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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences)

Postgraduate Course: Land Use/Environmental Interactions (PGGE11010)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Geosciences CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course deals principally with the relationships between land management and surface and ground water quality. A Case Study approach will be used for much of the course and options for treatment of specific water pollution problems, such as bathing water quality, lake eutrophication, groundwater contamination by agrochemicals, surface water contamination by acidification, ferruginous discharges and sewage, will be evaluated. The course will be useful to students concerned with the protection and management of water resources from the effects of agriculture, forestry, mining, urban and domestic wastes.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 44, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 152 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 2There are 2 pieces of course assessment, namely;
¿ An ESSAY: With reference to a named environmental pollutant or contaminant of your choice, discuss the effect of specific land use practices on the dispersal of these pollutants to ground, surface and coastal waters, and/or target site; the impacts of the pollutant on water quality, the environment, and/or ecosystem function; and cost effective measures for mitigating the impacts of these land use practices. Illustrate your work with specific case studies or examples. This must be submitted before noon on Friday 1st April, 2016, and accounts for 50% of the total marks.
¿ Prepare a POSTER presentation to communicate the main points of the essay. Emphasis should be on getting your message across to decision makers and land users who have the power to act on your recommendations. Provide a printed A4 version of your poster, and an abstract of your poster (covering no more than a single A4 page) on the day of the poster presentation. The poster presentations Your poster presentation will be marked on four points: (1) technical content; (2) quality of text and graphics; (3) verbal explanation; (4) the abstract. Posters will be presented on Monday 21st and 28th March 2016. This portion of the assessment accounts for the remaining 50% of the total marks.

Assessment Guidance

THE LAND USE/ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS ESSAY

Introduction
Students are asked to research and prepare a review of a named environmental pollutant or contaminant of their choice, and discuss:

1. The effect of specific land use practices on the dispersal of these pollutants to ground, surface and coastal waters, and/or target site;
2. The impacts of the pollutant on water quality, the environment, and/or ecosystem function;
3. Cost effective measures for mitigating the impacts of these land use practices

The review should be illustrated with specific case studies or examples.

Possible pollutants/pollutant groups to consider are:
Sediment, nitrates, phosphates, ammonium, chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphate insecticides, synthetic pyrethroid insecticides, pathogenic bacteria, toxic metals, organic matter, acidity, alkalinity, salinity, thermal pollution, oestrogenic compounds, arsenic, aluminium, light pollution, etc¿..

Possible Land Use Practices include forestry, arable farming, livestock farming, drainage, urbanisation, mining, sewage treatment, industry (e.g. paper making, dyeing, metalworking, oil refining, retailing), road construction, airport construction etc¿

Objectives
The preparation and presentation of this essay is intended to encourage students to:
1) explore and develop original ideas.
2) promote investigational and interpretative skills.
3) strengthen presentational skills, especially in the written medium.
4) demonstrate an ability to ¿getting your message across¿ to decision makers and land users who have the power to act on your recommendations.

Assignment
Students are required to submit an essay of approximately 2000 words. Approval should be sought with the course organiser on the chosen ¿pollutant/contaminant¿ before proceeding. However, it is essentially the student's ideas and initiative which are important.
A full list of reference material used must be included (but will not count towards the word limit). A word count (excluding references) must appear in the top right of the first page.

Administration
The ESSAY must be submitted by noon of Friday 1st April 2016 as an electronic copy via Learn 9.
If required, the Course Secretary, Elspeth Martin, can provide guidance on uploading submissions.

THE LAND USE/ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS POSTER

Introduction
Prepare a poster presentation to communicate the main points of the essay. Emphasis should be on getting your message across to decision makers and land users who have the power to act on your recommendations, so imagine you are preparing a poster for that purpose.

Objectives
The preparation and presentation of this poster is intended to encourage students to:
1) strengthen presentational skills, especially oral presentation
2) demonstrate an ability summarise large documents (the Essay) into a condensed and relatable format
3) utilise visual media to engage with the audience

Assignment
In composing your poster, please make full use of photographs, tables and figures (diagrams) and try to minimise the number of words. A picture or chart is much more effective than a paragraph of text. Your poster should include the title and your name across the top, a short introduction, an explanation of the case with the aid of illustrations, and two or three short and convincing conclusions. You will find that Powerpoint is a useful tool for preparing legible, well laid out sections to the poster. Examples of previous posters will be posted on Learn.
Your poster presentation will be marked on four points:
(1) technical content; (2) quality of text and graphics; (3) verbal explanation; (4) the abstract.

