ZL5001:03
Ecological Principles and Methods Applied to Tropical Systems
Townsville
Prerequisites: BS2001 or TV5030 or ZL5003
Inadmissable Subject Combination: ZL2102
36 lectures, 8 tutorials. Second semester.
Available to students enrolled for the degrees of MSc (including MSc Qualifying), MAppSc, BAppSc or Graduate Diplomas.
Staff: Dr C Johnson.
This subject is an advanced treatment of animal ecology, building on material covered in ZL2102. Students will normally be expected to show proficiency in biometry before undertaking this subject. Students in Townsville will be required to take the lecture component of ZL2102. The subject focuses on the behaviour of individual animals in an ecological setting and on the dynamics of populations, but also describes the processes that determine the number of species able to coexist in communities. Topics include fertility, mortality and population regulation; the ecology of animal movement; the ecology of social organisation and reproductive strategies; interactions between species (competition, facilitation, predation, parasitism); limits to the coexistence of species.
Learning Objectives:
- principles of population and community ecology, especially in the tropics;
- techniques for study of animal populations and communities;
- adaptations for life in tropical ecosystems.
Assessment by examination; seminar paper, tutorials, essay.
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