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LSC-30043 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2021/22 Last Updated: 16 February 2022

LSC-30043 - Conservation Biology
Coordinator: Sarah L Taylor Room: Hux029 Tel: +44 1782 7 33025
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 734414

Programme/Approved Electives for 2021/22

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

LSC-10062 Biodiversity, Ecology and Environment or LSC-20055 Life at the Extremes or equivalent or LSC 20097 Environmental Biology


Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2021/22

Conservation Biology takes a practical approach to introduce you to the many threats to Earth's biodiversity and how conservation can be used to protect species, habitats and ecosystems from human-caused extinction.
You will work on a real world ecological consultancy scenario that forms the basis of your assessment. Through the use of field tutorials (virtual alternatives available) and ecological desk studies, you will learn how to produce a preliminary ecological appraisal for a site of biological and historical importance, demonstrating the often conflicting interests that have to be taken into consideration. Guest speakers from conservation organisations will be used to demonstrate the various practical aspects of conserving nature.

Aims
The module aims to enhance student learning by using an applied evidence-based approach to introduce students to the science and practice of Conservation Biology. The module builds on the Ecology and Environment theme that runs through the degree. The practical nature of this module will prepare students for a career in ecological consultancy.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/lsc-30043/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

explain the fundamental principles of Conservation Biology: 2
critically appraise the role of conservation programmes in maintaining biodiversity over a range of resolutions, from genes to biomes: 2
critically review past, current and future threats to biodiversity using real world examples of the biocrisis: 2
evaluate the conservation status of a habitat and carry out a preliminary ecological appraisal:

Study hours

Scheduled learning/teaching:
12 hours of tutorials (debates, field trips, report writing and exam revision support, etc)
2 hours of guest lectures
Independent study:
80 hours of engagement with asynchronous content (assumes ~5 hours watching videos, reading core texts and writing notes, etc., for each of the 16 topics)
10 hours of preparation for scaffolded tutorials (assumes 2 hours for each of the 5 topics)
20 hours of data analysis, research and write-up of consultancy report
2 hours examination
24 hours of private study

School Rules

LSC-10062 Biodiversity, Ecology and Environment or LSC-20055 Life at the Extremes or equivalent or LSC-20097 Environmental Biology
Human Biology students must have done ESC-20017 Human Impacts on the Environment or LSC-20097 Environmental Biology.
International/transfer students must have a module in ecology or equivalent.

Description of Module Assessment

1: Portfolio weighted 40%
Preliminary ecological appraisal
Portfolio comprises: 1. 2000 word "preliminary ecological appraisal report" appraising the conservation value of a site and assessing how biodiversity could be impacted. 2. Desk study of internet search outputs

2: Open Book Examination weighted 60%
Online open book exam
The paper will be released on the KLE as a Word document at 9am on the morning of the exam. The paper will comprise a choice of 2 out of 5 essay-based questions. Students should answer each question in a separate word document, clearly labelling each question as they provide their answers. Work will be submitted to Turnitin no later than 5pm on the day of release. International students will be asked to notify the School if they need an extension due to different time zones. Although students have been given significant time to complete this exam script (9am-5pm), we expect most students to spend no more than 2 hrs. Answers should be as accurate and concise as possible. For essay-based questions, typical answers would be in the range of 500-750 words per question. We recommend that students do not exceed 750 words per essay-based question as we will be assessing the quality of your answer, not the quantity.

Please note that for the 2021/22 Academic Year all programmes will be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there will be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 16 February 2022