Course description:

1.      Toxicity and its ecological implications.  Major pollutants and their entry into ecosystems. Toxic substances and pollutants of anthropogenic and natural origin.

2.      Long-range movement of pollutants in the environment.  The fate of heavy metals, organic pollutants and radioactive isotopes in contaminated ecosystems.  Symptoms and effects at the level of organisms, populations of plants and animals, communities and ecosystems.

3.      Biochemical and physiological effects of pollutants. Interactive effects of pollutants.  Pollution of agricultural and other ecosystems of economic importance by chemical compounds (pesticides, fertilisers) and by radioactivity.  Changes in population, communities and ecosystems.

4.      Bio-indicators and bio-markers.  Monitoring in situ.  Strategies of pollution control.  Toxicity and pollutant determination.

Teaching aids: "Agricultural Ecotoxicology" by G. Arapis

Examination: Written