Plants in the lives and the environment of the people

przedmiot fakultatywny

Contact hours with teacher:

np.

- participation in lectures 15 hrs

- consultations 5 hrs

Self-study hours:

np.

- preparation for lectures hrs

- writing essays/ papers/ projects 5 hrs

- reading literature 5 hrs

- preparation for test- … hrs

- preparation for examination- … hrs

Altogether: 30 hrs (1 ECTS)

Student:

W1: has basic knowledge of botany

W2: knows/ possesses knowledge of palaeobotany and ethnobotany

W3: is familiar with environmental ecology

W4: is acquainted with basic botanical and ecological terminology

Student:

U1: is able to/ has the ability to seek knowledge

U2: is capable of expand knowledge

U3: has basic/ advanced skills in data exploration

U4: can analyse/ define/ demonstrate/ explain the ecological processes taking place in the nature and human societies

U5: is able to uses terminology related to palaeobotany and ethnobotany in speech and writing

Student:

K1: is aware of own limitations and is able to pursue continuing education

K2: has the habit of and skills related to pursuing continuing education

Expository teaching methods:

- informative lecture

- case study

- presentation of a paper

- pokaz

- opis
- opowiadanie
- wykład informacyjny (konwencjonalny)

- klasyczna metoda problemowa
- obserwacji
- referatu
- studium przypadku

- metody odnoszące się do autentycznych lub fikcyjnych sytuacji
- metody oparte na współpracy
- metody rozwijające refleksyjne myślenie
- metody służące prezentacji treści
- metody wymiany i dyskusji

The course aims to familiarize students of various faculties with the strong ties between humans and the world of plants: on the one hand, the influence of plants on the shaping of the environment and its history, and on the other, the creation of habitats and species that have not been found in nature so far. The issues of archeobotany, ethnobotany and synanthropization of vegetation will be discussed in turn. Various forms of human use of plants, changes in vegetation caused by human activity, the evolution of cultivated and synanthropic species and the impact of the natural environment and available plant resources on the development of human civilization will be presented.

The course aims to familiarize students of various faculties with the strong ties between humans and the world of plants: on the one hand, the influence of plants on the shaping of the environment and its history, and on the other, the creation of habitats and species that have not been found in nature so far. The issues of archeobotany, ethnobotany and synanthropization of vegetation will be discussed in turn. The use of analyzes of the ecological properties of plant species on the basis of the remains found in archaeological excavations to reconstruct the conditions in the ancient human environment in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Various forms of human use of plants, changes in vegetation caused by human activity, the evolution of cultivated and synanthropic species and the impact of the natural environment and available plant resources on the development of human civilization will be presented. The contemporary issues of the coexistence of the world of plants and humans will also be discussed: harvesting from the wild, agriculture, transgenic plants and protection of biodiversity in plant cover in the aspect of the rapidly growing human population.

The subject of the course:

1. Object, history and tasks of archeobotany.

2. Plant remains as a source material in archaeobotany.

3. The type of archaeological site and the type of plant material.

4. Dating plant remains preserved at archaeological sites.

5. Outline of the history of selected washed and synanthropic plants.

6. Field and laboratory research methods: collecting material, laboratory carpological and pollen analyzes, identification of plant storage organs as a food source, application of phytolithic analysis, diatoms and starch grains.

7. Interpretation of the results of archaeobotanical research: reconstruction of plant communities, reconstruction of economic processes on a botanical basis.

8. The importance of archaeobotanical research results for other scientific disciplines.

9. The subject, history and tasks of ethnobotany.

10. The use of medicinal plants.

11. Utilization of food plants.

12. The use of textile plants.

13. Use of dye plants.

14. The use of ceremonial and hallucinogenic plants.

15. Documenting forgotten or rare use of plants and methods of cultivation, the so-called starvation plants, as well as knowledge about plants in modern societies.

16. Dynamics of the occurrence of synanthropic species - historical and contemporary migrations

17. The city as a special system of anthropogenic habitats and synanthropic biocenoses

18. The problem of invasive and transgenic plants.

19. Floristic specificity of selected anthropogenic habitats: ruderal habitats, plants of wall crevices, roofs, stairs, paving slabs and asphalt, plants of post-mining and post-industrial dumps, plants of dumps, roadsides, roadsides and highways, plants of railway and tramways, landfill plants, plants of ports, stations, surroundings of elevators and mills, grain and root crops, weeds of fodder and industrial crops, relics of old crops, native and foreign plants cultivated today and wild.

20. Classification of synanthropic communities and selected semi-natural communities.

21. The problem of feeding the growing human population and preserving biodiversity in the cultural landscape.

Plants, People, and Culture The Science of Ethnobotany. By: Michael J Balick, Paul Alan Cox.

Paleobotany: The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants. By: Edith Taylor Thomas Taylor Michael Krings. Academic Press.

Journals: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, Journal of Ethnobiology.

Assessment methods:

- test 30

Assessment criteria:

np. lecture:

fail- 5 pts (5%)

satisfactory- 10 pts (10%)

satisfactory plus- 15 pts (15%)

good - 20 pts (20%)

good plus- 25 pts (25%)

very good- 30 pts (30%)