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Biodiversity and its Conservation

Module description

Most people will be aware that the world is considered to be experiencing a Biodiversity crisis. You’ll hear or read about it in the media all the time. But what do we actually mean by Biodiversity? Where does it come from and how is it maintained in nature? Why is it important to humanity? How do human activities lead to its decline? What can be done to slow or even halt the decline? In this module, we will address all these questions to give students a solid foundation in the science of biodiversity and an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of biodiversity conservation.   

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will introduce you to the theory and concepts of Biodiversity and Conservation Science. It aims to give you the basis on which to build expertise in this area and to give you an understanding of how conservation requires input from many disciplines beyond biology.

In addition, you will gain practical experience in some aspects of this field, such as designing and implementing population/biodiversity surveys, carrying out an IUCN Red List Assessment and planning conservation action 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Describe the core themes and theory around the broad topic of Biodiversity
• 2. Describe the major threats to biodiversity and the methods used to identify priority areas for conservation
• 3. Explain the importance to effective conservation of context of physical/social/economic/political landscape

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Describe in some detail essential facts and theory across a sub-discipline of environmental science
• 5. Identify critical questions from the literature and synthesise research-informed examples from the literature into written work
• 6. Identify and implement, with guidance, appropriate methodologies and theories for addressing specific research problems in environmental science
• 7. With some guidance, deploy established techniques of analysis, practical investigation, and enquiry within environmental science
• 8. Describe and evaluate approaches to our understanding of environmental science with reference to primary literature, reviews and research articles

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 9. Develop, with some guidance, a logical and reasoned argument with valid conclusions
• 10. Communicate ideas, principles and theories fluently using a variety of formats in a manner appropriate to the intended audience
• 11. Collect and interpret appropriate data and complete research-like tasks, drawing on a range of sources, with limited guidance
• 12. Evaluate own strengths and weaknesses in relation to professional and practical skills, and apply own evaluation criteria

Syllabus plan

• The lectures will cover the following key areas:
• The multi-faceted nature of biodiversity, from genetic diversity in populations to the diversity of species assemblages across continents and oceans.
• The principles of population dynamics and the role of species interactions therein
• Community Ecology: the how and why of variation in composition of species assemblages in different places and over time.
• Ecosystem Services: the benefits that human society derives from ecosystems and how this depends on diversity (including so-called Nature-Based Solutions).
• Measuring and documenting decline and threats to species and biodiversity
• Historical conservation approaches, their effectiveness and associated problems
• Conservation in the context of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
• Global and localized conservation in the 21^st Century

Practical elements will include:

• Designing and implementing a population survey
• Carrying out IUCN Red List assessments for species and planning associated conservation action
• Field trip to conservation project in Cornwall

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to sit a further examination. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will count for 100% of the final mark and will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

• Textbook: UNIT 8 in “Biology: A Global Approach 12th edition”, Campbell et al. (available as e-book through library)

Key journals associated with this module are:

• Conservation Letters
• Conservation Biology
• People and Nature
• Biological Conservation

Key words search

Biogeography, landscape ecology, physical geography, bigeomorphology, environmental change