Ecology and Geomorphology Methods

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: Dr Charlie Underwood
• Tutor: Dr Becky Briant
• Assessment: four reports/practical write-ups (10% each) and a two-hour online examination (60%)

Studies of ecology and geomorphology are essential to understand the biological and non-biological controls on the surface of the Earth. In this module you will learn the science of ecology and the methods used to study ecology on land and in the water. We will also cover the science of geomorphology and the processes resulting in particular landforms, as well as the techniques needed to study these. In addition, we will cover the relationships between geomorphology and ecology, and how geomorphology and ecology can change through geological time.

Indicative syllabus

• Principles of geomorphology
• Geomorphology and tectonics
• Montaine erosional and fluvial processes
• Lowland fluvial processes and landforms
• Coastal/estuarine depositional geomorphology and processes
• Coastal erosional geomorphology and processes
• Glacial processes and landforms
• Volcanogenic landforms
• Geomorphological mapping: geomorphology and influence on human activity
• Terrestrial environments/biomes and influence of geomorphology and latitude, isolation
• Basic principles of ecology (energy flow, food pyramids, comparing terrestrial and marine)
• Controls on land plants (e.g. water, climate, nutrients; includes basic plant biology)
• Controls on land animals (e.g. climate, coevolution of plants and herbivores)
• Freshwater ecology
• Controls on coastal and marine organisms (e.g. salinity, currents, nutrients, desiccation)
• Controls on marine organisms (e.g. light, pressure, buoyancy)
• Ecology through time (e.g. Quaternary, deep time)
• Anthropogenic impact on ecosystems
• Field techniques

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand the principles of terrestrial and aquatic ecology
• understand how geomorphological features are formed and what can be interpreted of the subsurface
• interpret ecological and geomorphological data
• evaluate the relative uses of different study methods depending on the data requirements and conditions
• identify and map geomorphological features and relate these to their causative mechanisms
• interpret geomorphological features and extrapolate this data into three dimensions and through time
• record botanical and zoological ecological data
• interpret ecological relationships in terms of energy flow and controls on biodiversity.