Handbook

This unit will investigate what's hot in the science of ecology and how we got there by following the history of ecological ideas and the people behind them through to the big questions that remain unanswered in ecology today. The ecological dimensions of space and time will be a common theme running through the unit as we explore the ecology of fitness, interaction networks and the four 'M's - metacommunity ecology, metasystems, metabolic ecology and macroecology. Underpinning all of this will be the recognition of the interplay between ecology and evolution that is blurring the distinction between the two disciplines. Each topic and its core concepts will be covered in lectures and the relevance of these topics to the changing world and to conservation will be discussed. Material presented in lectures will be supported by practical and tutorial sessions. Together we will read and interpret 'hot off the press' ecology research papers, debate controversial topics in the field, delve into live data and design experiments to answer unsolved problems.