Corso di Laurea in Produzioni e Gestione degli Animali in Allevamento e Selvatici - PGAAS

The conservation of the biodiversity of freshwater environments, which is showed in the large number of autochthonous and endemic species in Italy, is the central topic of the teaching and contributes to the achievement of the main educational objective of the PGAAS fauna curriculum. The teaching, provide to the future technician, the basic knowledge of the ecology of lentic and lotic environments, with a deeper knowledge of fish fauna and biodiversity of aquatic organisms. By means of training and fieldwork, a further objective is to provide basic experiences, cultural tools and the use of appropriate technical terminology that are focal for the professions of ichthyologist and hydro-biologist, carrying out sampling and monitoring in the field, collect data and apply the results, in the conservation and management of native aquatic fauna and freshwater habitats. These objectives is mainly achieved through lectures, exercises in the classroom but also in the field and at affiliated structures. Lectures and exercises can also be held in remote synchronous mode and/or asynchronous activities on the eLearning platform, by individual and/or collaborative work.

The didactic approach employed aims to reinforce at least the necessary digital competence and ability, to make cooperative study known and appreciated, but above all to enable students to "learn to learn". In the professional activity, the skill that is most important to acquire, is the ability to keep up-to-date, know how to learn new things and know how to deepen them. Within the Learning Units that connect to other disciplines of the wildlife curriculum, the teaching function of knowledge transfer is always present, which is accompanied by a reinforced training function; therefore, some activities are proposed in order to convey the importance of learning to learn allowing a personalized learning path to intercept specific interests of each student.

Knowledge of the genesis, evolution and ecology of lentic and lotic aquatic environments. Knowledge of environmental changes and of the anthropic exploitation of resources that produce impact on aquatic fauna. Basic knowledge of river restoration techniques. Knowledge of methodologies, tools, instruments and the practical implementation of protocols for assessing the biological quality of water. Ability to recognize the main native and non-native fish species. Knowledge of fish anatomy and reproduction; practical knowledge of artificial fertilization in supportive breeding for conservation purposes. Critical ability to evaluate the forms of exploitation of water resources and related impacts. Knowledge of the impact of sport fishing practiced in fresh waters. Ability to produce an in-depth study of at least one teaching topic, ability to expose and discuss it. In addition, students will taught how correctly use all the personal protective equipment to access the fieldwork and sampling areas. Students are exercised to recognize and evaluate structures and activities, which produce anthropic impact on aquatic environments; at the end of training in the fieldwork, students are able to recognize the different freshwater fish species and show that they have learned basic manual skills in the execution of the artificial reproduction of salmonids for conservation purposes. The acquisition of the skills referred to in the CdS Portfolio (course code: VET0066) is expected.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITIES
Knowledge of methods aimed to the management of the aquatic ecosystems and the conservation of native fish species.

KNOWLEDGE APPLICATION AND UNDERSTANDING SKILLS
Evaluation of the impacts resulting from human activities that reduce the physical and environmental diversity of ecosystems. Tools and techniques for the sampling and census of ichthyofauna and macrobenthos; ability to use different methods for the assessment of environmental quality and biological indicators (I.B.E. and fish indices).

JUDGMENT ABILITIES
Fieldwork experience, ability for the critical evaluation of spot and global environmental issues, by means of multidisciplinary approaches.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Students will be introduced to use interactive techniques in scientific comunications and divulgative reports, and stimulated to collaborate in a team for the organization of discussion sessions and journal club, in which in turn, each student plays the role of leader in a research group.

LEARNING SKILLS
Multi teachers lectures and teaching by means of interactive approaches are proposed to stimulate the ability to learn theoretical concepts conveyed through lectures, methodological concepts through the attendance in real fieldwork sessions, practical skills through active and direct participation in simulated fieldwork or carried out in valley hatchery activities.

During the practical exercises that are carried out mainly in the field, prevention and the correct use of personal protective equipment, methods and good practices for accessing and carrying out work safely in aquatic environments with equipment for electric fishing. Qualitative and quantitative sampling techniques of fish species are taught and practiced. The sampling techniques of benthic invertebrates and the applications of biotic indices are taught and practiced. Students are trained to use dichotomous keys for the recognition of fish species and the main taxon of aquatic macro invertebrates. At fish facilities for the production of native species for supportive breeding purposes (valley hatcheries) that host the exercise activities, students must demonstrate that they have acquired the basic manual skills to be able to perform the artificial fertilization of the native specie S. marmoratus. During the exercises, the acquisition of the skills listed in the Portfolio of the CdS (course code: VET0066) are verified.

The Freshwater Ecology exam assigns 7 CFU with a single grade expressed out of thirty, resulting from the assessments of 3 distinct parts (A, B and C), for each of which a grade must be assigned by the examination commission between the minimum of 18/30 and the maximum of 30/30.

1. part A) written paper, individual, on an in-depth topic chosen by the Student. It must be sent at least 12 days before the appeal date; the grade of part A is communicated to candidate by the examination commission at the end of the individual oral test.
2. part B) individual written test, which includes 40 questions mostly with multiple choice. For each correct answer given, the maximum achievable score is defined based on the difficulty of the question itself and penalties can be assigned for answers given incorrectly. The individual test can be in the form of a quiz on the eLearning platform (moodle).
3. part C) individual oral test (in English language if required), usually starting with a concise presentation by candidate of the written paper (part "A"), to introduce into a wider discussion by mean of transversal connections with other arguments of the CM VET0066 program, allowing the examination commission to evaluate the degree of knowledge and skills acquired by the candidate.

Exam mark out of thirty = (0.60A + 0.90B + 1.50C) / 3

An information file with further important details and answers to FAQ is available among the didactic material.

An intermediate evaluation test can usually be done during the lesson period; Participation is optional.

The intermediate evaluation test contribute to the grade of part "B" of the final exam, according to the following formula:

total grade for the part "B" of the exam = 0.50 intermediate test grade + 0.50 grade for the individual written test carried out during the final exam

All the optional activities proposed on the eLearning platform is commented and evaluated by the teachers, and can allow to achieve an elevation on the final exam grade up to a maximum of 1,50 points out of 30.

Working students in particular are invited to contact the teachers if necessary

Registration is higly recomended (icon in the middle, at the bottom of the info web page of the course); Students can then be promptly kept informed of changes and shifts of lectures and training sessions which are higly subject to delay and shift of date, basing on weather forecasting. IMPORTANT: Please, check and follow the instructions for preparation, timing and how to send the elaborate to the Commission. Instructions are available and downloadable among the teaching material as well.
As much as possible, bus drivers and costs for for field exercises and practices are supported by the Department, but students are advised that it may also be necessary to pay some costs and to travel by their own car.