BZ5615 - Climate Change and Plant Survival
| Credit points: | 03 |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Student Contribution Band: | Band 4 |
| Administered by: | School of Marine & Tropical Biology |
Available to postgraduate students enrolled in the GradCertSc, GradDipSc, GradDipResMeth and MAppSc.
The strategies and mechanisms that allow plants to survive and proliferate in diverse environments provide valuable insights into how plants have adapted to different conditions in the past. In fact, many living plant species evolved at a time when climate was significantly different from today. This subject explores these strategies and uses knowledge of them to provide a framework for assessing the resilience and vulnerability of our living flora to adapt to current trends in climate change. Ecological, reproductive, and physiological plant survival strategies will be analysed in field based learning activities 'out bush', which provide the basis of practical skills in this subject.
Learning Outcomes
- to gain an understanding of strategies plants adopt to survive in a variety of environments from marine to rainforests to deserts;
- to develop practical field based and laboratory skills in evaluating plant survival strategies;
- to develop the necessary skills to evaluate plant adaptations through experimental and observational techniques;
- to apply the knowledge gained to evaluate plant species survival in the context of modern climate change;
- to understand the nature of climate change and its effect on plants and ecosystem processes.
Graduate Qualities
- The ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments;
- The ability to define and to solve problems in at least one discipline area;
- The ability to speak and write logically, clearly and creatively;
- The ability to learn independently and in a self-directed manner.
| Assumed Knowledge: | Students enrolling in this subject should have an undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline (eg biology or environmental science) or have acquired equivalent knowledge through other study. They should have a good understanding of plant ecology, plant diversity and a fundamental understanding of whole organism environment interactions. |
| Inadmissible Subject Combinations: | BT3010 BT5010 BZ3615 |
Availabilities | |
| Townsville, Internal, Study Period 1 | |
| Census Date 24-Mar-2011 | |
| Coordinator: | Dr Joseph Holtum |
| Lecturers: | Dr Joseph Holtum, Dr Jonathan Luly, Assoc. Professor Michelle Waycott. |
| Contact hours: |
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| Assessment: | end of semester exam (50%); on course assessment; literature review and research project report (50%). |
| Cairns, Limited, Study Period 1 | |
| Census Date 24-Mar-2011 | |
| Face to face teaching (6 day field trip, dates TBA) | |
| Coordinator: | Dr Joseph Holtum |
| Lecturers: | Dr Joseph Holtum, Dr Jonathan Luly, Assoc. Professor Michelle Waycott. |
| Contact hours: |
|
| Assessment: | end of semester exam (50%); on course assessment; literature review and research project report (50%). |
Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.