KE5014 - Fundamentals of Ecology

You will learn through a mixture of lectures and practicals. The lectures cover fundamental concepts, patterns, processes, paradigms and case studies. In the practicals you will mix field survey, lab work and quantitative data analyses. The practical work aims to boost your confidence and skills, helping you master a set of quantitative methods which are important for employability and final year study. While for the practicals you will be working in our science labs, accessing a variety of equipment and facilities, the teaching strategy for this module intentionally uses a lo-fi approach so that you will learn quantitative methods in a relaxed and empowering environment. The coursework assessment purposefully puts you in the role of a researcher tasked with a local site survey in which you will combine field work, data collection, data analyses and interpretation in preparation for creating a professional ecological report.

You will be supported by interaction and formative feedback from the tutors throughout the module, notably during practical classes and fieldwork activities. Staff are also available as part of the Department’s open-door policy and are contactable via e-mail. Teaching materials and information will also be available via the University eLP, including access to on-line reading materials.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:


• MLO 1: Identify and explain key concepts and principles across the hierarchy of ecological systems, from individual living organisms to ecosystems.

• MLO 2: Apply key concepts and principles in ecology to examine patterns and processes of ecological systems, and how they are driven by abiotic and biotic drivers.


Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• MLO 3: Critically analyse the concepts of adaptation, ecological stability, biodiversity, complexity and function and assess the difficulties created by ecological scale, contingency and complexity.

• MLO 4: Demonstrate skills in field survey and sampling (e.g. soil invertebrates), invertebrate identification, keying and taxonomy.

• MLO 5: Apply a set of quantitative analyses (mathematical, statistical, visual) to ecological data collected from the field and the laboratory and interpret the quantitative results.

MLO6: Develop visual and oral presentational skills of a complex scientific topic.

Personal Values Attributes
• MLO 7: To understand the ethical and political context of modern-day ecology, and demonstrate the capacity for independent, evidence-based thinking.

1. Coursework (60% - 2000 words) The coursework puts you in the position of a researcher, collecting data in the field followed by lab analysis, the data set used to complete a report about a real, local urban greenspace(s). This will allow you to practice methods report writing and critical judgement. You will be able to get feedback on progress from tutors throughout as well as with the returned, marked work. Report format and some text is provided, and you will focus on data analysis, figures, tables and the interpretation of results (MLOs1-5, 7).

2.Poster (40%) The poster focuses on conceptual ideas, theory and paradigms (MLOs 1-3). Students will create a poster for a species or habitat of their choice which can be presented in person or on-line. You will have to research much of the material you use, experiencing an “information-active” research-rich learning approach. The poster will also develop visual and oral presentational skills (MLO6).

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Blue whales, rain forests, coral reefs and butterflies. Ecology is a very familiar science involving animals and plants many of which we have seen first-hand or in the media. Every-day phrases, “the balance of nature”, or “nature red in tooth and claw” suggest some commonly agreed view of the natural world underpinned by straightforward science. However, this familiarity hides a challenging, fascinating science. In this module you will explore the patterns and processes of the natural world across scales, from individual organisms to ecosystems. You will learn to identify and apply essential concepts and theories in ecology. You will learn and practice powerful methods for ecological data collection and analyses. Above all you will begin to develop the discipline and confidence to be ecological researchers, able to go out into the world and use ecology to save those whales and forests.