ENV BIOL 3009 - Ecophysiology of Plants III

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2014

This course explores interactions between plants and their environment from a physiological perspective. It will consolidate and extend knowledge of the processes involved in the acquisition and transport of resources by plants and use this knowledge to examine the ways plants have adapted to a range of environments, some of which can be considered as extreme. The course will also look at how plants respond to environmental challenges such as climate change, ozone depletion, salinisation and heavy metal toxicity. Interactions with other organisms will also be examined including mycorrhizas and parasitic plants. Practical work will include small group experiments. Details of field trip communicated at start of the course.

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Course Details

Course Code	ENV BIOL 3009
Course	Ecophysiology of Plants III
Coordinating Unit	School of Earth and Environmental Sci(Inactive)
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 6 hours per week, plus field trip
Assumed Knowledge	ENV BIOL 2500
Assessment	Exam & continuous assessment

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr John Goodfellow

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:
1	Describe physiological processes by which plants acquire resources such as water, nutrients and carbon;
2	Describe and explain the factors contributing to energy budgets in leaves;
3	Explain how water moves through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and describe factors that influence this movement;
4	Explain how and why abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heavy metals, high light and temperature impact on plant performance;
5	Describe how parasitic plants acquire resources from their hosts;
6	Explain the likely effects of global change (CO2, climate & UV) on plants;
7	Describe the interaction between plants and mycorrhizal fungi and the impact it has on plant performance and distribution;
8	Generate hypotheses to explain observations of plant performance and distribution in the field;
9	Acquire, analyse and present data using appropriate techniques, then plan and write a research paper reporting the results;
10	Work independently and as part of a team.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	1-8
The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner.	9,10
An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.	1-10
Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication.	8,9,10
A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies.	8,9
A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life.	1-10
A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community.	1-10

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Course Handbook

Recommended Resources

Text books:
Taiz & Zeiger (2010) Plant Physiology. 5th ed. Sinauer Assoc. Mass, USA

Lambers, Chapin, & Pons (2008) Plant Physiological Ecology. 2nd ed. Springer-Verlag, New York, USA

These texts are available for purchase from UniBooks or Encompass Books. There are copies of each in the Barr-Smith Library Reserve Collection. In addition, the Lambers et al. text is available as an ebook online through the library catalogue.

Online Learning

MyUni:
Teaching materials and course documentation will be posted on the MyUni website (http://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/).

Learning & Teaching Modes

The course consists of lectures, practicals and a field camp. The practicals and field camp are designed to complement and reinforce material presented in lectures, and to provide students with experience of data collection, analysis, and report writing. Students will also develop skills with laboratory and field-based techniques commonly used in the discipline of Plant Ecophysiology.

A range of teaching methodologies will be used, including: traditional lectures, problem-based learning, small group activities, and guided activities.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to attend the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

Learning Activities Summary

Schedule
Week 1	Lecture Lecture Practical	Abiotic Stress 1 – Salinity Abiotic Stress 2 – Acid soils Prac 1: Abiotic Stress Week 1
Week 2	Lecture Lecture Practical	Abiotic Stress 3 – Heavy metals Plant and Soil Analysis Prac 1: Abiotic Stress Week 2
Week 3	Lecture Lecture Practical	Plant Stress – Light 1 Plant Stress – Light 2 Prac 2: Light Acclimation Week 1
Week 4	Lecture Lecture Practical	Photosynthesis – C4 Photosynthesis - CAM Prac 2 Light Acclimation Week 2
Week 5	Lecture Lecture Practical	Parasitic Plants – Physiology Parasitic Plants – Ecological roles No practical
Week 6	Lecture Lecture Practical	Water Relations 1 Water Relations 2 Prac 3: Water Relations Week 1
Week 7	Lecture Lecture Practical	Transpiration: leaf, stem and root Transpiration: cavitation & embolism Prac 3: Water Relations Week 2
Week 8	Lecture Lecture Practical	Energy Budgets in leaves 1 Energy Budgets in leaves 2 Field Trip planning
Mid-semester break Field Camp
Week 9	Lecture Lecture Practical	Mycorrhizas: Structure and function Mycorrhizas: Ecological impacts Field Trip Review
Week 10	Lecture Lecture Practical	Plant Respiration 1 Plant Respiration 2 Field Trip report
Week 11	Lecture Lecture Practical	Global Change: Rising CO2 Global Change: Climate change Field Trip report DUE
Week 12	Lecture Lecture Practical	Global Change: UV

Specific Course Requirements

All students must attend the 3-day Field Camp to Brookfield Conservation Park. The field camp will be held in the mid-semester break.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Hurdle	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Practical reports	Formative/Summative	No	30%	1, 9,10
Field Trip report	Formative/Summative	No	20%	1, 8-10
Exam	Summative	No	50%	1 - 7

Assessment Detail

A list of the tasks to be completed is provided in the previous Section. Practical 1 will be submitted as a consultant’s report. Requirements for this report will be discussed in the practical.

Practicals 2 & 3 and Field Camp Reports are to be prepared as if you were submitting a scientific paper to the journal New Phytologist. In addition, you will be instructed on how to analyse and prepare data for your reports in Prac 1.

A proportion of marks for each report will be allocated for correct presentation, so make sure that you follow these instructions carefully.

The following rubric will be used to mark reports 2, 3 and the Field Camp Report. Instructions for Prac 1 will be provided separately.

Criteria (weighting)	Score
Summary: Concise summary with: background, question, approach, results & conclusions (10%)
Introduction: Background and justification for work (10%)
Methods: Complete (5%)
Results: Correctly analysed and presented (20%)
Discussion: Results discussed and interpreted in context of existing knowledge (20%)
References: Used, cited and presented correctly (5%)
Higher Order Skills
Logical organisation of material (10%)
Critical evaluation of literature (10%)

Clear and unambiguous use of English (10%)
Total Score	100

Submission

Practical Reports and the Field Camp Report are to be submitted by midnight on the due date.

All Reports are to be submitted electronically in MyUni using the Turnitin Assignments feature.

Extensions for Assessment Tasks
Extensions of deadlines for assessment tasks may be allowed for reasonable causes. Such situations would include compassionate and medical grounds of the severity that would justify the awarding of a replacement examination. Evidence for the grounds must be provided when an extension is requested. Students are required to apply for an extension to the Course Co-ordinator before the assessment task is due. Extensions will not be provided on the grounds of poor prioritising of time.

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply.
A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days or more late without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the mark.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator