BT2260:03
Tropical Plant Communities
Townsville
Prerequisites: BT1020 (BZ1030 recommended)
26 lectures, 36 hours practicals, 2 days fieldwork. First semester. BS2001 is a recommended corequisite subject.
Staff: Dr R Congdon, Assoc. Professor B Jackes, Assoc. Professor R Coventry.
The subject will focus on principles and methods required to describe and understand tropical plant communities, with particular emphases on the ecology of rainforests and savannas. The subject encompasses aims and methods of vegetation studies; quantitative methods in plant ecology; fire ecology; soil description and interpretation; floristic and physiognomic aspects of Australian vegetation with emphasis on rainforests and savanna woodlands; the basis for the description and identification of plants with special emphasis on selected Australian and tropical families.
Learning Objectives:
- to learn the principles of identification and identification techniques, with special emphasis on the north Queensland flora;
- to gain a knowledge of the principles of nomenclature and systems of classification;
- to gain an understanding of the nature of speciation processes;
- to gain an understanding of the principles of vegetation dynamics;
- to learn basic quantitative methods used in the study of plant communities;
- to gain experience in identifying rainforest and woodland plants and basic techniques for describing plant communities.
Assessment by a three-hour examination (60%); on course reports (30%); practical report (10%).