Field Botany

This subject is not offered in 2014.

Estimated total time commitment of 120 hours

One of

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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/

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.

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.

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%).

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

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music

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.

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.