Evolution of the Phanerozoic biosphere

Duration

20h Th, 2d FW

Number of credits

Lecturer

Valentin Fischer

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Evolution of the Phanerozoic biosphere retraces the evolution of ancient ecosystems in their climatic, geographic, and tectonic contexts. This course investigates the drivers of the great turnovers in the history of Life, over the last ¿600 million years, using an holistic approach.

• Introduction : Biosphere-geosphere co-evolution; extrinsic factors.
• Extinctions and radiations : concepts, definitions et biases; extinction recolonization processes; conjonctions of causes.
• Origin and context of early animal life. Who, how?
• The colonisation of land. Who, when, what and where?
• Critical analysis of major crises in Phanerozoic life history : end Ordovician, end Devonian, Permian-Triassic, Triassic-Jurassic, Cretaceous-Palaeogene. General evolution of palaeogeography and palaeoclimates 
• 'Practical lecture' on palaeobiological data and their treatment. Exemple of the Triassic-Jurassic crisis
• The Anthropocene and today's extinction. Recent and future extinctions.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

On completion of this course, you will be able to:

• clearly visualise the global evolution of the biosphere during the Phanerozoic (Palaeogeography, palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironnements, faunas et floras)
• integrate data from distinct disciplines of Earth Sciences to reconstruct this evolution and the events that punctuated it
• understand the phenomena of extinction, mass extinction, adaptive radiation, and biotic turnover
• understand the biases affecting geological and palaeontological data
• understand the links between global environemental/climate change and biodiversity

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Solid notions of geology and palaeozoology.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Two hours-lectures where active participation is required to fix the concepts, identify the pitfalls and the complexity of geological and palaeontological data.
Two 'practical lectures' are given to build a critical analysis of a particular event in the evolution of the biosphere, from the lastest primary scientific data available: one of the Late Triassic mass extinction and one on the Anthropocene
Two eight hours-field trips complete the course to illustrate key concepts and some events particularly well recorded in Belgian deposits.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Face-to-face, lecture delivered in English.
All slides will be deposited on line on eCampus.

Recommended or required readings

The entire course is based on the litterature, including the most recent papers. Students can ask Prof. Valentin Fischer to get the .pdfs.
Interesting book albeit a tad old (available at the Earth Sciences Library): Lethiers, F., 1998. Evolution de la biosphère et événements géologiques, Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, ISBN : 90-5699-123-X.

Assessment methods and criteria

Oral examination by the means of two open questions. You have 20 mins of preparation time before the examination, and the examination lasts 20 mins.
Attending all field trips is compulsory to pass the exam.
 

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

Prof. Valentin Fischer
Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab.  Département de Géologie (B18). Quartier Agora, 14, allée du 6 Août, B-4000 Liège, Sart-Tilman. 04 366 52 79 v.fischer@uliege.be

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session

Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning

Assessment subjects

Assessment methods

Contacts

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session

Assessment subjects

Unchanged.

Assessment methods

2 open-ended questions on eCampus.

Contacts

Unchanged.