Postgraduate Course: Plant Geography (PGBI11012)
Course Outline
| School | School of Biological Sciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Biologists have sought to explain the uneven distribution of organisms across the globe for over two centuries, a field of enquiry called biogeography. It is still a vital research area in a time when we need to be able to predict how organisms will react to anthropogenic environmental change. However, because of the complex interplay of contemporary ecology, earth history, organismal extinction and evolution, universal biogeographic explanations are still elusive. This course provides a background to the discipline of plant geography, including an account of its history, as well as explanations of the most modern biogeographic tools such as molecular clocks. This material is interspersed with key environments lectures, which discuss key species-rich environments that are studied at RBGE and the University of Edinburgh. Teaching will involve several group discussion tutorials, where students will be encouraged to read, interpret and criticise recently published research articles in the field. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2018/19, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 8,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 16,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
74 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% in-course assessment, in the form of a research grant project proposal. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- History of plant geography
- Basic outline of plate tectonics
- Biogeographic techniques including vicariance (cladistic) biogeography, using phylogenies to test biogeographic hypotheses, molecular clock studies of divergence times
- Knowledge of the floristic composition, ecology, biogeographic history and conservation issues relating to key species-rich plant environments
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | plant geography,biogeography,vegetation history,plant environments |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Louis Ronse De Craene
Tel: (0131) 248 2804
Email: l.ronsedecraene@rbge.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Andrea Nichol
Tel: (0131 6)50 8643
Email: Andrea.Nichol@ed.ac.uk |
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