Vegetation Management

Abstract

Management of native vegetation is critical to ensuring Australian landscapes are managed in an ecologically sustainable way. In this subject, students will explore the major types of Australian plants and communities, the key determinants of plant distributions and how plant communities function. Students will learn about disturbances and threatening processes to plant communities such as fire, grazing, fragmentation, land clearing and weed invasions. Students will explore how climate change interacts with other threatening processes to impact on Australian vegetation. This knowledge will equip students to develop vegetation management plans for a range of different real-world scenarios.

Syllabus

Determinants of plant distribution and persistence;Conceptual models for understanding spatial and temporal patterns in plant communities;Human impacts on vegetation communities;Grazing ecology and management;Weed ecology and management;Land clearing and habitat fragmentation;Climate change and vegetation management;Drought effects on vegetation;Methods to assess vegetation, its condition and conservation value; andEnvironmental policy and management of … For more content click the Read More button below.

Determinants of plant distribution and persistence;
Conceptual models for understanding spatial and temporal patterns in plant communities;
Human impacts on vegetation communities;
Grazing ecology and management;
Weed ecology and management;
Land clearing and habitat fragmentation;
Climate change and vegetation management;
Drought effects on vegetation;
Methods to assess vegetation, its condition and conservation value; and
Environmental policy and management of native vegetation communities.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

be able to describe the key determinants of plant distributions and persistence, including major disturbances and human land-uses;

be able to describe key aspects of Australian vegetation communities and identify the dominant plant families;

be able to discuss the effects of introduced stock grazing on vegetation communities, and apply knowledge of grazing ecology to management of plant communities;

be able to evaluate evidence for the determinants of weed invasion and associated impacts, and develop management strategies for control;

be able to discuss the effects of habitat fragmentation on plant populations and communities, and evaluate management strategies;

be able to discuss effects of climate change on plant populations and communities and incorporate climate change into management strategies; and

be able to evaluate and apply adaptive management principles and legislative requirements related to native vegetation.

Assumed knowledge

BIO112, BIO262

Enrolment restrictions

Students may not enrol in this subject if they have completed BIO326.

Incompatible