Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives Students should gain an understanding of biological diversity and biodiversity issues valuable for multidisciplinary research in environmental science, and in earth sciences, genetics, botany and zoology.
Synopsis No biological background is assumed in this subject. The study of biodiversity has developed rapidly into a major subdiscipline linking biology and environmental science. The effort to understand and manage biological diversity has achieved a high priority on the scientific and political agenda at local, national and international levels. In this subject, biodiversity is used as an organising theme to provide a perspective for human interaction with the biological environment. BIO2031 provides a foundation and a rationale for conservation and management of genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. This subject gives an overview of biological diversity by considering the origins and unfolding of life on earth, and the processes that have led to its current distribution and diversity. Controversies surrounding the state of knowledge of present-day biodiversity, the means of measuring it, and the magnitude of losses resulting from human activities are examined. In the context of the rapid loss of biological diversity, the course explores its value, primarily in terms of ecosystems `services' and as bioresources. Means of efficiently finding and developing bioresources are considered. The course closes by reviewing some of the local, national, and international policy issues surrounding biodiversity and its management.
Assessment Theory examinations: 50% + Practical/project reports: 35% + Written paper: 15%