Plants and Global Climate Change

Across the globe, climates are changing. As a carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise, temperatures are increasing, resulting in more frequent and severe heat waves. When and where rain falls is also changing, with droughts occurring more often. How will these changes in the global climate affect the performance, survival and distribution of plants, both in nature and cultivation? This course will provide you with a solid background in plant function in relation to global climate change and enable you to answer this question at scales ranging from cellular function to community processes. The course is structured around six topic modules selected to expose students to current research areas in the field. ANU has a high research profile in different aspects of how environmental factors and global climate change affect plant function and ecology and each module is taught by an expert lecturer. The specific topics may vary between years depending on lecturers. The course will have a broad content ranging from topics as fundamental as how: plants take up carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and how this uptake of carbon is linked to the use of water; changing environmental factors such as temperatures affect plant function; the biotic environment is crucial in determining how plants acquire nutrients and their responses to changes in the global climate; and, climate change is leading to increased mortality of plants – often described as ‘dieback’ – in ecosystems across the globe. Students will learn how to critique papers in the primary literature and will develop written and oral communication skills. Course format is directed by lecturers, but significantly based on student-led presentations of primary literature. This course will build student's understanding of plant function in relation to global climate change, research analysis and proposal formulation skills. Honours Pathway Option: Entry to Honours Pathway Option will be subject to the approval of the course convener, and requires a mark of at least 70 in all BIOL courses. Students undertaking this option will engage in a small inquiry-learning project based in one of the course lecturer's labs. The practical experience provides an opportunity to learn and apply techniques and to extend the theory taught in the course. Students will work with the lecturer to develop the mini-project and will either write a brief report or give a 15 minute presentation to the class on the project and results.