SLE372 - Evolutionary Ecology
Unit details
| Year | 2015 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 1: Waurn Ponds (Geelong) |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit chair: | John Endler |
| Prerequisite: | SLE103 and SLE204, and one of SLE111 or SLE254, plus any two level 2 or level 3 SLE-coded units |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | Nil |
| Contact hours: | 3 x 1 hour class per week |
Content
This unit is designed to teach the fundamentals of evolution with a strong emphasis on the ecological and functional causes of evolution. In a time of changing environments it is very important to understand the functional links between ecology and evolutionary processes because that helps us to predict responses to changing ecology and has spinoffs in other fields such as drug and pesticide resistance. The approach will be a mixture of important facts, concepts, and models.
Subjects will include:
- biodiversity
- phylogenetics as a way of both organizing and understanding biodiversity the basic mechanisms of evolution (natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow)
- the basic logic behind evolution and evolutionary inference
- the evidence for evolution
- ecological causes of natural selection and evolutionary change
- ecological and other causes of evolutionary divergence
- effects of habitat diversity and habitat changes on evolution
- constraints on evolution, speciation
- effects of evolution on ecology
- making and testing evolutionary hypotheses
Assessment
Examination 40%, in-class test 30%, independent project 30%
Unit Fee Information
| Student Contribution Rate* | Student Contribution Rate** | Fee rate - Domestic Students | Fee rate - International students |
| $1096 | $1096 | $3863 | $3609 |
* Rate for all CSP students, except for those who commenced Education and Nursing units pre 2010
** Rate for CSP students who commenced Education and Nursing units pre 2010
Please note: Unit fees listed do not apply to Deakin Prime students.