Ecological Restoration

This subject is not offered in 2013.

60 contact hours over two weeks

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Ecological Restoration examines the principles and practices needed to restore terrestrial ecosystems in a range of modified landscapes from agricultural to urban. Its focus is ecological, although consideration is also given to socio-economic factors that influence restoration programs. Lectures and field trips explore ecological principles and projects from site to landscape scales, encompassing biodiversity values and ecosystem services.

At the end of this subject students will have an advanced understanding of:

• Properties of degraded versus functioning ecosystems
• Need for ecological restoration (Australia and elsewhere)
• Types and goals of ecological restoration at site to landscape scales
• Planning, legislation, incentive schemes relevant to restoration of native systems
• Ecological restoration strategies and methods (including harnessing natural processes and planning for climate change)
• Indicators of ecosystem function and restoration success at different scales (from molecular to plant/animal populations to landscape processes)
• Benefits of ecological restoration

An assignment of 1,000 words (20%), an oral presentation (30%), an assignment of 2,500 words (50%).

None

• Whisenant SG (1999) Repairing Damaged Wildlands. A process-orientated, landscape-scale approach. Cambridge University Press. 312pp.
• Perrow MR, Davy AJ (Eds) (2002) Handbook of Ecological Restoration. Volume 1 Principles of Restoration. Cambridge University Press. 444pp.
• Walker, L.R., Walker, J., Hobbs, R.J. (2007) Linking Restoration and Ecological Succession. Springer, New York, 190pp.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.