Overview
Ecology is the study of the natural world: how organisms interact with one another and with their physical environment, and such knowledge is essential for any study in biology. In this unit, students will study ecology at different levels: the population, community, and evolutionary levels. Practical application of ecology will be emphasised in the study of principles of experimental design, and in the conduct of group research projects.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
(ZOOL11005 Foundation Animal Biology and BOTN11004 Foundation Plant Biology) or (BIOL11099 Living Systems and BIOL11100 Functional Biology)
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Residential Schools
This unit has a Compulsory Residential School for distance mode students and the details are:
Click here to see your Residential School Timetable.
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Formal unit student evaluations, informal student comment
Numerous positive comments regarding course content, structure, and content and assessment authenticity and student centredness and support elements were received.
These components will be maintained, and where possible refined further.
Feedback from Formal unit student evaluation
One comment was made (for the first time) suggesting consideration of peer assessment in marking student participation in field work (because of the perception 'not everyone contributed equally').
This will be explored with expert peers and with future student cohorts, because transferable skills (like teamwork) are important for employability.
Feedback from Formal unit student evaluation
Whilst student feedback included how well unit information covered real-world ecology well, a student commented some unit content was dated 2010.
This material, even if foundational, will be reviewed and updated, however this is less likely for component foundational animations (due to complexity of the undertaking).
- Comprehend and analyse the elements, concepts, and theories of population and community structure and dynamics.
- Comprehend and evaluate the selected elements, concepts, and theories of evolutionary ecology.
- Integrate and apply your knowledge of population, evolutionary, and community ecology to real world situations.
- Develop further and utilise the skills necessary to undertake ecological fieldwork successfully and to analyse ecological data.
- Comprehend and apply the concept, and its elements, of good experimental design.
- Evaluate critically the scientific work of others in ecology.
- Integrate your comprehension of ecological theory with your comprehension and application of good experimental design to allow you to draw sound conclusions from ecological study.
- Communicate your knowledge and findings clearly both orally and in writing.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
1 - Written Assessment - 15% | ||||||||
2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||||
3 - Presentation - 10% | ||||||||
4 - Examination - 50% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
1 - Communication | ||||||||
2 - Problem Solving | ||||||||
3 - Critical Thinking | ||||||||
4 - Information Literacy | ||||||||
5 - Team Work | ||||||||
6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||||||
7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||||||
8 - Ethical practice | ||||||||
9 - Social Innovation | ||||||||
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
1 - Written Assessment - 15% | ||||||||||
2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||||||
3 - Presentation - 10% | ||||||||||
4 - Examination - 50% |
Textbooks
Ecology: The Economy of Nature
latest edition (latest edition)
Authors: Ricklefs R & Relyea R
W.H. Freeman and Company
New York New York , NY , USA
ISBN: ISBN-10: 1-4292-4995-1; ISBN-13: 978-1-4292-4995-9
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
Latest edition, or recent edition, is adequate.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- A modern computer of adequate size and power with sufficient hard drive, memory size and processing speed; large sound and video cards; plus adequate Internet access and connection reliability to facilitate significant uploads/downloads/video streaming and sustained lengthy connections (e.g., lecture video downloads, real time online Zoom tutorials) with microphone and speakers (built-in or external) OR microphone+speaker headset (cheap '$20' set is adequate).
- Recent (not necessarily latest) computer software including Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Reader, etc., and capability to download same and other required software to enable Zoom sessions (accessed free via unit Moodle site).
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
b.heath@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Best practice in ecology to get valid answers.
(The design of ecological experiments.)
Chapter
(Relevant parts of textbook (across chapters) for each module are published on the unit Moodle site.)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What is a 'population' and what do they do?
(Concepts of population growth and regulation.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What determines what a population looks like, and how do we measure them?
(Concepts of population regulation (con't.) and sampling populations.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Organisms are patchy in patchy environments, really!
(Metapopulation ecology.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
No population occurs or is shaped in isolation.
(How interaction factors affect distribution and abundance.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Members shape a population, or species, in patches over time.
(Evolution, adaptation, and population ecology.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Life in a mosaic.
(Adaptations to heterogenous environments.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
ALL students: attend residential school (combined block practicum) (Thurs 30 Aug - Sat 1 Sept 2018 inclusive), to undertake student field work (towards Field Project Reports assessment item) & presentation of associated seminars (Fire Ecology Project seminar assessment item). Negotiation of submission date for Field Project Reports assessment item will occur.