Administration
Posters will be presented on Monday 21st and 28th March 2016. The running order and date of presentation will be chosen at random. Provide a printed A4 version of your poster, and an abstract of your poster (covering no more than a single A4 page) on the day of the poster presentation.

This portion of the assessment accounts for the remaining 50% of the total marks.

Check the subject of your essay/poster with the course organiser in advance if you are unsure of it fitting within the criteria of the question.¿
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Have knowledge on identification of opportunities for management and
  2. Have an understanding of nitrogen transformations, mineralisation,
  3. Use methods of organic waste management for water pollution control
  4. Evaluate groundwater quality under various management
Reading List
Aspinall, R.J., Hill, M.J. (2008). Land Use Change: Science, Policy And Management.
Brannstrom, C., Vadjunec, J.M. (2014). Land change science, political ecology and sustainability: synergies and divergences.
Cowell R, Lennon M, (2014). The utilisation of environmental knowledge in land-use planning: drawing lessons for an ecosystem services approach. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 32(2) 263¿282.
Qiao-Yu Cui, Marie-José Gaillard, Geoffrey Lemdahl, Li Stenberg, Shinya Sugita and Ganna Zernova (2014). Historical land-use and landscape change in southern Sweden and implications for present and future biodiversity. Ecology and Evolution 2014; 4(18): 3555¿3570.
DeFries, R.S., Asner, G.P., Houghton, R.A. (2004) Ecosystems and land use change
DeGraff, J. V. (2007). Understanding and responding to hazardous substances at mine sites in the western United States
European Commission. Environment Land Use. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/land_use/index_en.htm
European Environment Agency (EAA). Land Use. http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/landuse
FAO. Land Resources. http://www.fao.org/nr/land/lr-home/en/
Ganoulis, J. (1994) Engineering risk analysis of water pollution: probabilities and fuzzy sets
Giampietro, M., Aspinall, R.J., Ramos-Martin, J., Bukkens, S.G.F (2014). Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: the Nexus between Energy, Food, Water and Land Use
Gupta, A., Mason, M. (2014). Transparency in global environmental governance: critical perspectives
Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP). Sustainable Land Use. http://www.ieep.eu/work-areas/agriculture-and-land-management/sustainable-land-use/
Harrison, R.M. (1996). Pollution: causes, effects and control.
Harrison, R.M. (2007). Principles of Environmental Chemistry
Haygarth, P.M. and Jarvis, S.C. (2003). Agriculture, hydrology and water quality
Kiely, G. (1996). Environmental Engineering
Lindenmayer, D., Cunningham, S., Young, A. (2012). Land Use Intensification: Effects on Agriculture, Biodiversity, and Ecological Processes
Niedda, M., Pirastru, M., Castellini, M., Giadrossich, F. (2014). Simulating the hydrological response of a closed catchment-lake system to recent climate and land-use changes in semi-arid Mediterranean environment. Journal of Hydrology, 517, 732¿745
O'Neill, P. (1998). Environmental Chemistry
Ritter, W.F. & Shirmohammadi, A. (2003). Agricultural nonpoint source pollution: watershed management and hydrology
Shortle, J.S. & Abler, D.G. (2001). Environmental policies for agricultural pollution control
Solbe, J.F.L.G. (1986). Effects of Land Use on Fresh waters.
Stallworthy, M. (2013). Sustainability Land Use and the Environment
Tuck, S. L., Winqvist, C., Mota, F., Ahnström, J., Turnbull, L. A., Bengtsson, J. (2014), Land-use intensity and the effects of organic farming on biodiversity: a hierarchical meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Ecology, 51: 746¿755
Ward, A.D. & Trimble, S.W. (2004). Environmental Hydrology. 2nd edition.
Wild, A. (1993). Soils and the Environment - an Introduction.




Additional Information
Course URL http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/15-16/dpt/cxpgge11010.htm
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsLand use/Environmental Protection Pollution,eutrophication,land use,water quality
Contacts
Course organiserDr Andy Evans
Tel: (0131) 535 4093
Email: andy.evans@sac.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Elspeth Martin
Tel: 0131 535 4198
Email: Elspeth.Martin@sruc.ac.uk
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