Undergraduate - UnitENV2726 - Ecosystems and bioresources

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 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

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Science
Offered	Gippsland First semester 2014 (Day) Gippsland First semester 2014 (Off-campus) Malaysia Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Fiona Hogan (Gippsland); Dr. Robyn Wilson (Malaysia)

Synopsis

ENV2726 begins with an overview of biodiversity and biological resources and the issues involved in the conserving and sustainable management of these resources. Reasons for, and methods of, measuring and monitoring species, populations, habitats, communities and ecosystems are explored with the aim of addressing environmental problems such as habitat loss and species loss, and the impacts of these on ecosystem function and therefore on biological resources. Specific case studies are presented. The subject continues with the identification and discussion of factors which may affect the sustainable management of biological resources. Students will choose a case study and examine, in project work, how such factors may affect a specific conservation program.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Discuss the major issues relating to the sustainable use of biological resources;

Explain the methods of conservation at various levels (eg. species, population, community, ecosystem etc.) and discuss the various conservation strategies that are available;

Express their opinions regarding the usefulness or desirability of particular conservation and/or management strategies in particular circumstances;

Identify and discuss various issues, which can affect conservation attempts and apply knowledge of these issues in order to recommend conservation strategies for real or hypothetical situations;

Identify the importance of healthy ecosystems and biological resources in the wider field of resource management.

Assessment

Assignments: 50%
Examination: 50%

Chief examiner(s)

Semester One - Associate Professor David Paganin; Semester Two - Dr. Robyn Wilson

Workload requirements

Three 1-hour lectures and one 2-hour tutorial per week, plus an average of approximately 2 hours practical exercises per week (including field excursions and assignment work)