Resource Management and Environmental Science



	Resource Management and Environmental Science, The School of (SRMES) The School of Resource Management and Environmental Science links three Departments: Forestry, Geography and Human Ecology, and Geology and the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies. The School's foci are: understanding the relationships between society, resources and environment; the management of land and water resources, of terrestrial ecosystems, and of urban and industrial systems; and the associated environmental sciences. SRMES offers undergraduate degrees in Science, Resource and Environmental Management and Forestry, and combined courses of Forestry with Arts, Commerce, Economics, Information Technology, Science and Asian Studies. A wide range of course structures and specialisations is possible, and students are advised to consult the Handbooks for each degree (available free from the School) and Departmental advisers at an early stage. The School offers both units taught jointly across the Departments, prefixed SREM, and units offered principally by each Department, prefixed ECOS, FSTY, GEOG and GEOL. SREM units are described here; Departmental units are described in subsequent sections of this handbook. CHEM1022 and PHYS1004 are relevant to SRMES students. Course descriptions Earth Systems SREM1002 (6cp) Group A First semester Four hours per week of lectures, practicals and tutorials, plus two field trips Course Coordinator: Staff of the Geology, Geography and Human Ecology, and Forestry Departments, and the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies. Prerequisites: None. Students are advised to enrol concurrently in CHEM1014 or 1022. Incompatible with GEOL1011, and GEOG1005 prior to 1997. Syllabus: An introduction to the dynamic nature and evolution of Earth Systems for students interested in the linkages between the atmosphere, oceans, water cycle, rock and soil cycle, and the planet's biota. Suitable for students who propose to major in geography, human ecology, geology, soils, ecology, archaeology, forestry, and Resource Management and Environmental Science. The Earth System consists of interlocking components, including the solid Earth, the soil mantle, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere. Each of these components is considered, and emphasis is placed on their interactions. Both past natural and current human perturbations of the Earth System are explored. The key concepts used to understand the Earth System are developed through the course, with emphasis on driving processes and feedbacks both today and through geological history. Assessment: A combination of field reports, theory and practical examinations. Recommended reading Merritts, D, DeWet, A, and Menking, K, Environmental Geology, W H Freeman, NY 1998 Resource Biology SREM1004 (6cp) Group A First semester Five hours of lectures and practical classes per week Course Coordinators: Dr J C G Banks & Dr M T Tanton Prerequisites: None. Incompatible with FSTY1002. Syllabus: This unit serves as an entry point to the study of Australia's biological resources leading to the Forestry and Resource Management degrees. It focuses on plants and animals of terrestrial ecosystems. Introduction to plant resources: (a) the ecosystem concept, how life forms interact with each other and with the non-living elements of climate and substrate; (b) life processes and what drives them, the significance of water and carbon and the processes of photosynthesis and respiration; (c) plant nomenclature and why naming systems are essential for communicating information; (d) plant origin and diversity and their classification; (e) plants in place examines how plants interact with other organisms; and (f) plant adaptation looks at how plants have adapted to survive extreme environmental conditions. Introduction to animal resources: (a) major habitat types, within-habitat variation and the implication for biodiversity and distribution of animal species and numbers, (b) use of habitat, examples of life cycles of selected species and dependence on habitat features, including invertebrates, selected frogs, arboreal mammals, ground-based mammals, birds from different feeding guilds, and bats (c) animal communities and interactions between species and within habitat (d) disturbance factors for animal communities and habitat, introduced predators and competitors; use of fire; natural calamities, creation and destruction of habitat. The human factor. (e) implications for conservation and management. Proposed assessment: By examination and tests, the weighting and times to be discussed Prescribed Texts Begon, M., Harper, J. L. and Townsend, C. R. 1996 Ecology: individuals, populations and communities. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford. King, J. 1997 Reaching for the sun-how plants work Cambridge Univ. Press. Clarke, I., Lee, H. 1998 Name that Flower Melbourne University Press.



