Ecology and Behavioural Ecology

Introduction to ecology: the biological control of the geochemical environment, the Gaia hypothesis;
The concept of ecosystem, biotic and abiotic components, production and decomposition, general properties, examples and classification of the ecosystems;
Energy flux through the ecosystem: entropy law, productivity in the ecosystems, methods for measuring the productivity; food chain, food web and trophic levels, ecological pyramids;
Biogeochemical cycles: general description, qualitative and quantitative approaches; classification of cycles, and examples, nutrients cycling in the tropics, the recycle index and turnover time;
Limiting factors: Liebig's low of the minimum and Shelford's low and consequences, analysis of the most important limiting factors: temperature, water, biogenic salts, light, pH, wind, fire, currents etc;
Organisms and the environment: factor compensation and ecotypes, concepts of habitat, ecological niche;
Populations and the environment: static and dynamic properties, r- and K-strategy, aggregation and Allee's principle, interactions among populations.
Community: species diversity, communities in geographical gradients, ecotones and concept of edge effect
Development of the ecosystems: the strategy of ecosystem development, concept of the climax, types of climax and ecosystem developments.

History of ethology
Proximate and ultimate causes of animal behaviour
Introduction to natural and sexual selection
Study of behaviour under a Darwinian perspective and methods of investigation
The study of behaviour applied animal conservation, human behaviour and evolutionary biology
Genes and behaviour
Environment and behaviour
Learning
Behavioural optimization and costs-benefits balance
Survival and competition: predators-prey interactions and foraging
Territoriality: resource competition and territory defence
Life in a group, altruism and sociality
Sex conflict and sexual selection
Evolution of mating systems, parent-offspring conflict, and parental care