Population and Community Ecology

Module Identifier: BR33920
Module Title: Population and Community Ecology
Academic Year: 2027/2028
Semester: Semester 1
Co-ordinator: Dr Niall Mckeown
Reading List: View on Aspire
Other Staff: Dr Sarah Helyar; Dr Ruth Wonfor; Dr David Wilcockson; Dr Daniel Mills; Dr Ifat Shah

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	Report on community and population ecology practical.: 4000 Words	40%
Semester Exam	Essay paper: 2 Hours	60%
Supplementary Assessment	Resit report: Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to failure of the module. 4000 Words	40%
Supplementary Exam	Resit exam: 2 Hours Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to failure of the module.	60%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Describe and discuss the conceptual models that are used to account for the distribution and abundance of organisms in natural systems.
2. Describe the evidence that underpins the models and to assess critically its value.
3 Apply appropriate methods to measure ecological characteristics, such as population size, population growth rate, community diversity.

Brief description

The course starts from an elementary level and introduces theoretical developments in population and community ecology, with theory related, where possible, by reference to empirical studies. The need to assess the underlying assumptions of the models is emphasised throughout.

Content

The subject addresses two main problems. What factors determine population abundance and the changes in that abundance in space and time? What factors determine the number of species that can co-exist in a given area?
The population ecology component covers the following topics: estimation of population abundance, the construction and use of life tables, the concept of density dependence, life history theory, and population growth models emphasising the logistic model. The population dynamics of species with overlapping and non-overlapping generations are compared. Spatially explicit models introduce the concept of metapopulations.
The community ecology component discusses two-species models for predator-prey and competitive interactions. It develops these into the niche-based concept of community composition and examines the evidence for this view. It covers the factors affecting species diversity, including island biogeography and considers the functioning of food webs. The relevance of community ecology for conservation is considered.

Module skills

Skills type	Skills details
Application of Number	In completing practical workshops and assignments which require handling of numerical data.
Communication	Report writing and presentation of the results of workshops.
Improving own Learning and Performance	Through practice in independent learning and time management.
Information Technology	Searching and accessing primary literature.
Problem solving	Through applying the principles of ecology, and through using workshop data to test specific hypotheses.
Research skills	Reading primary literature and critical assessment of the value of sources.
Subject Specific Skills	Through use of analytical techniques appropriate from ecological data.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6