Course overview
This course aims to provide an understanding of the patterns of abundance and diversity of marine plants and animals and the processes that structure these patterns. The course focuses on the practical measurement and interpretation used to assess variation in ecological pattern and process, with some emphasis on human driven impacts. Particular emphasis is placed on temperate coasts for which the Australian population is largest and most dense, and its coastal-ocean problems are most expensive and intense. This course involves field trips and laboratory research that responds to tests of hypotheses that are developed during tutorials.