KE6003 - Palaeoecology and Biogeography

You will learn through lectures, seminars, practical workshops. Beyond timetabled sessions, your independent study will be guided and supported through your engagement with a range of interactive learning resources accessible on-line via the module eLP site.

Lectures will provide the necessary background knowledge in Biogeography and Palaeoecology you will need in order to successfully accomplish the coursework. In laboratory courses you will apply this theoretical knowledge and run your own projects. Through practical courses you will learn to further understand the links between the abiotic (e.g. sediment and soils, lake chemistry) and biotic (e.g. vegetation, algae) environment. You will apply a range of different palaeoecological and sedimentological methods to a peat/lake sediment core you took during a previous semester field excursion. The course will focus on the reconstruction of the vegetation and climate history of the last 10.000 years. Following the laboratory practicals you will analyse your data in our computer labs using statistical techniques.

Formative feedback opportunities in seminars and via the on-line resources will consolidate your learning as well as helping to improve your performance in the module assessments.

During the laboratory and computer practical courses, you will receive direct formative feedback and guidance from staff in support of your learning and skills development. The results of the core logging and initial sample analysis will be discussed during lectures and lab practical.
You will also engage in small group activities during seminars and lectures, where you will use real world examples and data sets and learn how to interpret scientific data and reconstruct past environments. Formative feedback will be given by staff during each seminar. Your class materials will be further supported by on-line resources available via the module eLP site. These resources include an interactive reading list with on-line access to a number of key articles and aligned with your weekly lecture programme Teaching staff operate an ‘open door’ policy for students meaning you can approach them anytime during normal office hours, or via email, to answer questions, receive feedback and support your learning on the module.

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: Critically evaluate and synthesise data and methods which are used to reconstruct past climate and environmental change.
• MLO 2: Assess the importance of climate change and human impact for our landscapes and ecosystems.
• MLO 3: Critically discuss and interpret the links between the abiotic (e.g. sediment and soils, lake chemistry) and biotic (e.g. vegetation, algae) environment.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• MLO 4: Generate, synthesise and analyse new data using a multiple method approach.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• MLO 5: Make informed decisions through abstraction and synthesis of multiproxy data and information, develop reasoned arguments and challenge assumptions.

You will be assessed by a final coursework at the end of the semester (100%) addressing all the MLOs. The coursework includes report on the vegetation and climate history based on the pollen, diatom, sedimentological and charcoal particle data you generated during the practicals. The All data should be analysed using multivariate statistics and interpreted and discussed in a regional palaeoclimatic, palaeolimnological and palaeoecological context. The final coursework should be written in a style of a short research paper/report and will have a limit of 2,500 words. You will be supported for your report writing with examples of previous student reports and discussions with staff during lectures and practicals. With this coursework you will learn to critically evaluate, competently discuss and analyse new research data.

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Through a combination of lectures and practical laboratory work you will learn in this module how to generate and analyse data from a sediment core and to write professional research reports. You will take part in a project that uses multiple methods to reconstruct past environmental change, fire history and early human impact. Methods you will explore in our state-of-the-art laboratories include the analyses of pollen, spores, diatoms, carbon content, charcoal particles and sediments. You will further learn how to process these data using multivariate statistical analysis. The module will be assessed through report writing which will give you additional training for your final dissertation project.