- Course Code
- PL 3303
- Credit Points
- 15
- Course Coordinator
- Professor D Robinson
Pre-requisites
BI 25P1 or SS 2002 or BI 2001. Other students may be admitted to the course at the discretion of the Head of School.
Overview
Primary production (The carbon cycle; Biomes; Seasonality; Scaling from leaf to biome); Water use (The hydrological cycle; Coupling between vegetation and atmosphere; Water in soil; Water use efficiency); Soil microbiology & Organic Matter decomposition (Decomposer organisms; Soil respiration; Decomposition kinetics; Root-microbe relations). Nutrient acquisition by plants (Nutrient demand; Nutrients in soil; Nutrient supply; Soil heterogeneity; Nutrient use efficiency). Secondary production (Effects of grazing on nutrient cycling; Energy and resource flow between trophic levels). Ecosystem sustainability, human impacts and feedback effects.
Structure
6 week course, Thread I – 17 one-hour lectures, 2 one-hour tutorials, 7 three-hour laboratory practical classes.
To pass this course a pass must be achieved in BOTH the theory exam and the in-course assessment.
Assessment
1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (67%) and in-course assessment (33%).
Resit: 1 two-hour examination and 1 two-hour exam on in-course material for those who failed the assessment.