Module Directory

The fundamental building blocks of biodiversity is contained with the genes, genomes, transcriptomes and epigenomes of every living organisms on the plant. This module will develop students understanding of how researchers examine these molecular components of life to better understand the ecology of living organisms.

This feeds directly into modern approaches for conservation biology, monitoring of ecosystems, examining species iterations, and advancing our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary relationships supporting a living planet. The module will be delivered via a series of lectures and lab practicals, with a balanced emphasis on both applying knowledge and understanding theory.

The aim of this module is:

• To provide students with a thorough understanding of molecular ecology, and how molecular ecology approaches can be used to examine ecological and evolutionary biology questions.

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

1. Show competence in modern molecular ecology methods, techniques and approaches.


2. Gain knowledge and critical understanding of how molecular ecology methods can provide insights into ecological and evolutionary biology questions.


3. Describe and discuss ecological and evolutionary biology theory related to either ecosystem functions, species distributions, evolutionary relationships, species interactions, and species diversity.


4. Develop competence in molecular methods (PCR, qPCR, NGS etc) applied to ecological and evolutionary biology questions.


5. Demonstrate competence in modern computational methods for the analysis of molecular data applied to ecological and evolutionary biology questions.

The module is based around students undertaking group research projects (to be written up and evaluated independently) they have chosen from a serious of options (focusing on either ecosystem functions, species distributions, evolutionary relationships, species interactions, and species diversity). Each project follows similar lab and computational methods but focuses on a different ecological/evolutionary question. Lectures (L) feed into each practical (P) lab/computer session and provide formative feedback on the previous session.

Syllabus

• Introduction to the module and molecular ecology concepts.


• Nucleic acids and how they relate to ecology.


• Isolation of DNA.


• Developing ecological and evolutionary biology research questions.


• Universal methods in the modern molecular ecologist tool kit.


• Amplification of DNA.


• Functional ecology.


• Quantifying ecological processes using molecular ecology tools.


• Quantification of DNA.


• Inter- and intra- specific relationships and interactions.


• Enumerating biodiversity.


• Preparation of DNA for sequencing or advanced quantification.


• Introduction to ecological bioinformatics.


• Preparing a molecular ecology research paper.


• Analysis of project data.

This module will be delivered via:

• Lectures.
• Practical group work.

This module promotes inclusivity and diversity in its delivery in line with the University’s expectations. Different learning styles are catered for through the approaches to teaching by including hands on practical experiences, the use of visuals and audio input.

Each student group will pick from a set of five research topics:

• Ecosystem functions.
• Species distributions.
• Evolutionary relationships.
• Species interactions.
• Species diversity.

Students develop research questions around these topics and undertake the research in the designated lab/computer practical session (with appropriate self learning) to answer these questions with theory/support provided in lectures. The methods being deployed are the same across research topics but applied to answer different ecological/evolutionary questions aiding delivering within the same practical sessions.