BIO323 River and Floodplain Ecology (8)
CSU Discipline Area: Biological Sciences (BILSC)
Duration: One session
Abstract:
In this subject students learn about rivers, how they function and the types of animals and plants that inhabit them. You will learn about the diversity of freshwater habitats and be introduced to ecological models relevant to the management of freshwater ecosystems. At a residential school students will gain experience in field sampling techniques (flora and fauna), identification of organisms, measurement of stream metabolism, calculation of biotic indices and statistical analysis of ecological data. The subject contains a total estimated workload of 150 hours.
+ Subject Availability Modes and Locations
| Session 1 | |
|---|---|
| Internal | Albury-Wodonga |
| Distance * | Albury-Wodonga |
*This subject offering contains a residential school. Please view following information for further details.
Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: BIO323
Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.
Enrolment restrictions:
Students who have completed either BIO310 or BIO401 may not enrol in this subject
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
be able to:
- describe the important environmental variables of inland aquatic ecosystems;
- demonstrate an understanding of the physical, chemical and ecological processes that occur in inland water bodies;
- demonstrate an understanding of the ecological models used to explain river function in running waters (eg RCC, FPC, RPM);
- discuss the management issues and strategies for Australian inland waters;
- identify the organisms and communities in aquatic environments;
- use a variety of techniques to sample aquatic organisms and to assess freshwater ecosystems (eg biotic indices).
Syllabus:
The subject will cover the following topics:
- Physical and chemical processes in freshwater environments;
- Freshwater habitats and biota;
- Food webs and trophic linkages;
- Carbon sources and stream metabolism;
- Ecological models - RCC, flood pulse, riverine productivity;
- Disturbances in freshwater ecosystems;
- Biotic indices;
- Assessment and monitoring of freshwater ecosystems.
Residential School
This subject contains a compulsory 3 day residential school.
To expose students to hands-on field work experiences.
The information contained in the 2013 CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: 24 April 2013. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.