791-321 Ecological Management

The objective of this subject is to:

• expand the student's knowledge of the conservation of ecosystems at state, national and global levels;

• develop the student's understanding of the conservation biology of endangered species, and the concepts of rarity and captive breeding;

• the role of fire and disturbance in ecological management;

• provide the student with a background into the role and conservation biology of remnant vegetation and corridor networks; and

• evaluate the perceptions of conservation within the community, and the efficiency and impediments to change in the management and implementation of ecological management.

The content includes conservation biology, with emphasis on the biology of rarity, extinction and evolutionary processes; population genetics; management of endangered species and captive breeding; the role of fire and other disturbances in the management of ecosystems; the ecology and conservation biology of remnant vegetation and the role of corridor networks in Australia, and Victoria in particular; the management of remnant vegetation in Australia, and the perception within the rural community to remnant vegetation; impediments to management of remnant vegetation in rural Australia, and likely incentives and strategies to improve and enhance implementation.

3 assignments of 5000, 3000 and 2000 words (45%, 30%, 25%).