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ECOL203 Ecology - Populations to Ecosystems

Updated: 16 January 2013
Credit Points 6
Offering
Responsible Campus Teaching Period Mode of Study
Armidale Trimester 1 Off Campus
Armidale Trimester 1 On Campus
Intensive School(s) None
Supervised Exam There is a UNE Supervised Examination held at the end of the teaching period in which you are enrolled.
Pre-requisites BIOL110 and BIOL120 or candidature in a postgraduate award
Co-requisites None
Restrictions ECOL210 or ECOL220 or ECOL403 or ECOL510
Notes None
Combined Units ECOL403 - Ecology - Populations to Ecosystems
Coordinator(s) Karl Vernes (kvernes@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

Ecology is based on an understanding of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and interactions with their environment. This unit focuses on the ecology of populations, communities and ecosystems, and the processes that structure ubiquitous gradients (e.g. altitude, latitude, soil fertility, moisture) in terrestrial landscapes. Resource use along gradients involving biological interactions (e.g. competition, predator-prey, and herbivory) is a key theme of the unit. Topics covered include: community structure and succession, dispersal and recruitment, flows of energy and matter in ecosystems, and the role of disturbance in regulating ecosystem dynamics. This unit provides an understanding of ecological principles relevant to current human impacts such as climate change, land clearing and urbanisation.
Important Information

Where calculators are permitted in examinations, it must be selected from an approved list, which can be accessed from the Further Information link below.

Further information
Prescribed Material
Mandatory 		Text(s):

Note: Students are expected to purchase prescribed material. Please note that textbook requirements may vary from one teaching period to the next.

Ecology: An Australian Perspective
ISBN: 9780195550429
Attiwill, P. and Wilson, B., Oxford 2nd ed. 2006
Note: Paperback
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment
Title Exam Length Weight Mode No. Words
Assignment 1 10% 500
Assessment Notes
Life Tables
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 1-3 , 4, 6
Assignment 2 12% 500
Assessment Notes
Communities
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 1-3 , 4, 6
Assignment 3 18% 1000
Assessment Notes
Ecosystems
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 3, 4
Online Quiz 20%
Assessment Notes
10 quizzes worth 2% each
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 3, 4
Final Examination 2 hrs 40%
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 3, 4

Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. understand and appreciate the conceptual basis and basic principles of ecology;
  2. understand and explain how the distribution and abundance of plants and animals are described through increasingly complex levels of biological organisation (populations, communities and ecosystems);
  3. demonstrate knowledge of and explain the fundamental role of ecological gradients in structuring population and communities and in shaping nutrient and energy flow in ecosystems;
  4. demonstrate well-developed practical skills in the observation, description and measurement of populations, communities and ecosystems.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
Students collect and analyse ecological datasets using methodological approaches and tools relevant to the discipline. Lectures include theoretical knowledge of ecological principles, as well as 'real-life' examples from the ecological literature as to how this theory is used in practice. 		True True True
2 Communication Skills
Lectures are interactive - students are prompted to discuss topics in class as part of impromptu class discussion as part of the lecture. 		True True True
3 Global Perspectives
Students examine ecological examples from the global ecological literature. Additionally, there is a global (biosphere) perspective to this unit covering ecological processes that occur at the global scale. 		True True True
4 Information Literacy
Students are instructed, assessed and expected to demonstrate research capacity in written assignments, and to utilise a wide range of sources from the textbook, and from the published scientific literature. 		True True True
5 Life-Long Learning
Through the theoretical basis of this foundation unit in ecology, students are taught, and practice learning skills that will be useful to them beyond the unit of learning. 		True True
6 Problem Solving
The assessable practical component to this unit builds on ecological theory taught in lectures to spreadsheet exercises that require a substantial problem-solving element in order to complete. 		True True True
7 Social Responsibility
The applied elements of this unit include lectures and practical's that focus on land degradation, species conservation and global climate change - topics that have social responsibility firmly embedded within them. 		True True
8 Team Work
 True
   

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