Undergraduate - UnitBIO3122 - Freshwater ecology

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Science
Organisational Unit	School of Biological Sciences
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2013 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Professor Jennifer Davis

Synopsis

This unit builds upon basic ecological concepts to provide the theory and practical experience needed to understand, manage, monitor and conserve inland aquatic ecosystems. It considers the abiotic and biotic components of freshwater ecosystems, especially the dynamics of energy and nutrients, trophic structure and interspecific interactions, and the patterns and processes supporting aquatic biodiversity.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Explain and synthesise the components, processes and services/values that characterise flowing (rivers and streams) and standing (wetlands, lakes and ponds) waters;

Use established and standard methods (both in the field and laboratory) to obtain, analyse and interpret ecological datasets;

Design, undertake and communicate the results of a field-based freshwater project.

Assessment

Examination (3 hours): 60%
Practical work: 40%

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Jennifer Davis

Contact hours

Two 1-hour lectures, 3 hours laboratory/field work per week

Prerequisites

BIO2011 or BIO2051, and either BIO2231 or BIO2181.