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The management of terrestrial ecosystems requires knowledge and understanding of the patterns and processes of animal and plant populations and communities and the dynamics of natural and disturbed environments. Knowledge of the spatial components of the environment and biological interactions therein are becoming increasingly important in assessing the impacts of human activities on the environment and in the development of more sustainable resource management practices. The course is of value to environmental scientists, engineers, field biologists, natural resource managers, conservation biologists, wildlife managers and professional ecologists.

The course provides knowledge of the habitat ecology, population dynamics and community ecology of terrestrial ecosystems, with an Australian focus. This course also examines concepts of pattern and processes in landscape ecology (including land transformation, habitat fragmentation, patch dynamics, conservation corridors and connectivity), methods for monitoring and assessing landscape condition, implications for conservation reserve design and ecological sustainability in Australia. Advanced techniques in sampling and analysing animal and plant populations and communities are also explored.

This course contains a mandatory residential school for both external and on-campus students in the form of an extended (overnight) field trip to UniSQ's Ravensbourne Field Studies Centre, Toowoomba. Accommodation, food and transport costs may be associated with this residential school.

On completion of this course students should be able to:

1. explain how Australia's vegetation shows pattern on scales related to different influencing factors;
2. describe major ecological processes operating on Australian terrestrial ecosystems;
3. assess and contrast the factors and threatening processes responsible for the extinction of organisms at the landscape scale;
4. integrate the theoretical basis of landscape management into current conservation practices and problems and contrast methods for the monitoring of landscape condition;
5. actively participate in field and laboratory practical sessions and demonstrate competence in the application of advanced ecological methods to the study of terrestrial ecosystems.