Biodiversity

This is an introductory course on biodiversity. The course is offered at the University of Evry/Paris-Saclay.

Description

• Definition
  (Genetic diversity, species diversity, ecological diversity, speciation, extinction and the birth-death model, background extinction rate, mass extinction, biodiversity hotspot)
• Ecosystem functions and services
  (Definition, natural capital, pollination service, food and feed service)
• Biodiversity threats and risks
  (Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, theory of island biogeography, species area relationship, species distribution, endemics-area curve, forest loss, invasive species, types of biodiversity pollution, dose-response relationship, air quality standards, cost of pollution, overexploitation in aquatic systems, overexploitation in tropical forests, freshwater, mathematical models of population and resource ecology with harvesting, climate change)
• Biodiversity measurement
  (Essential biodiversity variables, MSA, PDF, BII, STAR, commercial solutions)
• Biodiversity governance and regulation
  (Convention of Biodiversity CBD, Aichi targets, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework GBF, IPBES, TNFD)
• Investment approaches
  (Financial instruments, avoid-minimize-restore-offset approach, impact investing)
• Exercises
  1. Calculating the prevalence of undernourishment
  2. Calculating the species-area relationship using the theory of island biogeography
  3. Species abundance models
  4. Valuation of risks of life and health

Materials

• Download the lecture notes on biodiversity (266 pages)
• Download the presentation slides (538 pages)

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