UWA Handbook 2025

Unit Overview

Description

The objective of this unit is to provide a foundation in ecological science that allows students to understand the biological and environmental drivers of where species occur and how species interact with each other to form functional ecosystems. It covers basic principles in ecology including community and population structure and dynamics; biogeography; productivity and trophic relationships; and nutrient and water cycling processes. The unit also develops an evolutionary and biogeographical framework to understand biodiversity and rarity of plants and animals in terrestrial and marine environments. It emphasises timescales and spatial scales and their importance to processes of evolution and environmental change in Australia. Human impacts on species and ecosystems are a recurring theme. Guest lecturers who are practising ecologists provide specialist knowledge, case studies and hot topics in ecology. Ecological methods, taught during laboratory sessions and a field trip, focus on ecological sampling techniques and experimental approaches to ecology. There is an emphasis on the scientific method, in particular the development and testing of hypotheses, and scientific reporting, both in writing and verbally.

Credit

6 points

Offering
(see Timetable)

Availability	Location	Mode
Semester 1	UWA (Perth)	Face to face
Semester 1	Albany	Face to face

Details for undergraduate courses

• Level 2 core unit in the Conservation Biology; Botany; Wildlife Conservation; Marine Science; Marine Biology; Environmental Science and Ecology; Biodiversity and Evolution; Plant Biology major sequences
• Level 2 option in the Zoology major sequence
• Level 2 elective

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental principles that underpin species distribution and abundance; (2) demonstrate an understanding of timescales and their importance to processes of evolution, environmental change and community dynamics in Australia; (3) explain key processes that sustain ecosystem functions such as cycling of matter and energy, regeneration; (4) apply ecological principles as a basis for assessment of future land management and conservation priorities and options; and (5) develop generic skills in scientific writing, scientific oral presentation, the scientific method and dataset processing.

Assessment

Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) theory tests and examination; (2) lab project; and (3) field project. 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)

Associate Professor Erik Veneklaas and Professor Raphael Didham

Unit rules

Prerequisites

Successful completion of

BIOL1130 Frontiers in Biology
or BIOL1131 Plant and Animal Biology
or ENVT1104 Environmental Science and Technology

and

SCIE1104 Science, Society and Data Analysis
or STAT1400 Statistics for Science
or STAX1400 Statistics for Science

Contact hours

lectures: 2 hours per week
Practicals: 11 x 3 hours, including experimental labs, discussions, presentations, field work.

Note

Attendance and satisfactory participation in all practical sessions and the field trip are compulsory.

Recommended
reading

Molles, Manuel C., and Sher, Anna. Ecology : Concepts and Applications . Eighth edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2019. Print.