Major goals of this course are: to acquire an appropriate knowledge of the biodiversity and of general principles of the ecology of coastal ecosystems and their relationship with other ecological branches (plant and animal ecology).
Other goal of this course is the growth of a thorough interest to ecological problems discussing the relationship between man and nature focusing in the coastal environment, analyzing main disturbance factors.
The course is also intended to develop basic insights for the acquisition (sampling and monitoring), organization and interpretation of ecological data recorded in coastal ecosystems.