MT5751 Estimating Animal Abundance and Biodiversity

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

15

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 11

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable

12.00 noon Mon (odd), Wed and Fri

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr A Johnston

Dr A Johnston
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

The module will introduce students to the main types of survey method for wildlife populations. It will cover simple methods in some detail and provide students with a conceptual framework for building understanding of more advanced methods. In the case of multi-species surveys, it will also show how abundance estimates may be combined into biodiversity measures. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify an appropriate assessment method for a given population, design a simple survey to assess the population, perform simple analyses of survey data, and estimate biodiversity trends in a community. Students will get experience in using the methods via computer practical sessions involving design and analyses of surveys.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS MT3507 OR PASS MT3508 OR PASS MT5761

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

2.5 lectures (x10 weeks), 1 computer practical or tutorial (x10 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

35

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

110

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Understand the statistical foundations of the main types of wildlife survey methods, and the relationships between them
  • Ability to identify an appropriate survey method for a given wildlife population and design a survey to apply the method to the population
  • Ability to use wildlife survey data to draw statistically sound inferences about population abundance, distribution and trends, and the uncertainty associated with these inferences
  • Ability to combine estimates from mult-species surveys into measures of biodiversity and biodiversity trend in a wildlife community
  • Ability to use R software to estimate abundance, distribution and biodiversity from survey data