Courses
Compulsory Courses
Sampling design and Data Analysis
Credits: 04 Duration: 60h¶
Course description: Sampling and experimental design. Exploratory analysis of biological data. Descriptive statistics. Statistical inference and hypothesis tests. Comparison of two samples. Variance analysis. Regression and correlation. Introduction to multivariate analysis.
Population ecology
Credits: 05 Duration: 75h
Course description: Distribution and abundance. Demography. Population growth and regulation. Population interaction. Coevolution. Evolution of life cycles. Metapopulations. Growth, competition, predation and metapopulation models.
Community and Ecosystem Ecology
Credits: 05 Duration: 75h
Course description: History. Nature of the community. The development of the concept of ecosystem. Interaction between species. Spatial patterns in communities. Diversity measures.
Food chains. Energy flow: the laws of thermodynamics, production and consumption.
Nutrient cycle and global changes. Ecological succession. Ecosystems stability. Structure, functioning and environmental change in regional systems: Brazilian Wetlands, Brazilian Savannah, Amazon Forest.
Field Ecology
Credits: 08 Duration: 180h
Course description: Training in scientific research in the field of Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation. Sampling frame and experimental frame. Scientific communication. Development of individual and group projects about ecological processes in tropical ecosystems.
Master’s Research Seminar I (Master’s)
Credits: 01 Duration: 15h
Course description: Outline and presentation of the Master’s thesis project to be assessed and preliminarily discussed with the professor in charge of the course, with the colleagues and other professors from within or without the program. The main objective is to evaluate the theoretical basis, the hypotheses and the sample framing of the Master’s thesis project, so as to suggest strategies, assess the efficiency and solve problems that might prevent the thesis to be defended within the due deadline. It is advisable to take this course in the beginning of the second semester.
Master’s Research Seminar II (Master’s)
Credits: 01 Duration: 15h
Course description: Outline and presentation of the Master’s thesis to be assessed and preliminarily discussed with the professor in charge of the course and the colleagues. The main objective is to provide the student with basic instructions to outline the thesis and the data presentation, so as to suggest strategies, assess the efficiency and solve problems that might prevent the thesis to be defended within the due deadline. It is advisable to take this course in the third semester.
Doctoral Research Seminar I (PhD)
Credits: 01 Duration: 15h¶
Course description: Outline and presentation of the PhD thesis project to be assessed and preliminarily discussed with the professor in charge of the course, with the colleagues and other professors from within or without the program. The main objective is to evaluate the theoretical basis, the hypotheses and the sample framing of the Master’s thesis project, so as to suggest strategies, assess the efficiency and solve problems that might prevent the thesis to be defended within the due deadline. It is advisable to take this course in the beginning of the second semester.
Doctoral Research Seminar II (PhD)
Credits: 01 Duration: 15h
Course description: Outline and presentation of the PhD thesis to be assessed and preliminarily discussed with the professor in charge of the course, with the colleagues and other professors from within or without the program. The main objective is to provide the student with basic instructions to outline the thesis and the data presentation, so as to suggest strategies, assess the efficiency and solve problems that might prevent the thesis to be defended within the due deadline. It is advisable to take this course in the fourth semester.
ELECTIVE COURSES
Historical Biogeography
Credits: 04 Duration: 60h
Course description: Schools of thought regarding the interpretation of geographical distributions, and their methodologies to: 1. represent and recognize distribution areas of particular taxons; 2. represent and recognize areas of endemism, distribution patterns and methodologies for biogeographic regionalization; 3. choose among candidates for processes that generate the patterns found, in order to explain them; and 4. hypotheses based on the supposition of certain processes and their consequences.
Conservation Biology¶
Credits: 04 Duration: 60h¶
Course description: Ecological concepts regarding biodiversity conservation. Composition, structure and functionality of biodiversity in different levels. Analysis of genetic diversity and its implications on characterizing biodiversity. Using molecular markers. Public policies to conserve, preserve and manage biodiversity. Ecological connectivity and hydrological connectivity. Case studies of biodiversity management in Conservation Units in Mato Grosso.
Behavioral Ecology
¶Credits: 04 Duration: 60h¶
Course description: Natural selection, ecology and behavior. Hypothesis test in Behavioral Ecology. Models in behavior studies. Methods in behavior studies. Innate or acquired behavior. Natural selection and life stories. Resources exploitation and conflictive demands. Sexual selection. Parental investment. Mating systems. Cooperation and conflict in sexual reproduction. Ecology of biological interactions.
Floodable areas ecology
¶Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
Course description: Concepts of floodable areas. Typology of floodable areas. Classification, inventory and monitoring of wetlands. Hydrology. Erosion and sedimentation. Concepts of flood pulse and perennial stream. Primary production. Nutrients cycle and energy flow. Floodable plain, ecotones and landscapes. Aquatic-Terrestrial Transition Zone (ATTZ). National and international policies and programs to conserve wetlands. The importance of the Wetland in Mato Grosso in the global context of wetlands: characteristics, challenges and conservation opportunities; public policies.
