Use the Tab and Up, Down arrow keys to select menu items.
A discussion of major concepts in community and ecosystems ecology in the context of anthropogenic changes to the environment and pressure from invasive exotic species.
The general aim of the course is to discuss major concepts in community and ecosystems ecology in the context of anthropogenic changes to the environment including pressure from invasive exotic species. The central focus will be on the interactions of organisms with their physical and biotic environment, and the ways in which ecological principles can be used to predict responses to global change and to maintain biosecurity. Global change phenomena are often dealt with as independent problems or special cases. We will highlight the interdependence of these threats, and explain their effects on organisms using general ecological principles. We will also discuss biosecurity issues in the broad sense, including how to maintain the integrity of our ecosystems, maintain food supply, and protect human health.Additional reading of recent books and scientific papers will be an essential adjunct to the lectures, and development of the ability to evaluate such readings is an important objective for the course. An understanding of basic ecological principles is assumed. If at any stage you feel that you do not understand the assumed basics, refer to the general reference materials listed below or seek help from the lecturer concerned as soon as possible.
Intended Learning Outcomes and Associated AssessmentAs a student in this course, I will develop the ability to:Apply concepts from community and ecosystem ecology to evaluate how the various drivers of global environmental change affect ecosystems and human wellbeing (assessment task: final exam).Evaluate the importance of direct vs. indirect pathways through which human activities drive community and ecosystem change at multiple scales (assessment task: final exam).Apply an understanding of scientific practice and of global change biology and ecology to the generation of new testable hypotheses (assessment task: project report).Synthesise primary scientific literature to generate a clear and concise argument in support of a perspective (assessment tasks: project report & final exam).Synthesise primary scientific literature to provide necessary background and context for understanding and interpreting experimental data (assessment task: project report).Reflect on how one’s actions result in ecosystem change, and relate this to the social and economic trade-offs that underpin environmental decision making (assessment task: final exam).Transferable Skills RegisterAs a student in this course, I will develop the following skills:Synthesising information. In everyday life and in many job situations you will be required to read information from different sources, construct your own understanding and shape your own viewpoint. In lectures and tutorials we will discuss recent research papers in a group environment and this will develop your abilities to identify the essential elements of research outputs - you will then use in report writing.Generating data. Important for research and in governmental and non-governmental organizations. We will conduct research activities to provide both the real-world context for lectures and to develop hands-on skills in data generation and manipulation.Analysing data. Important for research, as well as in a number of private-sector organizations. This skill will be further developed when we assist you to analyse and present the data we generate in the research workshop.Writing a report on findings. Clear written communication is essential for most professional careers. We will provide instruction on the elements of successful reports and help you identify
BIOL209 and BIOL270
Matthew Turnbull
Jason Tylianakis , Daniel Stouffer and Ian Dickie
There is no required text. During the course you will be directed to various books andscientific papers, some of which are provided as booklets of readings by the lecturer.
Library portalLearn Site Course Outline
Feedback from Course SurveysStudent ratings2010This was a well organized course: 4.3Course helped to stimulate my interest: 4.2Workload: 3.3Difficulty (reasonable = 3.0): 3.2Overall, this was a good quality course: 4.12011This was a well organized course: 4.4Course helped to stimulate my interest: 4.2Workload: 3.5Difficulty (reasonable = 3.0): 3.4Overall, this was a good quality course: 4.32012This was a well organized course: 4.3Course helped to stimulate my interest: 4.4Workload appropriate: 4.1Opportunities for active learning: 4.6Overall, this was a good quality course: 4.52013This was a well organized course: 4.5Course helped to stimulate my interest: 4.3Workload appropriate: 4.2Opportunities for active learning: 4.7Helpful and timely feedback: 4.3Assessment measured learning effectively: 4.4Overall, this was a good quality course: 4.52014This was a well organized course: 4.3Course helped to stimulate my interest: 4.3Workload appropriate: 4.0Opportunities for active learning: 4.5Helpful and timely feedback: 4.3Assessment measured learning effectively: 3.9Overall, this was a good quality course: 4.32015This was a well organized course: 5.0Course helped to stimulate my interest: 4.0Workload appropriate: 4.7Opportunities for active learning: 4.7Helpful and timely feedback: 4.3Assessment measured learning effectively: 4.7Overall, this was a good quality course: 4.72018The materials provided helped me to understand what was required to succeed in this course: 3.9The organisation of this course helped me learn: 4.2I found the workload was appropriate to the level of the course: 4.3I found the assessments appropriate for the course: 3.9Where I sought feedback on my assessments, I found it helpful: 4.1Helpful features1. Discussions within lectures (2). All the lecturers encouraged banter and debate in lecture and tutorial time. They encouraged reasoning with points of view 2. I really enjoyed the research campaign (2), and the session spent in the computer labs. 3. The mid-course test was a great idea! It took a bulk of the workload off and made us revise material throughout the semester, not all at the end. The quick marking of the online test was very timely and helpful. A good turn around time for results allowed good feedback on my progress. 