Module Directory

This module will examine the relationships between the diversity and functioning of organisms and their environment.

The aim of this module is:

• To introduce students to the diversity, importance and wonder of plants together with an awareness of the biotic and abiotic factors influencing their distribution patterns in the biosphere.

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

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of plants.


2. Describe the diversity, evolution and distribution of plants.


3. Explain how abiotic factors and biotic interactions relate to adaptations in anatomy and morphology of angiosperms and to the and the distributions of plants in ecosystems.


4. Explain primary production and nutrient cycling in ecosystems.


5. Explain the unique features of plant biochemistry and metabolism including photosynthesis.


6. Describe the processes that determine Earth's climate (past, present and future), the links between the earth-atmosphere-ocean system and the role of organisms in climate.


7. Describe the effects of humans on ecosystems.


8. Demonstrate competence in observation, experimentation and recording, analysis and presentation through laboratory field, group and individual work.

Skills for your professional life (Transferable Skills)

By the end of this module, students will be expected to have developed the following transferable skills:

1. To work collaboratively in a teams of nine and individually to complete practical and online tasks.


2. To work to professional levels of presentation including scientific writing, tables, accurate labelled scientific figures (drawings and graphs), data analysis and evaluation.


3. To keep well-organised, clear and methodical records and results. 


4. To use scientific knowledge and biological keys to identify different plant groupings and algae.


5. Practical experience in plant physiology, photosynthesis, extraction techniques and chromatographic analysis of photosynthetic proteins; bio-imaging techniques; modern non-invasive techniques for photosynthesis research.


6. Ecological sampling including assessing plant communities/habitats using quadrat sampling methods; abiotic analysis of soils.

As ecology is concerned with phenomena at several levels of organization, the course considers the different scales from the individual to the population, to the ecosystem and biome. We examine how behaviour, the non-living environment and biotic interactions affect the geographic distributions of organisms as well as population size and population growth.

This module will also examine the major terrestrial biomes describing and contrasting their key features and composition. Next, it will consider ecosystem function, looking in particular at energy and nutrient flows, from solar input to fixed carbon in plants, (primary production) and on to herbivores, carnivores and decomposers (secondary production). In order to understand the way that organisms affect and are affected by their environment, this module will describe the basics of the climate system and how it has changed over time including recent and projected changes due to human activities.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 1-hour lecture per week.
• One revision class before the MCQ exam.
• One revision class before the summer exam.
• Four 3-hour practical sessions
• One 1-hour session in the PC lab.

Lectures will include information on directed learning material or equivalent.