BIOL378-10S1 (C) Semester One 2010

Population Ecology and Conservation

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 22 February 2010
End Date: Sunday, 27 June 2010
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 7 March 2010
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 23 May 2010

Description

Advanced concepts in population ecology, especially those most relevant to the New Zealand region and to the conservation of the New Zealand biota. Topics include life history tradeoffs, dispersal and metapopulations, species interactions, population regulation, population modelling, management of populations, and issues for species conservation in New Zealand.

To teach advanced principles of population ecology and practical ecology skills in a New Zealand
context.

This course covers population ecology (i.e. the study of single species, including their interactions
with other species). We cover a range of current key topics, using NZ examples where possible,
including:

• What controls life history?
• What limits spatial distribution?
• What controls abundance, and are populations regulated?
• How important are metapopulation dynamics?
• How do we conserve rare populations?

The compulsory three-day field trip to Kaikoura is designed to teach practical skills in including
identification, sampling, analysis and writing. We will provide transport from Christchurch
leaving 9:00 am on Tuesday 6 April and returning 5:00 pm Thursday 8 April. More
details will be given in Term 1.

Note: BIOL371 (Evolutionary Ecology) is highly recommended as a complimentary 15 point course.

Learning Outcomes

  • Understand current topics in population ecology and their application to conservation

  • Develop practical skills including species identification, experimental design and data
      analysis

  • Improve scientific communication skills, especially report writing and use of the literature

Prerequisites

(1) BIOL270 or FORE202; (2) BIOL209 or FORE222/FORE224

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Dave Kelly

Lecturer

Angus McIntosh

Lab Coordinator

Jenny Ladley

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Final Exam 70%
Practical Test on Field Trip 10%
Field Trip Report 14 May 2010 20%

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Begon, Michael. , Townsend, Colin R., Harper, John L; Ecology : from individuals to ecosystems ; 4th ed; Blackwell Pub, 2006.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $754.00

International fee $3,480.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Biological Sciences .

All BIOL378 Occurrences

  • BIOL378-10S1 (C) Semester One 2010
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