Module/Topic
Developing the days of our lives.
(Evolutionary ecology of the life histories, sex and mating systems.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What is a 'community' and what do they do?
(The 'community concept', generalised community structure, and sampling communities.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
How do communities recover from disturbance?
(Succession and the function of communities.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What determines the diversity of communities?
(Biodiversity (theories about diversity).)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
How do communities operate?
(Manipulative experiments at the community level.)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
You will need to access the specific requirements, advice, and resources published on our unit Moodle site (click on the appropriate link in the 'Assessment' box), however a general description is published here.
This assignment is a critique of a published scientific paper, nominated by the lecturer, from a reputable journal that publishes papers on ecological topics. Your access to the journal article will be via a link published on our unit Moodle site.
There is no set word limit, however you are encouraged to be as concise as possible (as is good scientific practice). A suggested maximum word limit is 2 000 words, but write as much as it takes you to be comprehensive.
Despite the peer review or refereeing process, plenty of papers containing major flaws (in the experimental design and/or analysis and/or interpretation of the results) appear in reputable journals.
You are asked to referee the nominated paper critically (be very picky) with particular respect to the following features:
- experimental design,
- analyses of data (basic level),
- interpretation of the data, i.e., conclusions drawn, and
- your added constructive suggestions, with a brief rationale for each, for improvement of these aspects of the paper to support your criticisms.
In brief, you will critique the article for good experimental design and practice.
Writing and presentation styles, and spelling/grammatical or similar errors, found in the journal article will not be critiqued.
Week 5 Friday (10 Aug 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Nominally fifteen working days from submission date.
Assessment evaluation criteria
Grade | Standard |
High Distinction (HD) | (1) Responds fully to assignment. (2) Presents own synthesis of ideas involving rigorous critique and analysis. (3) Comprehension of good ecological experimental design as presented in the BIOL13031 unit materials is clearly evident. (4) Expresses viewpoint clearly and persuasively. (5) Begins and ends effectively. (6) Provides adequate supporting arguments, evidence, examples, and details. (7) Is well organised, sequenced, integrated, and unified. (8) Adequately and correctly acknowledges and documents sources. (9) Original text with no instances of plagiarism or weak paraphrasing. (10) Is free of errors in spelling, word choice, punctuation, grammar, and format. (11) Maintains a consistent level of excellence throughout, and shows appropriate originality and creativity in realising (1) through (10). |
Distinction (D) | Realises (1) through (11) fully and completely, and demonstrates overall excellence, but shows little or no independent thought, incomplete critical analysis, or little originality or creativity. |
Credit (C) | Realises (1) through (11) adequately, and demonstrates overall competence but contains a few, relatively minor errors or flaws. A Credit essay might show great independent thought, critical analysis, originality, and creativity, but these qualities do not make up for poor or careless writing, or lack of adequate attention to detail. A Credit essay typically looks and reads like a next-to-final draft. |
Pass (P) | Fails to realise some elements of (1) through (11) adequately, and contains several, relatively serious, errors or flaws, or many minor ones. A Pass essay typically looks and reads like an early draft. |
Fail (F) | Fails to realise several elements of (1) through (11) adequately, and contains many serious errors or flaws, and usually many minor ones too. A Fail essay typically looks and reads like a very rough first draft or even a zero draft. |
A minimum achievement level is set for this assessment activity (i.e., you must equal or exceed this set minimum achievement level for you to be considered for a passing grade for this unit overall, irrespective of your achievement in other assessment components in this unit).
- Develop further and utilise the skills necessary to undertake ecological fieldwork successfully and to analyse ecological data.
- Comprehend and apply the concept, and its elements, of good experimental design.
- Evaluate critically the scientific work of others in ecology.
- Communicate your knowledge and findings clearly both orally and in writing.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Practical and Written Assessment
You will need to access the specific requirements, advice, and resources published on our unit Moodle site (click on the appropriate link in the 'Assessment' box), however a general description is published here.
During our compulsory residential school (combined block practicum or CBP), you will undertake field and laboratory-based data collection that (a) will be required to be reported on in written form for assignment submission (submitted online as Field Project Reports assessment item after the CBP), and (b) will provide the project findings to be presented orally to the class (as Fire Ecology Project Seminar assessment item) during the CBP.
