Università Roma Tre

The growing anthropogenic pressure, the ongoing climate changes and the intensification of extreme events, expose plants to unusual and unpredictable environmental conditions, subjecting them to abiotic stresses that are atypical in intensity, frequency and duration. As a result of non-optimal growth conditions, plants develop an increased vulnerability to pathogens and weeds. Moreover, the increasingly advanced process of globalization facilitates the accidental introduction of alien species of potentially harmful and invasive pests and pathogenic microorganisms which creates significant damage to agricultural production, as well as representing a concrete threat to native biodiversity. Understanding plant responses to environmental stresses provides a fundamental knowledge for the development of innovative strategies for sustainable agriculture in a context of strong climatic variations, which protects food security, health, ecosystem and both native and agronomical plant biodiversity. The aim of this course is to provide the necessary skills to understand the effects of abiotic and biotic stresses on plants and their responses to environmental changes, also considering the effects that these responses have on the environment.