Bushfire & Biodiversity

This subject is not offered in 2015.

170 hours

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. This course requires all students to enrol in subjects where they must actively and safely contribute to field excursions and laboratory activities. Students who feel their disability will impact on meeting this requirement are encouraged to discuss this matter with the Subject Coordinator and Disability Liaison http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/ students email: disability-liaison@unimelb.edu.au

The course covers the basic effects of fire on aspects of biodiversity and ecological processes. Managers are committed to developing science-based ecological burning strategies which achieve both biodiversity and asset protection objectives. Increased knowledge of the ecological impacts of fire on plants and animals facilitates a better understanding of how more effective management can be achieved.

By the end of the subject students should:

* Have an understanding of the nature of plant responses to fire; particularly with regard to seeders and resprouters, seed storage and dispersal and the consequences of repeated fire

* Have an understanding of the response of animals to fire as individuals, populations and assemblages (communities)

* Have an appreciation that these impacts operate at the ecosystem level, depending on attributes of the species concerned and landscape factors such as connectivity and habitat condition

* Have an appreciation that the way fire(s) influence biodiversity depends on a set of interacting factors, including both pre- and post-fire weather, competition and predation

* Have a better understanding of landscape-scale management, where current scientific knowledge is incorporated into planning, monitoring and legislation cycle

• Laboratory Exercise - 10% (500 words & diagrams) 2 afternoons in the first week.
• Group Presentation - 10% (3 people) for 30 minutes in total, including PowerPoint (optional), on Day 3 of the 1st week of Intensive subject.
• Field Exercise and Report - 20% (500 words & maps), due 2 weeks after teaching completed.
• Major Report (3,000 words) - 60%, due 4 weeks after teaching completed.

None

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.