Assignment 2

Student Presentations

Some potential presentation topics:

Ecophysiology

• How landscapes absorb carbon – the process of photosynthesis
• Impact of climate change of vegetation water use efficiency – implications for water resources
• Savanna fires and nitrogen balance – what happens if we change the fire regime?

Disturbance ecology

• Cyclones and rainforest succession
• Exotic species introductions and influence on Australian ecosystems
• Disturbance and ecological succession
• Why are rainforest so diverse? The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis and biodiversity
• Fire severity and tree: grass balance in tropical savannas

Climate change

• The physics of the natural and enhanced greenhouse effect
• Climate change controversy: what controversy?
• Global warming and the temperature responses of plant respiration and photosynthesis
• Impacts of climate change on Australian agricultural productivity

 

• Introduction
• Plant function and the environment
• Disturbance and vegetation dynamics
• Climate change and terrestial ecosystems

Activities

• Activity 5
• Activity 6
• Activity 7

Assessment

• Student Presentations