Tropical Ecosystems, Climate, and Lost Civilisations (U04089)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : GEO-3-TROPECO

An appreciation of the long-term history of terrestrial tropical ecosystems (e.g. Amazonian rainforests and savannas) over past centuries, millennia, and beyond, can provide important insights into the origin of their high biodiversity, their responsiveness to disturbance (both anthropogenic and natural), and appropriate conservation strategies for the future. The aim of this course is to unravel the long-term history of tropical ecosystems using a range of different, but complimentary, approaches and disciplines – palaeoecology, archaeology, and palaeoclimatology, as well as historical written archives. This inter-disciplinary perspective integrates physical and human geography, ecology, and geology. The primary focus will be tropical Latin America, although case studies will also be drawn from Africa and SE Asia/Australasia. This course revolves around several key questions: 1) What have been the interrelationships between natural disturbance (e.g. climate change) and human land-use (e.g. burning) upon tropical ecosystems over the Holocene, i.e. the last 11,000 years? 2) What is the origin of current patterns of biodiversity? 3) What are the implications of this palaeoecological perspective for conservation strategies and understanding the fate of tropical ecosystems over the 21st century? 4) To what extent have past cultures/civilisations been constrained by, or benefited from, their tropical surroundings and why did they collapse?

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Geography, (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
12/01/2009	14:00	15:50	Room 2.05, Old Infirmary (Geography)	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

- To appreciate how understanding the past holds important lessons for understanding the present and future of tropical ecosystems.
- To learn the value of inter-disciplinary approaches for reconstructing the history of tropical ecosystems.
- To understand the respective roles of, and interrelationships between, humans versus ‘nature’ in shaping tropical ecosystems over past centuries and millennia.
- To examine the relationship between ancient cultures/civilisations and their tropical environments.
- To undertake an independent research project