Undergraduate Course: Plant Geography (PLSC10018)
Course Outline
| School | School of Biological Sciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | 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. |
| Course description |
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. These illuminate the theoretical material with real examples, and highlight conservation issues
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
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 30,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
66 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
2 x essays each worth 50% of the course |
| Feedback |
Written feedback will be provided for all ICA. |
| 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 |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Classes take place at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. |
| Keywords | PLSCPlaGeog |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Richard Milne
Tel: (0131 6)50 5322
Email: R.Milne@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Louise Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)50 5988
Email: Louise.K.M.Robertson@ed.ac.uk |
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