Overview

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Academic contacts

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Offerings

MURDOCH-S2-EXT-2018-ONGOING
MURDOCH-S2-INT-2018-ONGOING

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Other learning activities

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Learning activities

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Learning outcomes

1.
Demonstrate understanding of ecological concepts through written work.
2.
Display research skills resulting from experiences working alone and with others in the practical sessions.
3.
Prepare a scientific report that introduces and records ecological observations, explores, analyses and presents data to test hypotheses and presents logical conclusions based on these analyses.

Assessments

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Additional information

Unit content:This unit will cover 11 key topics of ecology as indicated in the list below. Each topic is allied to a set of concepts that will be covered in the lecture series and contextualised in the field-based laboratories. Overview: Definition; Evolutionary context; Local (Australian) context; Biological levels of organisation Limits to geographic distribution: Fundamental and realised niches; Adaptation; Rarity, commonness; Dispersal; Biomes Behaviour: Natural selection (e.g., social living); Sexual selection; Evolutionary trade-offs Population dynamics: Importance of scale and variation in both space and time when measuring abundance; Abiotic factors that limit growth; Models of population growth Species interactions: Competition, predation, herbivory; Infection, parasitism; Mutualism, facilitation, commensalism; r and K selection Scientific method: Hypothesis testing; Experimental design; Inference; Communication Population regulation: Density-dependent population regulation via dispersal, recruitment and death; Meta-populations; Source and sink populations Community dynamics: Disturbance; Succession; Resilience and thresholds; Biodiversity; Equilibrium, non-equilibrium; Stability Ecosystem processes: Food webs; Trophic cascades; Primary production; Secondary production; Litter decomposition and nutrient cycling Land and sea-scape ecology: Connectivity; Edge effects; Landscape matrix; Extinction debt; Island biogeography Applied ecology: Ecosystem services; Biological control; Sustainability (e.g., harvesting); Conservation; Restoration