Ecology relies heavily on getting information out to other interested parties and the public, be this your family and friends, school children, at a conference, to the media, to your industry stakeholder, to your granting body, government ministers and advisors or the general public. Part of this course, therefore, involves a 15-20 minute talk on the contents of your journal club paper to your peers and staff during the evening classes. Assessment is based on your individual presentation and your participation in the class discussions on all journal club presentations.

Your paper presentation can be loaded onto a class computer where you will need to present it. Talks will be timed. The class will be allowed to ask questions and provide feedback. However, the unit convenor and staff (not the class) will decide on the formal marks for each talk. Good presentations will have a comprehensiveunderstanding of the topic and will speak and participate equally during the presentation.

This 2000 word paper will be assessed based on your demonstrated understanding of the problem, your use of available literature, and your written communication skills. You have a choice of two topics for this paper.

EITHER

 Conservation biologists generally agree that landscape connectivity enhances population viability and that until fairly recently most species lived in well-connected landscapes. Because human activities such as urbanisation often sever natural connections, habitat corridors have been suggested as a means of retaining some connectivity between pockets of appropriate habitat. Corridors are frequently cited as of value both for reserve design and allocation and in particular in the urban bush context. However, there is a considerable argument as to whether corridors do indeed enhance population viability. Review the evidence for and against corridors and then discuss how you would empirically test this proposition for three endangered species of Australian flora and/or fauna.

 OR

 Australia has numerous plants and animals which are considered pests. Most of them were introduced after European settlement, either deliberately or by accident, including some brought in to assist with the control of other nuisance species. Choose one plant and one animal pest and discuss the following:

 How and why the species were introduced

 What factors contributed to their successful establishment

 What were the environmental and economic impacts of the introduction

 Discuss pros and cons of the methods used to control these species

Choose an environmental topic from the list below (or suggest a suitable alternative but discuss with the unit convenor before proceeding with it) and write an examination of how the theoretical side of ecology relates to the practice of tackling that problem or issue. Your essay should not exceed 2500 words in length. This will allow you to examine at least one ecological topic in depth. Remember to explicitly link principles to applications. Also, be sure to set out the problem and your approach in the introduction of your essay. Your essay will be assessed based on your demonstrated understanding of the problem or issue, your ability to logically link principles to applications, your use of available literature, and your written communication skills.

Suggested topics:

Effects of a particular type of pollution on natural assemblages.

Conservation biology, especially with regard to the role of interactions between species.

Stock-recruitment relationships and harvesting in fisheries.

Introduction of exotic species across natural barriers of oceans and landmasses.

Habitat fragmentation and landscape ecology.

Ecosystem rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Ecological effects of the release of genetically engineered organisms.

Biological control of pests.

Strategies of biological monitoring.