Module Information
Module Identifier
BR21120
Module Title
Climate Change: Plants, Animals and Ecosystems
Academic Year
2023/2024
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Pre-Requisite
Reading List
Other Staff
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Field excursion report (up to 2000 words) | 40% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours | 60% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Field excursion report Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to failure of the module. | 40% |
| Supplementary 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. Discuss how plant ecophysiological mechanisms operate in optimal and sub-optimal conditions.
2. Describe plant and animal responses to pollution and environmental change factors.
3. Explain how climate change will impact on species and community interactions, populations and ecosystems, also changing the geographical range limits of biota.
4. Critically discuss the range of experimental approaches currently employed to estimate the future impact of climate change on species, populations and ecosystems.
Brief description
Climate change is now recognised as one of the major future challenges to global biodiversity. The module describes various future environmental change factors and how plants, animals and ecosystems will be affected. Students will explore the close relationship between the biophysical, physiological and ecological aspects of the adaptation and acclimation of an organism to its environment and how a changing environment can stress and even exclude organisms from particular locations.
We will discuss the plant community, plant-soil and plant-animal interactions and the role of soil as a habitat but also as a store for
carbon and for future climate change mitigation. Plant-animal interactions will be explored by looking at direct (particularly temperature) and indirect effects of climate change factors on animal performance (via changes food palatability and digestibility).
The module benefits from field tour drawing on ongoing research in this area.
We will discuss the plant community, plant-soil and plant-animal interactions and the role of soil as a habitat but also as a store for
carbon and for future climate change mitigation. Plant-animal interactions will be explored by looking at direct (particularly temperature) and indirect effects of climate change factors on animal performance (via changes food palatability and digestibility).
The module benefits from field tour drawing on ongoing research in this area.
Content
This module will describe and discuss physiological / ecological research showing evidence of shifts in northern or southern range margins of populations of species from a variety of taxa. We will consider organism physiology in detail and phenological studies that have identified change. Students will explore the close relationship between the biophysical, physiological and ecological aspects of the adaptation and acclimation of an organism to its environment and how a changing environment can stress and even exclude organisms from particular locations. This will involve
developing a broad understanding of organism physiology to understanding predicted responses including changes in temperature (gradual increase, extreme events), precipitation (drought or waterlogging), direct effects of elevated CO2 and gaseous pollutants.
We will also present examples of earlier emergence or activity of species and associated ecological studies showing asynchrony of herbivore emergence with host plants or progressive predator asynchrony with their prey populations. More complex impacts on interactions will be considered including the soil-root-plant interface using examples from Long Term Ecosystem Research experiments.
The module provides field activity that integrates the subject matter in logical order. It spans plant-animal interactions and provides a detailed functional understanding about how plants, animals and communities will respond to a wide range of future climate change factors.
developing a broad understanding of organism physiology to understanding predicted responses including changes in temperature (gradual increase, extreme events), precipitation (drought or waterlogging), direct effects of elevated CO2 and gaseous pollutants.
We will also present examples of earlier emergence or activity of species and associated ecological studies showing asynchrony of herbivore emergence with host plants or progressive predator asynchrony with their prey populations. More complex impacts on interactions will be considered including the soil-root-plant interface using examples from Long Term Ecosystem Research experiments.
The module provides field activity that integrates the subject matter in logical order. It spans plant-animal interactions and provides a detailed functional understanding about how plants, animals and communities will respond to a wide range of future climate change factors.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | |
| Information Technology | |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Real world focus on problems and solutions Applying fundamental elements to applied aspects |
| Problem solving | The assessments will require an understanding underlying principles of time-series analysis phenology and climate-ecology models. |
| Research skills | Critical review of recent peer-review publications in the topic will be required for examination and practical assessment |
| Subject Specific Skills | Learning about specific methods used to study future Climate Change impacts |
| Team work | Group interactions in the field |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5