Course description

The Catchment and Aquatic Ecosystem Health course provides students with an in-depth understanding of the issues and challenges relating to the sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems. The study of aquatic ecosystem health is a relatively new field that brings together biophysical understandings of how natural systems function with societal goals and human values. A major challenge for society is to satisfy the growing demands for water without degrading aquatic ecosystems and the ecological goods and services they provide. The course will focus on three key components: 1) an understanding of hydrological regimes and environmental flows methodology, including the basic principles relating hydrology to aquatic ecosystems and the design of environmental flows regimes, 2) theory and methodology behind the assessment of aquatic ecosystem health, including the development and validation of cost-effective techniques for the ecological assessment of river health; and 3) principles and practical tools for implementing riparian restoration projects across a range of aquatic ecosystems. A parallel Integrated Water Management project will run through the semester which will develop skills that complement the content delivered in the 4 co-requisite courses. (On-campus students, including international students, are required to enrol in the internal offering. Part-time domestic students may enrol in WATR7100 & WATR7400 in 2nd semester 2009. These require attendance in intensive mode comprising a 3 day block of classes (9am-5pm) followed immediately by a 10 day field trip. The remainder of the the course will be taught externally on -line.)

Archived offerings