5. The peer-review feedback and response for the proposal was good (3) as it made my grade higher than not having it read by someone else. 6. I really enjoyed BIOL377 and it helped me understand the finer points to climate change and biosecurity which is a very important subject in todays society 8. I really liked this course, all the lecturers were great and really helpful and very passionate about the subject area, and the content really interesting. 10. I found this course very useful in that it taught many practical skills which could be applied in future academic work. These kinds of skills (critically analysing papers, R, discussing and disputing the key points made etc.) are not often taught in other courses. 11. It expanded more on topics that have been only briefly covered before. This was interesting and having the space to discuss these topics was a definite bonus that had not bee considered in other courses 12. The lectures were almost universally approached with a view to active participation from the students which was refreshing, also there was not an unrealistic requirement to do a large amount of reading or work before lectures to be able to participate 13. Provided a mixture of how to understand scientific practices, and how to construct a well planned report or proposal, which may help me in future employment or university assignments. What to change? (Action/response indicated in brackets)I feel if the research workshop was run as labs each week instead of 2 days on campus the material would've been easier to cover and might of helped in the report writing process (1). [We will consider this suggestion, but will need to balance this with the positive feedback about the 2-day workshop format.]The Project itself is appropriate and the things you wanted the workshops to teach us seem relevant but the workshop topics were not well integrated (3). [We are re-focussing the research workshop to account for these comments.]I understand that most of the test questions seemed to be about using the facts learnt in the lectures to apply to other situations to test our flexibility and overall grasp of concepts, and I admit we should have been able to do that. However, the test just seemed far too difficult given the time given (4). [We will take these comments into account when setting the 2019 test. We will certainly consider allocating extra time and grade weighting for the mid-course test in 2019.]
It is essential that you are aware that plagiarism is considered a very serious offence by the Academic community, the University and the School of Biological Sciences. Plagiarism is defined as taking content from another work or author and presenting it, without attribution, as if it is your own work. Content here includes text (sentences or major parts of sentences), display items (graphs and tables), and overall structure (the detailed sequence of ideas). Plagiarism includes:• re-use of previous assignments (even if each individual sentence has been rephrased to say the same thing in different words, if the overall structure is re-used) • copying of another student’s work (with or without their consent)• the unreferenced use of published material or material from the internet e.g. cutting and pasting of paragraphs or pages into an essay.For most pieces of in-term assessment you will be given information concerning the use of direct and indirect quotes from previously published work. If you are in any doubt about appropriate use of published material, please speak with a member of academic staff. If you are still unsure what plagiarism is, then seek advice.It is a School policy that courses may request you submit work electronically for subsequent analysis of originality using Turnitin. Students agree that by taking courses in BIOL, required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site.
A+ 90% or aboveA 85 – 90A- 80 – 84B+ 75 – 79B 70 – 74B- 65 – 69C+ 60 – 64C 55 – 59C- 50 – 54A restricted pass (R) may be awarded to those who are close to a pass (i.e. an overall score of 48-49.9%) AND who have achieved at least a 40% overall score in both in-course assessment and tests/exams. If an R grade is awarded you gain credit for the course but cannot continue into papers that require this course as a pre-requisite. NB. The R grade is only available at 100 and 200 level - it cannot be awarded for third year papers. Failing grades: D 40-49 E 0–39
What if I have written more than the word or page limit?If there is a word limit on an assignment, it is usually there to stop you doing too much work and to encourage you to write succinctly. It also makes things easier to assess. You can be up to 10% over without too much worry, but if the length increases beyond that your mark may suffer due to failure to follow the requirements. If you find yourself way over the word limit have a chat to the lecturer concerned about how to trim your assignment to an acceptable length.
