Ecology of Urban Landscapes

Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in an increasingly urbanised world. This subject will introduce students to urban ecology and landscape ecology concepts and illustrate how they can be applied to plan and design more ecologically sustainable human landscapes. Topics include the concept of scale in ecology, land transformation and habitat fragmentation, the structure and components of landscapes, patterns and processes along urban-rural gradients, the impacts of urbanisation on biodiversity and strategies to mitigate them.

• 1Characterise the components of landscapes
• 2Assess the causes and consequences of land transformation and habitat fragmentation
• 3Evaluate how urbanisation may affect processes that operate in landscapes
• 4Discuss implications of ecological principles for planning and design of sustainable urban landscapes