Ecology concerns the fundamental patterns, interactions and flows of organisms and materials in natural biological systems. Why are some organisms found here, and not there? Why do plants and animals look and work like they do? What makes their populations large or small, or change in size? Why do some organisms co-exist together, and others not? Why is there so much diversity? In understanding these questions, we gain critical insight into how populations and communities have evolved, how energy and biomass flow through ecosystems, and how populations and communities respond to changes in their environment. These changes may result from natural disturbances such as changes in climate, through altered disease prevalence or competition, or from human modification of habitats, over-harvesting, or pollution.
In this course, we will explore ecological thinking, relevant field methods, modelling, and the application of key ecological concepts to understanding and conserving natural communities and ecosystems. We will see how organisms from the major biological kingdoms have provided key insights into our understanding of the ecology of organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems, the importance of scale, and how this influences key ecosystem processes. This course will take a data-driven and theoretical approach to the field of ecology, focusing on the role of modelling for understanding processes.
This course is co-taught with undergraduate students but assessed separately.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Examine and summarise central ideas and theory underpinning ecology.
- Visualise ecological data sets and make inferences about likely processes driving them.
- Understand how observation, experimentation and modelling can be used to generate and test ecological hypotheses.
- Critically evaluate scientific evidence to understand ecological patterns and processes.
- Conduct quantitative ecological research and communicate the findings to a specialist audience.
- Work as a research team and provide effective peer support.
- Communicate complex quantitative analysis in a manner that can be understood by a broad audience of non-scientists.
Indicative Assessment
- Weekly workshop reports (50) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
- 3000-word capstone research report, including supplementary data and computer code (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Essay communicating the capstone research project to a broad audience (20) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,7]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:
- Face-to face components which will consist of approximately 1 x 1 hour lectures and 1 x 3 hour workshop per week.
- 1 x compulsory weekend field trip (approx 20 hours).
- Approximately 62 hours of self-directed study which will include preparation for lectures and other assessment tasks.
Students are expected to actively participate and contribute towards discussions.
Inherent Requirements
This course includes a compulsory field trip to the Kioloa Campus over a weekend. The field trip will take Friday-Sunday on the first weekend after the semester break and has a student contribution towards food and accommodation.
For general information on field trips please refer to https://students.science.anu.edu.au/program-admin/college-science-field-trips
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Quantitative Ecology: A New Unified Approach (2019), Clarence Lehman, Shelby Loberg, Adam Clark. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/11299/204551
Assumed Knowledge
This course will take extensive use of data, both simulated and empirical. Familiarity with programming, preferably using R, will be essential for tackling these data sets and computational challenges. At a minimum, students should be familiar with basic data structures (variables, data frames, vectors), know how to write loops and control statements, as well as how to plot data.
Familiarity with the R tidiverse libraries, and particularly the ggplot2 library is a plus. A familiarity with statistical principles, such as hypothesis testing and parameter estimation via regression would be a plus, but not required.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8586 | 27 Jul 2026 | 03 Aug 2026 | 31 Aug 2026 | 30 Oct 2026 | In Person | N/A |