Geobotany

Facilitate the basic knowledge of geobotany and its terminology.
Create the basis for the development of critical capacity and synthesis of the information obtained, by means of the consultation of diverse sources.
To encourage research capacity in Geobotany.

Lectures (26 hours) (Face-to-face teaching. Non-compulsory attendance)

Thematic Block 1 (8 hours. Units 1-5): Historical development of geobotany or plant biogeography. Key conceptual elements to understand the distribution of species in space and time. The ecological niche.
1: Introduction to geobotany. The ecological or environmental niche (2 hours)
2: Subdisciplines of geobotany: Chorology, areography, phytocenology and phytoecology (2 hours)
3: Historical Geobotany: Evolutionary Biogeography of Plants (1 hour)
4: Historical development of geobotany. Main schools and debates ( hours)
5: Biogeography. New developments: phylogeography, macroecology, landscape ecology (1 hour)

Thematic Block 2 (10 hours. Units: 6-10): Patterns of distribution, diversification and biogeographical processes. Types of areas, endemic factors and biogeographic and evolutionary processes that give rise to the patterns. Disjunctions and routes of dispersion.
6: Types of areas. Natural and non-natural areas. Archaeophytes vs. neophytes (2 hours) 7: Endemic area and patterns of biodiversity (2 hours)
8: The Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot and biogeographical approaches. Phylogenetic endemism and phylogenetic diversity. types of endemism. Evolutionary processes (2 hours)
9: Iberian plant endemism. Environmental Promoting Factors and Spatial Patterns (2 hours)
10: Disjunct biogeographic patterns. Explanatory processes: extinction, adaptation, migration. Dispersion and vicariance (2 hours)

Thematic Block 3 (8 hours. Topics: 11-14): The influence of past and present climate on the configuration of current floras. Bioclimatological classifications and biomes. Phytoclimatology, Iberian biogeographical units and Iberian and Galician vegetation.
11: Bioclimatology. The influence of the climate. Evolution of vegetation and climatic change in the Tertiary and Quaternary. Last glacial maximum and late glaciar processes. The Holocene (2 hours)
12: Global climatic patterns. Bioclimatic classifications and biomes (2 hours)
13: Phytoclimatology and geobotany. The Salvador Rivas Martínez’s school. Bioclimates, thermotypes, ombrotypes and vegetation series (1 hour)
14: Phytogeographic regionalization and main Galician vegetation units (3 hours)

Interactive field trip (11 hours) (face-to-face): A full-day field practice will be carried out, leaving in the morning and returning in the afternoon, in the eastern part of Galicia to analyse temperate mountain plant communities (around O Cebreiro and Caurel) and ecological areas of Mediterranean climatic influence (Serra da Enciña da Lastra).

Interactive field work and classroom (4 hours) (face-to-face): Analysis of the spontaneous urban flora of Santiago de Compostela, used as an educational tool in geobotany. A tour of different habitats with urban vegetation is carried out, offering a biogeographical and ecological interpretation. Students will have to choose different areas and work in groups based on a series of questions related to the subject, carrying out a project on a citizen science platform oriented towards biodiversity. Alternatively, if conditions make it advisable, this activity could be substituted by a 4-hour seminar, where plant diversity databases are handled and analyses on the biogeography

Tutorials (1 hour) (Face-to-face) Doubt resolution

Exam (3 hours).

BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alcaraz, F. 1999. Manual de Teoría y Práctica de Geobotánica. Editorial DM. Colección Texto – Guía. ICE. Univ. Murcia.
Barry Cox, C., Moore, P.D., Ladle, R.J. 2016. Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach. 9th Edition. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 978-1-118-96857-4.

Peinado, M. & Rivas Martínez (Eds.) 1987. La vegetación de España. Colección Aula Abierta, 3, Serv. Publ. Univ. Alcalá de Henares. Alcalá de Henares.


COMPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blanco, E. et al. 1996. Los Bosques ibéricos. Una interpretación geobotánica. Ed. Planeta, Barcelona
Loidi, J. 2017. The vegetation of the Iberian Peninsula. Vol. 1 & 2 Plant and Vegetation, Springer Nature.
Thompson, J.D. (2007) Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean. Oxford Scholarship Online. ISBN-13: 9780198515340. Rull, V. 2020. Quaternary Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-820473-3

ONLINE RESOURCES:
http://www.biodiversidade.eu
http://www.bosquesdegalicia.es/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233755631_ Biogeografia_ Capitulo_45

Knowledge: Con03, Con04
Skills/Skills: H/D01, H/D06, H/D07, H/D10
Competences: Com01, Comp03, Comp05, Comp06

a) Theoretical programme. The methodology will be that of a master class, where the lecturer will present the subject with audiovisual presentations, which will be available on the Virtual Campus once they have been presented in class. In the classes, student participation will be encouraged, with frequent questions and the occasional establishment of short debates on aspects of the subject.
(Classroom teaching. Attendance is not compulsory).
A control of the theoretical contents may be carried out after two thirds of the course, with a format similar to that of the final exam. Its purpose is to familiarise students with this format and to assess whether there are any gaps in knowledge that need to be reviewed, and it is in itself a pedagogical tool. Participation in this test is voluntary. The mark obtained will not form part of the assessment of the subject.

b) Interactive with field trip of 11 hours. Attendance is highly recommended, but not compulsory. The visit to the different geobotanical realities of the Atlantic-Mediterranean transition will be accompanied by explanations and characterisations of the flora and its communities in relation to bioclimate, lithology, biogeographical affinities..., where students will have to collect part of this information and upload it correctly and geolocated, accompanied by a brief botanical and biogeographical explanation, on a citizen science platform. This aspect will be carried out individually and will be evaluated.
(Classroom teaching. Attendance is not compulsory).

c) Interactive fieldwork or seminar. The teacher will guide students through various urban habitats with flora, offering explanations and raising questions. Students will work in groups of around 4 people. Each group will have to choose one of the areas visited and carry out a small project to characterise the flora present on the basis of a series of questions related to the subject, carrying out a project that is developed on a citizen science platform oriented towards biodiversity. Flipped Classroom teaching methodology is adopted, so that students are offered a series of materials and online spaces for acquiring knowledge, so that each group can search for and synthesise information that applies to their particular case study. The aspects that need to be addressed are part of the theoretical contents of the subject, where they are dealt more intensely in a general way. The result will be evaluable. In the event that circumstances require the substitution of this activity by seminars, as indicated in the Contents section, work will also be carried out in groups of around 4 people.
(Face-to-face teaching. Attendance is not compulsory).

Tutorials: These will be aimed at resolving doubts regarding content or other aspects related to the subject.
(Classroom teaching. Attendance is not compulsory).

Examination. Face-to-face and compulsory.

The assessment will be the same for repeaters and non-repeaters.
The evaluation will be the same at the first and second opportunity.
The final exam is worth 60% of the mark.
The continuous assessment is complementary to the exam, and together represents 40% of the mark. Within the continuous assessment, 50% of the continuous assessment mark (20% of the overall mark) corresponds to the activity related to urban and periurban flora and the other 50% (20% of the overall mark) corresponds to the students' activity. participation in the classroom. In order to pass the subject it is essential to obtain at least 40% of the maximum exam mark, once this value has been exceeded, the continuous assessment mark will be added. Continuous assessment will be assessed on the basis of participation and results in interactive activities, both individual and group.
Evaluation of competences:
Theoretical exam: Con3, Con4, H/D01, Com01, Comp03, Comp05, Comp06
Interactive activities: Con3, Con4, H/D01, H/D05, HD07, HD10, Comp03, Com05, Comp06Study time and personal work that a student must dedicate in order to pass the course.

Lectures: 25 h
Interactive classes: 15 h
Tutorial: 1 h
Exam: 3 h
Students' personal work (study, individual and group work): 68.5 hours.

It is recommended to attend all lectures and interactive activities. Theoretical presentations are often accompanied by bibliographical citations that support the theoretical contents, so that the most interested students can go to the original source. If there are difficulties in locating or obtaining this bibliography, it is recommended to contact the teacher of the subject in order to facilitate access to it. Oral participation in class is strongly recommended, exercising the ability to answer or even formulate hypotheses in an evolutionary and biogeographical framework related to flora. It is recommended to intervene in class when some theoretical or practical aspect is not clear, asking for clarification and, in general, to maintain a critical and non-dogmatic spirit towards the theoretical contents that are presented.