Module overview
In this module you will explore and explain patterns of global biodiversity over space and time, affecting a wide variety of lineages. We will begin as 18th century natural historians, considering the impact of new discoveries, due to the invention of the microscope and a growing fossil record, which led Charles Darwin to propose a tree of life and evolution through natural selection as the mechanism for descent with modification.
We will then consider the impact of the work of Mendel to explain the process of inheritance, followed by the discovery of the structure of DNA and the mechanism of genetic inheritance within the cell. This will allow us to consider biodiversity from the perspective of Neo-Darwinists, following the modern synthesis at the start of the twentieth century, with an appreciation of the effect of selection at different ecological levels, from cells to individuals to populations to communities to ecosystem level.
We will end as 21st century biologists, applying what we have learned about evolution and ecology to investigating and understanding the world around us, using the present to explain the past and the future. We will apply our knowledge of population and ecosystem level effects to explain longer term evolutionary ecology trends, including predicting future changes.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Consider the application of macroevolution, microevolution and macroecology for the conservation of global biodiversity
- Demonstrate an appreciation of the development of underlying concepts and theories to explain the causes of current global biodiversity, as new discoveries are made
- The ability to explain biological phenomena at a variety of levels (from molecular to ecological systems) and how evolutionary theory is relevant to their area of study
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of population ecology including population dynamics and estimates of population size
- Describe and exemplify patterns of distribution of organisms in relation to biotic and abiotic factors
- Describe and compare the structural and functional organisation of the major kingdoms of Life, and how these relate to their classification and identification
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Describe the distribution of species in relation to abiotic and biotic factors, and at various ecological scales (from individual to population to community to ecosystem)
- Explain the evolutionary relationships among the major kingdoms of life
- Demonstrate knowledge of the basic genetic principles relating to the evolution organisms
Syllabus
Diversity of life – characteristics of taxon within 5 kingdoms
Evidence for descent with modification
Abiotic selection pressures – global impact, past, present and future
Biomes – distribution of plants today, and in the past
Mendelian inheritance – qualitative traits
Population genetics – epistatis, pleiotropy, gene-centric selection, drift, migration
Coevolution and types of mutualistic relationships (competition, mutualism, predation/parasitism)
Adaptation and extinction
Quantitative genetics and Genotype by environment interactions
Types of ecology: Population ecology, Community ecology, Conservation ecology, Behavioural ecology, Landscape ecology.
The Anthropocene and predicting the future
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Lectures
Practicals
Field trip
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Independent Study | 87 |
| Practical | 15 |
| Lecture | 48 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Written assessment | 50% |
| Field/laboratory/practical exercises | 25% |
| Multiple choice Test | 25% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Written assessment | 75% |
| Coursework | 25% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External