BI1FEC1: Field Ecology

Module code: BI1FEC1

Module provider: School of Biological Sciences

Credits: 20

Level: 4

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Jonathan Mitchley , email: j.mitchley@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Andrew Bladon, email: a.j.bladon@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 14 July 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module will give you hands-on learning about the interactions between organisms, their environment and human activity. You will experience and learn to recognise the diversity and structure of different ecological systems and learn how we monitor and identify organisms to describe diversity, community composition, species interactions, and ecosystem functioning. You will learn how to use biodiversity sampling techniques and to identify plants and animals in order to collect and analyse your own data. Field visits make up the majority of the contact hours and will take place in a variety of habitats, from woodland to floodplain meadows, many of these trips will take advantage of university owned and managed sites such as our award winning green campus Whiteknights Park. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Describe the fundamental interactions among organisms, between organisms and their abiotic environment, and the role of human activity in modifying these interactions
2. Recognise key broad habitat types and describe the characteristics of species communities likely to be found in them
3. Safely and correctly apply field sampling and identification techniques that are appropriate for the organisms and habitats sampled
4. Collect, organise, analyse and present ecological data from the field

Module content

Students will be introduced to field survey and identification skills for plants, invertebrates and vertebrates across a series of field visits. By giving students a genuine experience of, for example, soil invertebrate sampling, freshwater invertebrate surveys and botanical habitat assessment, this module provides a hands-on primer for studying topics in ecology and wildlife conservation in more depth. Field visits will in most cases be followed with laboratory work to sort and identify samples. Lectures and seminars will top and tail the module and give students the opportunity to reflect on their learning.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The learning outcomes will be met through a combination of seminars and practical instructions in the field (i.e. fieldwork). Students will be given the opportunity engage in discussion with peers and academic staff (regarding the species groups, habitats, techniques and ecological concepts) during these seminars and/or field trips. Students will work together to collect data in the field, students will work together in the field to collect data, and drawing on their particular strengths may contribute to peer assisted learning of skills such as species identification. Appropriate supplementary information and reading lists will be provided on Blackboard. 

Study hours

At least 40 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.