	Australian Soils SREM2005 (6cp) Group B First semester 65 hours contact time made up of lectures/week, 3 hours of laboratory classes/week or the equivalent time made up of field trips. Course Coordinators: Dr J Field (Forestry) and Dr R Greene (Geography) Prerequisites: Completion of 18 Group A credit points of Science units. Inclusion of one Chemistry unit is recommended but not compulsory. Incompatible with FSTY2001 and SREM3003. Syllabus: An introductory course in soil science for resource and environmental managers, specifically related to the Australian continent, environment and regolith. The course develops the basic concepts related to properties and processes of soils in the field, emphasising the importance of the chemical, physical and biological interactions. A range of topics will be introduced: (i) soil formation including, rock and soil weathering (soil forming factors), clay mineral types and formation; (ii) soil chemistry including cation exchange, soil organic matter and nutrient cycling; (iii) soil physics and hydrology water relations and water flow at a range of scales from point source to catchments; (iv) the soil ecosystem, biota, fauna, microbiology, rhizosphere, mycorrhiza and nitrogen fixation; and (v) introduction to soil classification systems and soil mapping and the principles of soil conservation and management. Proposed assessment: To be agreed in consultation with students. This may include an essay, a field report, laboratory reports and an examination. Regular attendance and participation in class work is required. Students who fail to submit set work by the due date or fail to participate in classes and field excursions may be excluded from examination. Preliminary reading White, R.E. (1998). Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Soil Science, 3rd Edition. Blackwells Scientific UK. Charman, P.E.V. and Murphy, B.W. (eds). (1991). Soils: their properties and management. Sydney University Press. Soil Ecology and Management SREM2006 (6cp) Group B Second semester Five hours per week made up of 3 hours of lectures and 2 hours of laboratory classes, or the equivalent time made up of field trips. Course Coordinators: Dr R. Greene (Geography) and Dr J. Field (Forestry) Prerequisites: Completion of 18 later year Science credit points, including SREM2005. Incompatible with SREM2001. Syllabus: An advanced unit in Soil Science that follows the introductory unit Australian Soils (SREM2005). Soils and their characteristics are placed in the context of Australian landscapes to produce models of soil landscape behaviour and land capability classification for sustainable land use. The unit demonstrates that sustainable land use can only be achieved through a thorough understanding of the basic physical, chemical and biological properties and ecological processes in soils. Processes of land degradation including salinisation, sodicity and erosion are discussed, as are methods of soil restoration, minesite rehabilitation and soil conservation. The unit will use examples from humid, temperate, pastoral, forestry and agricultural land, and from irrigation, dryland and rangeland areas of Australia and overseas to illustrate principles of sustainable ecological management. Proposed assessment: To be agreed in consultation with students. This may include an essay, a field report, and an examination. Regular attendance and participation in class work is required. Students who fail to submit set work by the due date or fail to participate in classes and field excursions may be excluded from examination. Recommended Text Charman, P.V., and Murphy, B.W. (Eds.) Soils: Their Properties and Management. Sydney University Press, Melbourne 1992. Additional reading McTainsh, G.H., and Broughton, W.C. Land Degradation Processes in Australia. Longman Cheshire, 1993. Killham, K. Soil Ecology, Cambridge University Press, 1994. Resources and Geochemistry SREM2007 (6cp) Group B Second semester Two lectures and a two hour practical per week for the first half of the semester; either continuing with this format in the second half of the semester or by assignments alone. Course Coordinator: Professor R. Arculus, Dr Mavrogenes and Dr Opdyke Prerequisites: SREM1002 or GEOL1002.



