Course description:

Sampling methods. Estimating optimal sample size. Estimating the size of a population. Analysis of population fluctuations - "key factors". Dynamic interactions of populations.  Advanced models in Competition and  Predation. Functional response (I, II, III). The paradox of enrichment. Analysis of the interactions of populations with object-oriented computer programs. Metapopulation dynamic – Metapopulation and extinction risk. Empirical examples. The concept of diversity - ecological diversity - Biodiversity. Diversity indices. Rarefaction - Logarithmic series – Lognormal distribution. Measuring the significance of a species in a biotic community. Ecological data tables. Multivariate quantitative and qualitative data. Ecological similarity (Q and R analysis). Cluster analysis - dendrograms. Principal Component Analysis. Landscape. Relationships among species in space. Diversity and spatial patterns. Niche: theory and applications. Niche width – niche overlap. Measurement of food preferences. Alternative Methods of data analysis (Bootstrapping, Jackknifing, Randomization, Monte-Carlo).

Teaching Books:

"Population Ecology - Population Dynamics" by C.J. Saitanis & M.G. Karandinos

"Ecological Methods - From Theory to Application" by M.G. Karandinos

Examination: Written