Module Identifier | GG10410 | ||
Module Title | GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND SOIL SYSTEMS | ||
Academic Year | 2002/2003 | ||
Co-ordinator | Dr Henry F Lamb | ||
Semester | Semester 2 | ||
Other staff | Dr Peter W Abrahams | ||
Course delivery | Lecture | 20 Hours 1 hr lectures. | |
Assessment | Semester Exam | 2 Hours Examination consisting of short questions. | 100% |
Supplementary Assessment | 2 Hours Examination consisting of essays. | 100% |
Global Ecology, taught by Dr. Lamb, addresses three main themes. The first examines the
astonishing biodiversity of the Earth, especially in the tropics. An understanding of the origin and
maintenance of biodiversity can be gained by looking at the biogeography of islands, which also
exemplify the catastrophic effects of human intervention. The second theme, The Dynamic
Biosphere, examines ecological change over intermediate timescales, such as how vegetation and
soils interact on newly-formed terrain following ice retreat, or how forests benefit from recurrent
natural fires. We also examine the extent to which a knowledge of past variations in plant and
animal ranges aids prediction of the biological consequences of global warming. The Ice-Age
Biosphere is the third theme, including the extinctions of large mammals at the close of the
Pleistocene, and the evidence for climatic and anthropogenic effects on the biosphere during the
last 10,000 years.
Soil Systems, the second component of the module, is taught by Dr. Abrahams. This part of the
course examines soil constituents, the factors of soil formation, soil processes such as leaching and podzolisation and
the variety of world soils, focusing on soils of the tropics. Applied aspects of soil
science are emphasised throughout, and the module concludes with a consideration of soil erosion
and/or aspects of soil geochemistry.