Conservation Biology

Module code: BS3058

Our planet and the ecosystems within it are currently subject to unprecedented rates of environmental change as a direct consequence of the activities of the human population. These changes impact across all habitat types, and have implications for the distribution, behaviour and survival of individual species, and for the composition of communities and the functioning of ecosystems. This module will provide you with a thorough understanding of the major threats that human-induced changes impose on species, habitats and ecosystems, and will introduce you to the approaches that are being taken to conserve global biodiversity. 

The module consists of two main components, a campus-based lecture that will give you a firm grounding in conservation biology, and a series of field visits to local sites of conservation interest, to provide working examples of how conservation efforts are having a positive effect on biodiversity. Throughout the module, emphasis will be placed on using the current literature to provide the most up to date and timely understanding of this rapidly advancing field of study. This will be reinforced by the involvement of a range of external contributors actively working in the field of conservation biology.