Module BO3108: Plants and the Irish Environment
| Co-ordinator: | Professor John Parnell |
|---|---|
| Other Lecturers: | Professor Michael Williams, Professor Jane Stout, Professor Trevor Hodkinson, Professor Daniel Kelly, Professor Fraser Mitchell, Professor Nick Gray, & Professor Mike Jones |
| Course Type: | Mandatory |
| Assessment: | 100% Continual Assessment |
| ECTS: | 5 credits |
| Prerequisites: | None |
Contact hours:
| Practicals: | 40 hours |
|---|---|
| Total | 40 hours |
Description:
This week combines an introduction to the Botany and Environmental Sciences moderatorships with a series of field-based activities including a residential field-trip.
The aims of the course are:
- To introduce you to the moderatorships, your class-mates and the staff and postgraduates of Botany and the Centre for the Environment
- To learn botanical field identification skills and skills in field recording of plant ecology and physiology
- To assess some of the environmental variables that affect plant growth and survival and plant community structure
- To examine how human activities alter the landscape and the biological communities within it
The Field Course will be held during the first week of the Michaelmas Term.
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- Collect and accurately record various types of data from a range of local habitats using several different methods
- Identify native species
- Interpret relationships between plants, and between plants and the physical environment
- Contrast ecological sampling techniques and assess their relative merits
- Analyse in detail the natural and cultural landscape
Assessment: Write-up + field notebooks