Module GEOG3A27: Lakes in a Changing World: Managing Freshwater Ecosystems

Department: Geography

GEOG3A27: Lakes in a Changing World: Managing Freshwater Ecosystems

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 Geography module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• This module examines how lake systems record and respond to environmental change. Emphasis is placed on understanding contemporary lake environmental issues and how we can learn from the past (paleoenvironmental records) to preserve the future (monitoring, management and conservation practices).

Content

• Module content will cover the physical, chemical and biological functioning of lakes and how these systems respond to natural and human-induced change over timescales ranging from to millennia to sub-annual. Students will examine how climatic, hydrological and land-use processes influence lake geochemistry and ecology, and how palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and contemporary monitoring approaches are used to establish ecosystem baselines and assess environmental change. The module explores the role of lakes as critical ecosystem services and sentinels of environmental change, highlighting how environmental data and reconstructions inform conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of freshwater environments.
• Topics include:
• The importance of lakes as freshwater resources
• The physical, chemical and biological environment of lakes
• Long-term environmental change in lakes: ecosystem baseline conditions, responses and recovery
• Climate impacts on lakes
• Human impacts on lakes
• Monitoring lake health
• Lake management, restoration and policy

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the contribution of lakes to ecosystem services.
• Explain the physical, chemical and biological processes governing lake ecosystems.
• Evaluate the methodologies used to reconstruct past environmental change in lakes and the ways in which these reconstructions can be used to contextualise contemporary lake ecosystem change.
• Analyse global challenges facing lakes and their management.

• Interpret, synthesise and evaluate the quality of secondary palaeoenvironmental and modern lake monitoring data.
• Evaluate the key drivers and mechanisms of environmental pressures on lake ecosystems based on their location, catchment land use, hydrology and ecology.
• Design a lake monitoring plan and propose evidence-based management actions for lake conservation.

• Analyse and evaluate academic and policy literature on lake ecosystems and environmental change.
• Integrate interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability and freshwater conservation.
• Explain and evaluate current issues surrounding the management of lake ecosystems.

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

• The module will be delivered via weekly workshops that combine lectures, data analysis and discussions. All data used in this module will be secondary data. The workshops should be supplemented by extensive recommended reading of the academic literature. Students’ ability to interpret and apply both theoretical concepts and practical management issues specific to lake environments will be tested via the summative assessment (case study report). The summative assessment will test subject specific knowledge and the ability of students to critically assess impacts of environmental change in a selected case study of a lake ecosystem and evaluate approaches to lake management. This assessment will require students to synthesise and apply key concepts, and make links between workshop-based knowledge, published material and management examples.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative feedback will occur through activities set during the lectures and during class interaction and discussion in the workshop sessions. The use of Learn Ultra discussion boards will enable all students to gain written group feedback on activities and will also provide a resource from which students can learn from their peers. The workshops will be used to discuss understanding of key aspects of the module and case study site selections for the summative report. Formative feedback on site selection and identified environmental issues will be provided, thus supporting preparation for the report.

■ 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.