This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Undergraduate Handbook 2006-2007 (archived)

Module BIOL2281: PURE AND APPLIED POPULATION ECOLOGY

Department: Biological and Biomedical Sciences

BIOL2281: PURE AND APPLIED POPULATION ECOLOGY

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	2	20	Available in 2006/2007	None.	Durham

Pre-requisites

Introduction to Whole Organisms and the Environment (BIOL1082).

Corequisites

None.

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To introduce students to the methods of study of populations and population change, their causes and their relevance to sustainable exploitation of biological resources.

Content

Population growth and Dynamics.
Methods of measurement of population parameters, e.g. capture/recapture techniques.
Life-tables.
Density-related effects on population growth and stability.
Modelling populations, competition and predation.
Symbiosis.
pollination and seed dispersal.
Host-parasite interactions.
Parasite Ecology.
An Introduction to Parasitism.
Host-Parasite Interactions: Tropical Forest Resources.
Fish resources & fisheries.
Crop plant domestication and exploitation in relation to human population growth.
Traditional vs biotechnological methods of crop improvement: ethical issues, intellectual property right and environmental considerations.
Underexploited plant resources.
International agricultural: FAO, the CGIAR institutes, etc.
The collection, conservation and exploitation of crop plant genetic resources.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

By the end of the module, the student should: Understand the different approaches to estimation of population density, and their limitations.
Understand the roles of density-dependent and density-independent factors in affecting population density in different parts of a species' range.
Appreciate the relevance of interactions with other species (predation, competition, parasitism, mutualism) to the population dynamics of a focal species.

Subject-specific Skills

Be able to construct life-tables for selected plant and animal species.
Use simple models of population processes.
Be able to evaluate the potential contribution of population studies to sustainable exploitation of natural resources and development of agricultural systems and fish husbandry.

Key Skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Teaching will be offered through lectures, to impart structured information, through demonstration practicals and field practicals, to train appropriate skills and reinforce lecture content, and through tutorials and discussions, to develop critical approaches.
Assessment of knowledge and understanding will be achieved through written examinations and data interpretation, relating to methods and case-studies of population processes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours
Lectures	35	2 per week	1 hour	35
Tutorials	1		1 hour	1
Practicals	8	1 per term	1 hour	8
Preparation and Reading				156
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting
Final Examination	60%	two question, unseen written formal examination	2 hour	100%
Coursework	40%	essay		50%
Coursework	40%	data interpretation exercise		50%

Formative Assessment

Oral presentation to assess ability to retrieve, organise, synthesise and present information.

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.