autumn 2023
BIO-3019 Quantitative methods for molecular systematics and biodiversity analyses - 10 ECTS
Course content
Biodiversity research addresses how new species are formed, the genetic, ecological and evolutionary processes that maintain such a wide variety of organisms, and why organisms become extinct. Our knowledge of diversity is structured through the study of systematics, which seeks to understand the history of life through the phylogenetic and genetic relationships of organisms. With a focus on arctic biodiversity, we are taking a historical perspective, which helps to interpret current patterns and project into the future. At the core of this approach are phylogenetic trees and ‘tree thinking’ for the synthesis of genetic data and other biological and comparative observations. An appreciation of diversity and knowledge of the principles and procedures of systematics are essential in ecology, and underlie all work in resource utilization and conservation biology. The course is taught jointly by researchers from The Arctic University Museum, UiT and leading experts in arctic biodiversity from other research institutions. The course comprises lectures and seminars, laboratory DNA analysis and phylogenetic data analysis practicals in R/R studio and MEGA. The course builds solid foundation relevant to various biological research tasks, which can be further advanced via other courses in Biosystematics run at UiT, eg BIO-8024 and BIO-8025, as well as those run by the Research School in Biosystematics (FORBIO) http://www.forbio.uio.no/events/.Objectives of the course
After the course, the students should have knowledge about:
- You learn fundamental principles and theories about biodiversity patterns and genetic, ecological and evolutionary processes behind them, with a focus on Arctic region. You also learn about key components of systematics: taxonomy (identification and nomenclature) and principles of biological classification.
Skills
- You will acquire laboratory (DNA extraction, PCR and sequencing) skills for implementing DNA barcoding and quantitative analytical skills for tree building and multivariate ordination for morphometric and species community comparisons.
General competence
- You will be able to evaluate a scientific problem and to set up and implement problem-solving strategy of experiments or observations. Interpret available data and effectively communicate relevant answer to the question and suggest solutions, in an academic context as well as in practical applications.
Information to incoming exchange students
This course is open for inbound exchange students who meet the admission requirements. Please see the Admission requirements" section.
Do you have questions about this module? Please check the following website to contact the course coordinator for exchange students at the faculty: https://en.uit.no/education/art?p_document_id=510412
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- About the course
- Campus: Tromsø |
- ECTS: 10
- Course code: BIO-3019
- Responsible unit
- Department of Arctic and Marine Biology
- Questions about the course
- E-post: ambstudie@hjelp.uit.no
- Contact persons
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