BZ5755 - Biodiversity and Climate Change: Impact, Mitigation and Adaptation

Available to postgraduate students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate of Science, Graduate Diploma of Science, Master of Applied Science, Graduate Certificate of Research Methods, Postgraduate Diploma of Research Methods, Master of Development Practice, Graduate Certificate of Development Practice, Graduate Diploma of Development Practice, Master of Science and Master of Development Practice.

Climate change is now considered to be the most significant threat to global biodiversity and represents a significant challenge to conservation biologists. This subject will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the implications of a changing climate to the processes determining patterns of biodiversity and the healthy functioning of natural ecosystems. It will cover all aspects of global change biology and present the latest research on the consequences of climate change to biodiversity pattern and process including documented impacts, predicting future impacts, possible methods of mitigation and the potential for adaptation (both natural and assisted). Factors that underpin the vulnerability of species and ecosystems will be considered along with an exploration of how this understanding may help conservation managers minimize biodiversity loss and the subsequent degradation of natural ecosystems.

Learning Outcomes

• improved knowledge of methods for understanding patterns of biodiversity and predicting, vulnerability to climate change;
• conservation planning in a changing climate;
• an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the impacts of global climate change on the natural environment;
• improved skills in analysing data on climate change in the natural environment.

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.