Field Botany

Subject BOTA30006 (2011)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2011.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

January, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

Lectures, practical work and fieldwork.
An enrolment quota of 36 students applies to this subject.
2 week intensive in late January/early February.



Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: This subject is offered full-time over the first two weeks of February. Total contact is 62 hours, comprising 36 hours fieldwork (one 7-day excursion), 8 hours lectures, 18 hours practical work
Total Time Commitment: Estimated total time commitment of 120 hours
Prerequisites:

One of

Subject
Study Period Commencement:
Credit Points:
Semester 2
12.50
  • 606-204 Ecology: Communities and Ecosystems (prior to 2009)
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements: For the purposes of considering applications for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005) and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, this subject requires all students to actively and safely participate in practical work and fieldwork activities. Students who feel their disability may impact upon their participation are encouraged to discuss this with the Subject Coordinator and the Disability Liaison Unit. http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Coordinator

Dr Andrew Drinnan

Contact

School of Botany

botany-enquiries@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview: This subject is structured around the fieldwork excursion in early February and covers the basic skills that are required to undertake a field-based botanical activity such as a flora survey or an environmental impact assessment, or to proceed to research in a field-based botanical discipline. Topics to be covered include:

  • taxonomy of the Australian flora;

  • field identification of major families and genera of plants;

  • collection and preservation of plant specimens; mounting and cataloguing specimens; curatorial skills; nomenclature;

  • techniques for description and classification of vegetation; structural types, floristic associations, measures of abundance (cover, density, basal area, biomass), sampling techniques (quadrats, line transects, plotless methods), sampling scale and species-area relationships, profile diagrams, life-form spectra;

  • soils; and

  • vegetation mapping.
Objectives:

At the end of this subject, students should have the skills for:

  • identification, description and quantification of plants and plant communities in the field;

  • collection, cataloguing and preserving plant specimens; and

  • constructing a vegetation map.
Assessment:

A written report of a maximum of 2000 words due at the end of the semester (40%); curated collection of up to 20 plants due at the end of the subject (20%); assessment of field activities during the subject (20%); a 2-hour practical examination in the summer semester examination period (20%).
Prescribed Texts: None
Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Notes:

This subject is available for science credit to students enrolled in the BSc (both pre-2008 and new degrees), BASc or a combined BSc course.
Related Course(s): Bachelor of Science
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Botany (pre-2008 Bachelor of Science)
Conservation and Australian Wildlife (pre-2008 Bachelor of Science)
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Plant Science
Science credit subjects* for pre-2008 BSc, BASc and combined degree science courses

Download PDF version.