The field projects, based on relevant trips to field sites, will be undertaken during the CBP as follows:
- a fire ecology (population ecology) project (15%) researching the impacts of fire management in conjunction with Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service (QPWS) in nearby Mount Archer National Park, and
- a community ecology project (10%) describing and comparing two rocky intertidal communities on the nearby Capricorn Coast.
The 'fire ecology' report will take the format of a scientific paper (but not including an Abstract).
The 'rocky intertidal community' report simply will be a series of numerical analyses and graphing treatments, each with a brief sentence or two interpreting the analytical results.
Please note successful completion of both reports will require basic to intermediate skills in the use of Microsoft Word (for tabulating data, inserting photographs/maps etc., constructing and formatting your reports) and Microsoft Excel (for spreadsheeting and charting/graphing data). If your skills are not strong in these areas, you are advised to undertake practice, or utilise in-built help sources, and/or Internet videos and other instructions to improve your skills sooner rather than later. A summary presentation of relevant Excel skills will be provided during the CBP by a CQU Academic Learning Centre (ALC) staff member, but you are advised not to be dependent upon this session for your total Excel skill development.
Importantly, while data collection is conducted in teams, each report is to be an individual's written report of the ecological field project work. That is, whatever your role in the team or the comparative degree of your contribution to the team (design, data gathering, analysis) the writing up and presentation of data is to be your own original work culminating in your report (the exception, of course, are the data used as these should be shared within your team, and any common references cited). Plagiarism and weakly paraphrasing the work of another, even that of a team member, will not be acceptable, tolerated, or treated lightly.
Students will be expected to source learning materials/research and read around topics in the unit, as need and interest dictate, using resources such as science journal and magazine publications, other texts, reputable web sites and so on, as part of CQUniversity’s focus on lifelong learning and self-directed independent learning.
To be negotiated at residential school (combined block practicum) but typically within three (3) weeks of the end of the BIOL13031 combined block practicum.
Review/Exam Week Friday (12 Oct 2018)
The evaluation of this assessment will be as follows:
- evaluation of your 'rocky intertidal community' project component will be criterion-referenced according to the number and accuracy of prescribed (at residential school) treatments applied to your data, and
- evaluation of your 'fire ecology' project report will be according to the assignment evaluation criteria published below.
Grade | Standard |
High Distinction (HD) | (1) Responds fully to assignment. (2) Presents own synthesis of ideas involving rigorous critique and analysis. (3) Comprehension of good ecological experimental design as presented in the BIOL13031 unit materials is clearly evident. (4) Expresses viewpoint clearly and persuasively. (5) Begins and ends effectively. (6) Provides adequate supporting arguments, evidence, examples, and details. (7) Is well organised, sequenced, integrated, and unified. (8) Adequately and correctly acknowledges and documents sources. (9) Original text with no instances of plagiarism or weak paraphrasing. (10) Is free of errors in spelling, word choice, punctuation, grammar, and format. (11) Maintains a level of excellence throughout, and shows originality and creativity in realising (1) through (10). |
Distinction (D) | Realises (1) through (11) fully and completely, and demonstrates overall excellence, but shows little or no independent thought, incomplete critical analysis, or little originality or creativity. |
Credit (C) | Realises (1) through (11) adequately, and demonstrates overall competence but contains a few, relatively minor errors or flaws. A Credit submission might show great independent thought, critical analysis, originality, and creativity, but these qualities do not make up for poor or careless writing, or lack of adequate attention to detail. A Credit work typically looks and reads like a next-to-final draft. |
Pass (P) | Fails to realise some elements of (1) through (11) adequately, and contains several, relatively serious, errors or flaws, or many minor ones. A Pass submission typically looks and reads like an early draft. |
Fail (F) | Fails to realise several elements of (1) through (11) adequately, and contains many serious errors or flaws, and usually many minor ones too. A Fail submission typically looks and reads like a very rough first draft or even a zero draft. |
(Adapted from Angelo, 1998)
Please note a minimum achievement level is set for this assessment item (i.e., you must equal or exceed this set minimum achievement level for you to be considered for a passing grade for this unit overall, irrespective of your achievement in other assessment components in this unit).
- Comprehend and analyse the elements, concepts, and theories of population and community structure and dynamics.
- Comprehend and evaluate the selected elements, concepts, and theories of evolutionary ecology.
