UWA Handbook 2025

Unit Overview

Description

This unit investigates the ecological processes that produce population and community structure in a range of marine habitats including rocky intertidal areas, and sub-tidal temperate and coral reefs and seagrass meadows. It investigates how human intervention, both directly by habitat modification and indirectly through climate change, may interfere with those processes. Students completing the unit have a working knowledge of a variety of marine habitats and are able to consider how extrinsic and intrinsic factors affect the structure and functioning of their populations and communities.

Credit

6 points

Offering
(see Timetable)

Availability	Location	Mode
Non-standard teaching period	UWA (Perth)	Face to face

Details for undergraduate courses

• Honours option in Conservation Biology; Marine Biology; Marine Science; Zoology [Bachelor of Science (Honours)]

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) sustain discussion as to the mechanisms that produce the structure of populations and communities in intertidal areas, temperate reefs and coral reefs and seagrass meadows; (2) design, conduct and analyse a descriptive sampling program and/or a simple manipulative experiment in a shallow marine habitat; (3) be able to convey the purpose and/or findings of the sampling programs in formats suitable for both scientific and non-scientific audiences; (4) present findings in the format of a scientific paper; and (5) appreciate the occupational health and safety considerations of working in the marine environment and the planning required for marine field work.

Assessment

Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) a project report written as a scientific paper; (2) short presentations of research results; and (3) field trip plan and execution. Further information is available in the unit outline.

Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Unit Coordinator(s)

Dr Renae Hovey and Dr Karen Filbee Dexter

Unit rules

Prerequisites

Enrolment in

72520 Master of Biological Science (ID 165)
or 70630 Master of Science (ID 202)
or or 74540 Master of Marine Biology (ID 1902)

and Successful completion of

SCIE3304 Field Techniques in Marine Science or equivalent
or BIOL4411 Marine Field Studies or equivalent

Successful completion of

SCIE4402 Data Management and Analysis in the Natural Sciences

Advisable prior study

This unit assumes a strong background in ecology.

Incidental fees

Incidental student fees and charges are costs incurred by students as part of their studies at UWA that are in addition to their tuition fees (further information is available "
Participation in this unit will incur the following incidental fee(s):
field trip (estimated cost - $350).

Contact hours

This unit is block-taught during the summer semester and involves a field trip of five days plus travel time at a cost of up to $300 to the student, plus up to four days of lectures and planning (including occupational health and safety) and up to four days of analysis and presentation of results. The total workload for the unit is 150 hours, up to 100 of which are contact hours.