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gaia_zurg
gaia_zurg
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.
Ecology is the study of the factors and interactions that influence the distribution and abundance of organisms. It is a key component of biology and is central to managing species and ecosystems. This unit examines the major concepts of ecology and develops the conceptual foundation for later subjects in the biology major and minors. This unit examines the diversity and evolution of vertebrates. There is a focus on field- and lab-based identification and understanding of Australian vertebrates, set within the broader context of the global fauna, both extant and extinct. The unit encompasses various aspects of vertebrate life on planet earth: behaviour, phylogeny, physiology, morphology, taxonomy and management. There are over one million species catalogued, and several million yet to be described. Familiarity with biological diversity and the role species play within ecosystems is central to biological and evolutionary research, and for developing solutions to sustain the environmental health of our planet. Australia has a largely unique flora and fauna, with a very high proportion of our plant and animal species found nowhere else. While impossible to cover every Australian plant and animal in a single unit, we will introduce some key elements of that diversity, with a focus on terrestrial ecosystems and the plants, insects and mammals which occur in them. For students enrolled in biology and environmental science majors this unit provides foundational knowledge for subsequent units such as ecology and environmental monitoring; while for education majors the skills gained in creating collections forms a basis for teaching biology in both primary and secondary school.
This unit builds on Foundations of Biology and Evolution, to develop an understanding of animal biology. Topics include a range of physiological systems, with a particular focus on respiration and transport, sensory systems and movement. The interaction between animals and society will also be explored. The unit will be delivered by intensive mode, involving a significant on-line component, plus four full days of intensive on-campus activities including workshops and laboratory classes. The theory and practice of conservation biology is essential for maintaining viable populations of rare, threatened or endangered species and for maintaining essential ecosystem processes. In this unit, you will synthesise a diverse range of information including high quality scientific literature, apply field skills in biodiversity monitoring and prepare written reports that provide an incisive and decisive analysis of key conservation issues. Specific modules will train you to critically analyse the link, or lack of, between theory and application in current conservation management approaches. Understanding the dispersal and movement of genes in populations is fundamental to the management of invasive species, the management of fisheries and wild resources and the conservation of rare species. This unit will provide the theoretical and practical training required for practicing ecologists to use genetic techniques in theoretical and applied settings. The skills learnt in this unit will be further developed in later units of both the Genetics and Genomics and Applied Ecology minors.
Invasive species cause substantial and costly negative effects to native ecosystems and threaten food security. An understanding of the ecological processes by which they are introduced, establish and spread in new regions is essential for their control. Invasive species are now so widespread that they will be encountered in some way in a wide range of careers in ecology and environmental science. Similarly, while pest species are typically dealt with within agro-ecosystems, managing and reducing large populations in a sustainable manner requires science and sophistication, and often similar ecological principles to dealing with invasive species. Integrating and extending work introduced in earlier units, you will learn the skills and concepts that are necessary to understand, analyse and manage pests and invasive species,and the processes of biological invasion. Biology is the study of living things. But what is “living”' Cells are considered the basic structural unit of life, existing in diverse forms from simple single-celled microbes to complex multicellular organisms such as plants and animals. Using collaborative approaches in workshops and the laboratory you will investigate the diverse nature of cells and consider how they are built and powered and how they interact and reproduce. You will use the concepts developed in this unit to discuss more complex questions such as “are viruses alive” and “can we synthesise life”'. Studying Evolution provides students with the fundamental basis for understanding biological patterns and processes from data sources spanning research from genomes to ecology and fossils. As stated by the famous biologist, Theodosius Dobzhansky (1973), "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution". Evolution gives an overview of the nature of inheritance, biological variation, natural & sexual selection, adaptation and how these underpin biological diversity and the distributions of all species, both extinct and extant. The primary aim of the unit is to provide the context for you to be able to interpret any biological observation in an evolutionary framework in fields as diverse as conservation and medical genetics. As a foundational unit, knowledge and skills that you gain will be built upon in subsequent units in the biology major as well as in Wildlife Ecology and Biotechnology & Genetics minors.
Like all other species on the planet, humans extract energy and materials from their surrounding environment and as a result of that activity, modify ecosystems. We are part of the earth's ecological systems, and our ability to understand and manage our impact on the environment must be based on a sound knowledge of ecosystems ecology. This first year unit provides an introduction to ecosystems science through a series of lectures, workshops and field work. The unit focuses on broad-scale factors that shape ecosystems, such as energy transfer, materials cycling, climate and soils and examines the ecological patterns that emerge as a result. This knowledge is then used to assess ecosystem change and human impact on the environment. This foundational unit is relevant to environmental science and biology students and those with an interest in understanding the natural science components of sustainability.