	Syllabus: In the first part of this unit, the distribution and occurrence of the major mineral and energy resources currently used by humans is explored. The relationships, for example, between particular types of ore occurrence and the global plate tectonic cycle are examined, together with the origins, global abundances, and styles of exploitation of hydrocarbon-, fission-, and geothermal-based energy reserves. In addition to the principles governing concentration of specific chemical elements in the Earth's crust in time and space, aspects of the socioeconomic factors governing exploitation of potential resources are examined. In the second part of the unit, a choice is offered between: (1) assignment-based individual study of specific issues relating to resource occurrence and/or exploitation; (2) continued lecture/practical format examining in more depth the geochemical controls on specific element concentrations. Recommended Texts: TBA Soil Mapping SREM3002 (6cp) Group C First semester 65 hours contact time made up of a series of lectures and workshops during the first term of semester 1, followed by a 68 day field camp. This field camp will be held during the mid-semester break in April and will involve a soils mapping camp in rural NSW. Course Coordinators: Dr J. Field (Forestry), Dr R. Greene (Geography) Prerequisites: Completion of 24 later year Science credit points, including Australian Soils (SREM2005) and one other unit with a SREM prefix, preferably Soil Ecology and Management (SREM2001/2006). Syllabus: A unit in soil mapping that follows the introductory units in Australian Soils (SREM2005) and Soil Ecology and Management (SREM2001/2006). The unit examines the collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of soil data from a range of scales in the landscape. The unit will include a soil mapping project of a designated area in rural NSW, involving the incorporation of all relevant sources of information, including remote sensing and published literature, to produce soil-landscape and resource maps, GIS and explanatory notes. Proposed assessment: Will be based on field participation and the satisfactory production of soil-landscape and resource maps with explanatory notes. Preliminary reading McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F., Speight, J.F., Walker, J. and Hopkins, M.S., Australian soil and land survey: Field handbook, 2nd edn, Inkata Press, Melbourne, 1990. Land Management and Environmental Geoscience SREM3004 (6cp) Group C Second semester Five hours per week made up of 3 hours of lectures and 2 hours of workshop, or the equivalent time made up of field trips. Course Coordinators: Dr R. Greene (Geography), Dr J Field (Forestry), Dr P De Deckker (Geology). Prerequisite : Completion of 24 later year Science credit points, with the prefixes FSTY, SREM, GEOG, GEOL or SREM. Incompatible with FSTY3055 and GEOL3008. Syllabus: The unit aims at developing multi-disciplinary skills by integrating scientific knowledge and environmental management using practical examples. Selected environmental topics of concern to land managers and earth scientists are examined through lectures, research projects and by visiting field study sites. Topics covered deal with environmental issues of atmosphere, land and marine environments; as well as sustainable management and biota conservation in production forestry, rangelands, croplands, national parks, and the continental shelf. Other issues covered are groundwater management, mine site rehabilitation, indigenous and heritage values, risk management of geological hazards, and global climate change. This unit is of interest to soil scientists, foresters, geographers, geologists, and others involved in land and ocean management. Preliminary reading To be advised. Proposed assessment: To be agreed in consultation with students. This may include an essay, a field report, and an examination. Regular attendance and participation in class work is required. Students who fail to submit set work by the due date or fail to participate in classes and field excursions may be excluded from examination. Water Resource Management SREM3005 (6cp) Group C Second semester Two hours of lectures, two hours of practical work and a one hour tutorial per week Course coordinators: Dr Sara Beavis and Ms Juliet Gilmour Prerequisite: GEOG2001 or GEOG2011 Syllabus: The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of issues and methods in water resources management, and is set especially within the framework of total catchment management. The course gives an introduction to the unique hydrology of Australia, the issues of water resource management, the principles of integrated catchment management and sustainability, and the hydrological cycle. Topics will include: the components of the hydrological cycle; droughts and floods; temporal and spatial variability; impacts of land management on quantity and quality; water demand and allocation among users, including the environment; the institutional and policy aspects; economics of water resource management; and, integrated modelling of water and land resources. Case studies will focus on farm dams, acid sulphate soils and integrated water resources management. The course emphasises the interdisciplinarity of water resource management. At the conclusion of the course, students should be able to: understand the hydrologic cycle, the interaction between physical and socio-economic components of hydrologic systems, and basic methods for assessing allocation tradeoffs among stakeholders in management decisions.