Conservation Genetics¶
Credits: 04 Duration: 60h¶
Course description: Analyzing concepts and basic methods for the evaluation of genetic diversity. Discussing the objectives and the importance of of conserving genetic resources. Relating genetic and reproductive characteristics of the species of conservation interest with the methods for sampling and maintaining germplasm collections. Comparatively analyzing conservation strategies in natural areas and in germplasm banks. Discussing phylogenetic and phylogeographic analysis methods in the conservation genetics of wild species. Presenting case studies of genetics conservation practices, focusing on the neotropics.
Introduction to Ecological Systems Modeling
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h¶
Course description: Introduction to the equations for population dynamics, exponential population growth, density-limited population growth; familiarization with difference equations and differential equations; simulation of intraspecific and interspecific interactions; equation systems for communities, simulations of communities with keystone species, simulations of impacts and their reflexes on a community; introduction to modeling in Excell and in the software Model Maker.
Statistical Methods Applied to Ecology¶
Credits: 04 Duration: 60h¶
Course description: The use of statistic methods in biological studies. Exploratory data analysis. Probability distribution (binomial, Poisson, t, chi-squared, normal). Data transformation. Parametric tests. Non-parametric tests. Frequency analysis. Analysis of spatial dependence. Curve fitting.
Scientific Writing¶
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h¶
Course description: Planning the scientific writing. Arguments: reasons for deductive or inductive arguments. Hypothesis: basis, questions; the relevance of the hypothesis: clearness, unicity and precision. Research project: context, hypothesis and objective, type of study, setting, samples, procedures, variables to be studied, statistical method, sample size. Assessing the quality of a research project. The role of the advisor and of the co-advisor. Assessing information quality. Writing and publicizing research papers. Access to libraries: libraries and scientific communication. Cataloging data and descriptors. Defending a PhD or a Master’s thesis. How to examine a PhD or a Master’s thesis. How to transform a thesis into an original paper. Ethics in research. Ethical aspects in research with animals. Publishing scientific papers: ethical commitment. Scientific communication: electronic publication. Style instructions and journal indexing. Impact factor and Qualis Capes.
Seminars I
Credits: 02 Duration: 30h
Course description: Literature review, seminars preparation and presentation on papers about hot issues in Ecology. The themes will be collectively decided among professors and students. The presentations will be open to students of the undergraduate program in Biology and of the graduate program in Ecology. The seminars will be assessed in terms of content and presentation form.
Seminars II
Credits: 02 Duration: 30h
Course description: Literature review, seminars preparation and presentation on papers about hot issues in Ecology. The themes will be collectively decided among professors and students. The presentations will be open to students of the undergraduate program in Biology and of the graduate program in Ecology. The seminars will be assessed in terms of content and presentation form.
Phylogenetic Systematics
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
Course description: Theory of Phylogenetic systematics and comparison with other classification schools. Methods do develop cladograms. Machine learning for phylogenetic analyses. Phylogenetic systematics in the evolution of characters and biogeography.
Ordination Techniques for Ecology
Credits: 04 Duration: 60h
Course description: Patterns in community structures. Direct gradient analyses. Similarity matrix. Indirect ordination. Eigen analyses. Multidimensional scaling analysis. Data transformation. Mantel test. Partial Mantel test. Spatial autocorrelation. Direct and indirect inferential analyses. Classification. Simulation of data arrays and data analysis.
Topics in Ecology I
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
¶Course description: Theoretical and practical course, mainly a refresher one, to present and discuss the most recent themes, theories and analysis methods in Ecology. The course can be given by any professor, from the regular faculty of the program or from another program/institution.
Topics in Ecology II
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
¶Course description: Theoretical and practical course, mainly a refresher one, to present and discuss the most recent themes, theories and analysis methods in Ecology. The course can be given by any professor, from the regular faculty of the program or from another program/institution.
Topics in Ecology III
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
¶Course description: Theoretical and practical course, mainly a refresher one, to present and discuss the most recent themes, theories and analysis methods in Ecology. The course can be given by any professor, from the regular faculty of the program or from another program/institution.
Topics in Ecology IV
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
¶Course description: Theoretical and practical course, mainly a refresher one, to present and discuss the most recent themes, theories and analysis methods in Ecology. The course can be given by any professor, from the regular faculty of the program or from another program/institution.
Topics in Systematics and Biogeography I
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
¶Course description: Theoretical and practical course, mainly a refresher one, to present and discuss the most recent themes, theories and analysis methods in Systematics and Biogeography. The course can be given by any professor, from the regular faculty of the program or from another program/institution.
Topics in Systematics and Biogeography II
Credits: 03 Duration: 45h
¶Course description: Theoretical and practical course, mainly a refresher one, to present and discuss the most recent themes, theories and analysis methods in Systematics and Biogeography. The course can be given by any professor, from the regular faculty of the program or from another program/institution.