- Integrate and apply your knowledge of population, evolutionary, and community ecology to real world situations.
- Develop further and utilise the skills necessary to undertake ecological fieldwork successfully and to analyse ecological data.
- Comprehend and apply the concept, and its elements, of good experimental design.
- Integrate your comprehension of ecological theory with your comprehension and application of good experimental design to allow you to draw sound conclusions from ecological study.
- Communicate your knowledge and findings clearly both orally and in writing.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Presentation
You will need to access the specific requirements, advice, and resources published on our unit Moodle site (click on the appropriate link in the 'Assessment' box), however a general description is published here.
In the closing stages of our residential school (combined block practicum or CBP), students in their project teams will present their findings from their 'fire ecology' fieldwork projects. Students will present as a team, sharing the presentation duties equally among team members, in the form of a relaxed research seminar, to the class in a lecture theatre. Seminar format should approximate the primary sections of a scientific paper (i.e., Materials & Methods, Results, Discussion (including deficiencies, sources of error, improvements, further research), and Conclusion), and include suitable acknowledgement of literature sources and team members. In any case, this assessment is meant to occur in as relaxed, informal, and stress-free an environment as possible, and still be professional and informative.
Time is built in to our CBP for preparation for this activity, and bringing your own laptop is most helpful in this (rather than needing to access university computer labs).
Success in this activity is not based on the elaborateness or 'prettiness' of presentations but rather their content, and effectiveness in communication.
Students will be expected to source learning materials/research and read around topics in the unit, as need and interest dictate, using resources such as science journal and magazine publications, other texts, reputable web sites and so on, as part of CQUniversity’s focus on lifelong learning and self-directed independent learning.
During the final stages of the residential school (combined block practicum) 30 Aug - 1 Sept 2018).
At the close of the residential school (combined block practicum) 30 Aug - 1 Sept 2018).
Students will be expected to source learning materials/research and read around topics in the unit, as need and interest dictate, using resources such as science journal and magazine publications, other texts, reputable web sites and so on, as part of CQUniversity’s focus on lifelong learning and self-directed independent learning.
Each team member will be evaluated against a maximum total of 30 marks. While students in a team are expected to present as a team (dividing the presentation equally among team members), individual performances will be evaluated according to the following criteria: presentation quality (mark out of 10), and handling of questions (mark out of 10). The team as a whole will be judged for overall seminar content (mark out of 10), and this mark will be applied to all team members. Thus each team member will initially receive a mark out of 30 which will be divided by 3 to produce a mark out of 10 (to scale achievement to the 10% weighting for this activity).
A minimum achievement level is set for this assessment activity (i.e., you must equal or exceed this set minimum achievement level for you to be considered for a passing grade for this unit overall, irrespective of your achievement in other assessment components in this unit).
The mark sheet used to evaluate the presentations is published on the unit Moodle site, and summarised below.
Seminar assessment form
Group members' names | Presentation* ( /10) | Overall seminar content ( /10) | Handling of questions** ( /10) | TOTAL ( /30) | MARK ( /10) |
Project title:
Marker’s comments:
Note
*‘Presentation’ to include consideration of conciseness, clarity, delivery, effectiveness of use of any aids (e.g. PowerPoint, OHPs, drawings on board, etc.), and completion in the time allotted.
**’Handling of questions’ to include consideration of confidence shown, good recall of work done, not unsettled by unexpected questions, not defensive but a respectful and scientific approach, not being afraid to say ‘I don’t know’, appropriate reference to reported ‘areas for further work’ and/or ‘areas for improvement’/’sources of possible error’, and general participation/enthusiasm/ teamwork in answering questions.
- Comprehend and analyse the elements, concepts, and theories of population and community structure and dynamics.
- Comprehend and evaluate the selected elements, concepts, and theories of evolutionary ecology.
- Integrate and apply your knowledge of population, evolutionary, and community ecology to real world situations.
- Develop further and utilise the skills necessary to undertake ecological fieldwork successfully and to analyse ecological data.
- Comprehend and apply the concept, and its elements, of good experimental design.
- Integrate your comprehension of ecological theory with your comprehension and application of good experimental design to allow you to draw sound conclusions from ecological study.
- Communicate your knowledge and findings clearly both orally and in writing.
- Communication
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
Examination
No calculators permitted
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.