaboration of the acquired data.