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MOLECULAR ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY

Module code: BI435
Credits: 5
Semester: 2
Department: BIOLOGY
International:

	Overview
	Topics covered include: DNA polymorphism and molecular markers, particularly microsatellites and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs); Sexual recombination, allele inheritance and natural selection; Statistical methods and bioinformatics tools for analyzing gene flow and inferring historical biogeographic relationships: Wright�s indices, pairwise dis/similarity and hierarchical clustering; Gene flow between crops and wild plants; The risks and hazards of gene-flow from GM crops; Plate-tectonics, climate cycles and glaciation; Historical biogeography and tracing migration using nuclear, mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA markers; The postglacial colonization of Europe by animals and plants: dispersal waves, hybridization zones and extinction events; Population structure of tropical rainforest plants; Conservation genetics of endangered mammals; The biogeographic impact of continent collisions � recent invasions in Tropical Central America and Southeast Asia.

Overview

Topics covered include: DNA polymorphism and molecular markers, particularly microsatellites and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs); Sexual recombination, allele inheritance and natural selection; Statistical methods and bioinformatics tools for analyzing gene flow and inferring historical biogeographic relationships: Wright�s indices, pairwise dis/similarity and hierarchical clustering; Gene flow between crops and wild plants; The risks and hazards of gene-flow from GM crops; Plate-tectonics, climate cycles and glaciation; Historical biogeography and tracing migration using nuclear, mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA markers; The postglacial colonization of Europe by animals and plants: dispersal waves, hybridization zones and extinction events; Population structure of tropical rainforest plants; Conservation genetics of endangered mammals; The biogeographic impact of continent collisions � recent invasions in Tropical Central America and Southeast Asia.

	Learning Outcomes
	On successful completion of the module, students should be able to: Demonstrate expert comprehension of contemporary biogeography. Demonstrate expert comprehension of the processes of landscape change. Demonstrate expert comprehension of the occurrence and measurement of molecular DNA polymorphism and mutation, and the statistical inference of biogeographic history. Demonstrate self-learning by accessing and writing critically about peer-reviewed scientific literature in this area.

Learning Outcomes

Teaching & Learning methods

Assessment

	Autumn Supplementals/Resits
	Are supplemental/resit registrations permitted? Yes University scheduled written examination (Autumn): 120 minutes Is Supplemental Continuous Assessment registration permitted? No Is Supplemental Continuous Assessment capped? No

	Pre-Requisites
	BI210, BI204, BI303

Timetable

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Courses / Module

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY

Semester 1

Semester 2