Ecology is the study of the factors and interactions that influence the distribution and abundance of organisms. It is a key component of biology and is central to managing species and ecosystems. This unit examines the major concepts of ecology and develops the conceptual foundation for later subjects in the biology major and minors. This unit examines the diversity and evolution of vertebrates. There is a focus on field- and lab-based identification and understanding of Australian vertebrates, set within the broader context of the global fauna, both extant and extinct. The unit encompasses various aspects of vertebrate life on planet earth: behaviour, phylogeny, physiology, morphology, taxonomy and management. There are over one million species catalogued, and several million yet to be described. Familiarity with biological diversity and the role species play within ecosystems is central to biological and evolutionary research, and for developing solutions to sustain the environmental health of our planet. Australia has a largely unique flora and fauna, with a very high proportion of our plant and animal species found nowhere else. While impossible to cover every Australian plant and animal in a single unit, we will introduce some key elements of that diversity, with a focus on terrestrial ecosystems and the plants, insects and mammals which occur in them. For students enrolled in biology and environmental science majors this unit provides foundational knowledge for subsequent units such as ecology and environmental monitoring; while for education majors the skills gained in creating collections forms a basis for teaching biology in both primary and secondary school.
This unit builds on Foundations of Biology and Evolution, to develop an understanding of animal biology. Topics include a range of physiological systems, with a particular focus on respiration and transport, sensory systems and movement. The interaction between animals and society will also be explored. The unit will be delivered by intensive mode, involving a significant on-line component, plus four full days of intensive on-campus activities including workshops and laboratory classes. The theory and practice of conservation biology is essential for maintaining viable populations of rare, threatened or endangered species and for maintaining essential ecosystem processes. In this unit, you will synthesise a diverse range of information including high quality scientific literature, apply field skills in biodiversity monitoring and prepare written reports that provide an incisive and decisive analysis of key conservation issues. Specific modules will train you to critically analyse the link, or lack of, between theory and application in current conservation management approaches. Understanding the dispersal and movement of genes in populations is fundamental to the management of invasive species, the management of fisheries and wild resources and the conservation of rare species. This unit will provide the theoretical and practical training required for practicing ecologists to use genetic techniques in theoretical and applied settings. The skills learnt in this unit will be further developed in later units of both the Genetics and Genomics and Applied Ecology minors.
Invasive species cause substantial and costly negative effects to native ecosystems and threaten food security. An understanding of the ecological processes by which they are introduced, establish and spread in new regions is essential for their control. Invasive species are now so widespread that they will be encountered in some way in a wide range of careers in ecology and environmental science. Similarly, while pest species are typically dealt with within agro-ecosystems, managing and reducing large populations in a sustainable manner requires science and sophistication, and often similar ecological principles to dealing with invasive species. Integrating and extending work introduced in earlier units, you will learn the skills and concepts that are necessary to understand, analyse and manage pests and invasive species,and the processes of biological invasion. Biology is the study of living things. But what is “living”' Cells are considered the basic structural unit of life, existing in diverse forms from simple single-celled microbes to complex multicellular organisms such as plants and animals. Using collaborative approaches in workshops and the laboratory you will investigate the diverse nature of cells and consider how they are built and powered and how they interact and reproduce. You will use the concepts developed in this unit to discuss more complex questions such as “are viruses alive” and “can we synthesise life”'. Studying Evolution provides students with the fundamental basis for understanding biological patterns and processes from data sources spanning research from genomes to ecology and fossils. As stated by the famous biologist, Theodosius Dobzhansky (1973), "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution". Evolution gives an overview of the nature of inheritance, biological variation, natural & sexual selection, adaptation and how these underpin biological diversity and the distributions of all species, both extinct and extant. The primary aim of the unit is to provide the context for you to be able to interpret any biological observation in an evolutionary framework in fields as diverse as conservation and medical genetics. As a foundational unit, knowledge and skills that you gain will be built upon in subsequent units in the biology major as well as in Wildlife Ecology and Biotechnology & Genetics minors.
Like all other species on the planet, humans extract energy and materials from their surrounding environment and as a result of that activity, modify ecosystems. We are part of the earth's ecological systems, and our ability to understand and manage our impact on the environment must be based on a sound knowledge of ecosystems ecology. This first year unit provides an introduction to ecosystems science through a series of lectures, workshops and field work. The unit focuses on broad-scale factors that shape ecosystems, such as energy transfer, materials cycling, climate and soils and examines the ecological patterns that emerge as a result. This knowledge is then used to assess ecosystem change and human impact on the environment. This foundational unit is relevant to environmental science and biology students and those with an interest in understanding the natural science components of sustainability.
