units

BIO2181

Faculty of Science

18 September 2017 22 November 2024
Monash University

Undergraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 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.

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Science
Organisational UnitSchool of Biological Sciences
OfferedClayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Associate Professor Martin Burd

Synopsis

This unit examines the diversity of plant life, how plants evolved and how they live and grow. Topics cover evolutionary theory, the interpretation and use of phylogenetic trees in biodiversity research, plant form and function, and plant physiology. The unit provides an overview of the characteristics of algae, bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. As we move through this diverse range of plants we discuss their evolutionary relationships and the adaptive significance of their key features, including the evolution of physiological and anatomical adaptations to different biomes.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

  1. Explain the evolutionary (i.e. phylogenetic) relationships among major plant lineages;

  1. Describe the major structural innovations of each group and how they function;

  1. Describe key physiological processes in plants and how they have evolved;

  1. Describe the influence of evolutionary history and of the environment on biogeographic patterns of species occurrence, from community to continental scales;

  1. Demonstrate a basic ability to use the command-line programming platform R to display phylogenetic trees and the use of phylogenetic information to analyse the evolution of traits and the formation of plant communities;

  1. Demonstrate a basic ability to identify species of the Australian flora with the aid of taxonomic keys.

Assessment

Mid semester examination (2 hours): 25%
Final examination (3 hours): 25%
Practical assessment: 25%
Plant identification project: 25%

Workload requirements

Two 1-hour lectures and one 3-hour practical per week (or equivalent).
This unit may involve informal and formal excursions (unfunded).

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Martin Burd

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Ecology and conservation biology
Plant sciences

Prerequisites

BIO1011 and either BIO1022 or BIO1042, or permission