MB5350:03
Current Issues in Coral Reef Ecology *
| Townsville | HECS Band 2 |
February block mode.
Available to GDipResMeth, GCertResMeth, GDipSc, MAppSc and MSc students.
Staff: Assoc. Professor B Willis.
A review of current issues in coral reef ecology with emphasis on sources of stress that are likely to have major implications for the persistence of coral reefs on ecological timescales. Topics will focus on both natural and anthropogenic disturbances that impact on coral communities. They will include assessment of the current status and future implications for coral reefs of processes such as coral bleaching, sedimentation, nutrient enrichment, crown-of-thorns outbreaks and other potentially human-related activities.
Learning Objectives:
- become familiar with key issues that affect the persistence of coral reefs in the present and that are likely to become important in the future;
- critically evaluate the current issues in coral reef ecology and their probable implications in the longer term;
- gain an understanding of how physiological responses and thresholds may be used in predictive modelling of the dynamics of coral assemblages;
- develop skills for independent research through library searches, critical evaluation, essay writing and oral presentations.
Assessment by essays, seminar and on-course performance.
* Offered in odd-numbered years