Environmental Measurement, Modelling and Monitoring

Ecosystems worldwide are under stress. Global and local assessments of biodiversity continue to report deteriorating ecosystems and species loss. Measuring, monitoring and modelling these changes, as well as designing and analysing experiments aimed at testing potential management actions are central to restoration and conservation responses. Despite the array of attributes ecosystems express, the same broad concepts are consistently called upon when quantitatively expressing change and difference. This course aims to introduce the concepts that underpin quantitative modelling relevant to understanding organismal and ecosystem response and difference. Specifically, this course aims to build on quantitative modelling skills using approaches that underpin the vast majority of ecological studies with an emphasis upon general linear models integrating complex ANOVA and univariate and multivariate least-squares regression, and generalised linear modelling. The intent is to provide the next step (after pre-requisite introductory courses) for students in building competence in widely applicable field-survey, data-handling and statistical methods, delivering an essential skill set for ecology- and environment-based professionals. The partial field focus of the course, and it’s contextual emphasis on vegetated ecosystems, also necessitates the development of field botany skills. We introduce basic concepts associated with the description of floral and leaf forms and their application to consistently differentiating plant families, genera and species with particular emphasis on eucalypt identification. Note: This course is co-taught with undergraduate students but assessed separately.