Seascape Ecology

Module overview

This course focuses on understanding the causes and ecological consequences of seascape patterns and processes in space and time. A central theme will be the movements of marine organisms and their interaction with dynamic environments at different scales. Emphasis will be placed on learning skills to conduct spatiotemporal analyses in pelagic ecosystems. This understanding and these skills will then be applied to questions including quantifying scale and dynamics for conservation and management applications.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

The goal is to provide the students with an interactive, hands-on learning environment. An important element is practical sessions where students develop skills for analysing spatiotemporal marine data in the R environment. Teaching formats include: Traditional lectures A series of core lectures will introduce the core knowledge content. These lectures are supplemented by short videos of key definitions and concepts via Blackboard and Panopto lecture capture. Special topics lectures and seminars Lectures and seminars, often research-centred, by guest speakers cover specific topics. Case studies are accompanied by in-class discussion sessions. Practicals Practical sessions giving hands-on experience of the R environment.

Study time
Type	Hours
Teaching	30
Independent Study	120
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

PDFs and/or links to key papers and book chapters will be provided on the module’s Blackboard site..

Software. Software for this module: - R (https://www.r-project.org/); - RStudio (https://www.rstudio.com/) Both free and open-source.

Textbooks

Lovelace R, Nowosad J, Muenchow J (2019). Geocomputation with R. CRC Press..

Wickham H, Grolemund G (2017). R for Data Science. O'Reilly.

Pitman SJ (2017). Seascape Ecology. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ.

Assessment

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Multiple choice question

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback: Answers provided immediately and discussed in-class.
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Assignment	60%
Case study report	40%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External