What if I can’t get it finished in time?Reports and assignments should be handed in on time. Extensions may be granted if you have a valid reason. If you require an extension, you should request one from the course co-ordinator (or the lecturer responsible for marking the work), with as much notice as possible. Please do this BEFORE the deadline for the assignment. If you have been given an extension you should hand the work DIRECTLY to the course coordinator (do not put it in the drop box as it may not be cleared after the due date).If an extension has not been granted: • work must be handed in by the due date to gain full credit• work handed in up to 7 days after the deadline will be marked, but the marks will be discounted 25% before they are recorded to the student's credit• any work handed in more than 7 days after the deadline date will not be marked or earn credit.
If you feel that illness, injury, bereavement or other extenuating circumstances beyond your control have prevented you from completing an item of assessment worth 10% or more of total course assessment or if these circumstances affected your performance in such assessments, you should apply for Special Consideration. Applications for Special Consideration should be submitted via the Examinations Office website http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/regulations/general/general_regs_aegrotat.shtml and notify the course co-ordinator within five days of the assessment or its due date. If this is for medical reasons you should visit a doctor within 24 hours of the assessment (application form available on-line or from the Student Health Centre). The Special Consideration provisions are intended to assist students who have covered the work of a course but have been prevented by illness or other critical circumstances from demonstrating their mastery of the material or skills at the time of assessment – they do not excuse you from doing the assessment within a reasonable time agreed with the course co-ordinator. You should expect to be required to submit additional work if you miss a major assignment (e.g. a field trip for which a major write-up is required).In rare cases you may not be able to complete an assessment or attend a field trip, because of involvement in international or national representative sport or cultural groups. In such cases you should also apply for Special Consideration. Please review the Special Considerations policy because very few kinds of activities will be eligible for consideration (e.g. holiday trips, birthday parties etc. are not given special status in the University policy).Students prevented by extenuating circumstances from completing the course after the final date for withdrawing, may apply for Special Consideration for late discontinuation of the course. Applications must be submitted to the Examinations Office within five days of the end of the main examination period for the semester.For further details on Special Consideration applications, please refer to the Examinations Office website http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/regulations/general/general_regs_aegrotat.shtml.
In BIOL, we require a satisfactory level of achievement in both the theoretical aspects of the discipline and in practical activities. This means you must attend all class activities and submit all items of assessment unless you have a very good reason not to (e.g. medical reasons). A student must attain an average score of at least 40% for in-course assessments (e.g. assignments, reports) and an average score of at least 40% in the exam and/or test, AND score at least 50% overall for the course, to be awarded a passing grade. See course outline for clarification of the assessment items included in each category and ask the coordinator if you are still unsure.
We welcome constructive feedback at all times – help us to make this a valuable course for you. We endeavour to remain approachable at all times. If you would rather give feedback anonymously, please use the on-line course survey or talk to lab demonstrators, or your class rep (who will all report back to the staff-student liaison committee that includes a representative from each of the undergraduate classes). Class representatives will be selected from each class at the start of course.
If you feel you have not been fairly treated during this course, please raise the issue with the lecturer or course co-ordinator in the first instance. Other avenues include your class rep., who can raise issues anonymously, or the UCSA education coordinator.
All assignments should be placed in the designated collection box in the foyer of the 2nd floor of the School of Biological Sciences (near the main office), unless directed otherwise by the course co-ordinator. All assignments must be accompanied by a cover sheet signed by you stating that the submitted work is not plagiarised. Cover sheets are available on top of the collection boxes, or you can download one from the Biology website (under Undergraduate). In addition, you may also be asked to submit your work electronically (via Learn) for analysis in Turnitin. You will be given instructions on how to do this in the assignment handout. Marked assignments can be collected from the Secretaries' Office, unless directed otherwise by the course co-ordinator. Teaching staff will endeavour to return work as soon as possible, and should contact you if there are likely to be any delays that will prevent return within the maximum 4-week timeframe.
Domestic fee $883.00
International fee $4,000.00
* 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 .