	Proposed assessment: To be agreed in consultation with students Preliminary reading Ward, A.D. and Elliot, W.J. (eds) 1995. Environmental Hydrology. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, 462pp. Urban Forestry SREM3052 (6cp) Group C Second semester Five hours per week of lectures and practicals Course Coordinators: Dr C Brack (Forestry) and Mr K Johnson (Geography) Prerequisite: 36 credit points of later year units Syllabus: The course goal is to promote an understanding of the inter-relationships between urban trees and people, of trees and the physical and chemical environment of the urban landscape, and of trees with native and exotic fauna. Specifically, the course examines the uniqueness of the urban forest and the physical and social roles and functions of trees in urban landscapes. Topics discussed include matching species to the urban environment and assessing their performance and capacity to ameliorate that environment; the role of urban trees to provide for local fauna; and the methodologies used in urban tree management and the social values and valuations applied to the urban tree and treed landscapes. Assessment: to be negotiated in the first week of semester References: http://www.anu.edu.au/Forestry/units/srem/3052.html Modelling for Environmental Management SREM3057 (6cp) Group C First semester Five hours of lectures and practical exercises per week. Course Coordinator: Dr G. Cary (Forestry) Prerequisite: At least 36 credit points of later year Science units. Syllabus: Graduates in Resource Management and Environmental Sciences require the ability to produce and use models in order to solve and investigate ecological problems. Ecosystem modelling is designed to provide students with an understanding of a range of modelling concepts, approaches and applications, as well as methods for determining the suitability of a particular model for a particular task. This unit also presents the opportunity for students to construct their own models on a variety of modelling platforms. Ecosystem modelling is not an ecological science course that uses a number of different modelling approaches; it is a course about modelling that draws on examples from a wide arena. It is important to note that no previous ecosystem modelling experience is required. The syllabus includes: (a) Introduction including the concept of real and model systems, the philosophy of modelling, types of models and model structures. (b) Important modelling concepts (assumptions, equilibrium, scale, information flows, stochasticity, calibration, optimisation). (c) Evaluation of models with respect to validity, limitations, assumptions and sensitivity of model outcomes to input uncertainty. (d) Case studies of models that represent a wide range of modelling approaches (physical, empirical, statistical, theoretical, hybrid) as well as a wide variety of disciplines where models are commonly used (disturbance and forest succession, plant and stand growth, hydrology, forest management and production, habitat, landform, climate). (e) model construction and implementation. Assessment: Assignments including analysis of case study models (50%) and the construction of an environmental modelling tool (50%). Preliminary reading: Available from Department



	Resource and Environmental SREM4001 Management IV Honours SREM4011 Honours Coordinator: Dr Tidemann (Forestry) Undergraduates whose academic record includes a Credit average in 48 credit points of relevant second and third-year units, including at least 24 credit points of third-year units, at the ANU or another university may be admitted to the honours year. Admission is also dependent upon the availability of appropriate academic supervision and resources for the proposed research topic. Intending honours students should read the general statement 'The degree with honours' in the introductory section of the Faculty of Science entry. The honours year involves 40 weeks of full-time study, usually commencing in February, or 44 weeks of full-time study commencing in July. Part-time study is also possible. Honours students in Res&EnvMan are required to carry out a program of supervised research and to write a thesis integrating the research into a disciplinary or cross-disciplinary framework. Students are also required to present two formal seminars on their thesis topics, one early in the year outlining the proposed research program, and another toward the end to discuss the results. The research program is carried out under the supervision of at least one member of the academic staff of the School. Students must contribute to a weekly (during semester) seminar program. Other requirements of the course and assessment of it will be negotiated by students on an individual basis in consultation with the honours coordinator and their principal supervisor. Students wishing to apply for entry to the honours year in Res&EnvMan should consult the course coordinator during the final semester of their pass degree course.