Module manager: Dr Cat Scott
Email: C.E.Scott@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
Physical Science background (eg Physical Geography) required
None
This module is approved as a discovery module
By the end of this module students will have an understanding of the interactions between the terrestrial biosphere, climate and atmospheric composition. They will understand the important physical, biological and chemical processes through which terrestrial ecosystems affect and are affected by climate. This will include knowledge of biosphere-atmosphere couplings of carbon, water and energy and the interactions between ecosystems and climate. The module will also explore the policy implications of ecosystem – climate interactions.
This module is designed to give students an understanding of the importance of the terrestrial biosphere within the Earth System. The module will explore the physical, chemical and biological processes through which terrestrial ecosystems affect and are affected by climate. The module will also cover human alterations to the terrestrial biosphere including policy relevant themes of climate adaptation and mitigation. Specific topics will include the cycling of water, energy and chemical elements, the global carbon cycle, biome shifts under climate change, deforestation and land-use change. The module has been designed around research-led lecture material. The module is interdisciplinary and will be of interest to students studying ecology, environmental science and management, atmospheric science and geography.
Students will gain an understanding of:
- The physical, chemical and biological interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere
- Ways in which the terrestrial biosphere affects and is affected by climate
- Drivers and impacts of land-use change, and its policy relevance
- numerical interpretation and presentation of data
- analysis of numerical environmental data
- collection of field data
- communication of scientific information to a non-specialist audience
-Surface radiation budget and energy balance
-Biosphere-atmosphere couplings of carbon, water and energy
-Evapotranspiration
-Ecosystem-atmosphere CO2 exchanges
-Soil carbon and fluxes
-Climate – vegetation interactions
-Dynamic Global Vegetation Models
-Global fire patterns
-Emissions of trace gases and atmospheric composition
-Vegetation change through Earth’s history
-Land use change and impacts on climate
-Climate adaptation and mitigation, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fieldwork | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Lecture | 14 | 1 | 14 |
| Practical | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Private study hours | 70 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 30 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 100 | ||
To include independent reading around lecture materials to support learning, continuation of analysis from computer workshops and writing up pieces of coursework
Students have the opportunity to gain verbal feedback on their ideas, experiment design and results during the computer classes with staff and demonstrators before submission of their reports. We will provide written feedback on the assessed coursework.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Exercise | Written policy brief based on results from computer workshops. | 40 |
| Report | Journal article style write up of fieldtrip and analysis during computer workshops | 60 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Students will analyse environmental observations using a Python jupyter notebook and explore the impacts of deforestation in the Amazon. This exercise gives students hands-on understanding of the complexities of ecosystem-atmosphere interactions and will be written up in the style of a policy brief, giving students an opportunity to curate and present appropriate scientific content for a non-academic audience. A fieldtrip will be taken to Gair Wood, the University of Leeds research woodland in north Leeds. Working in groups, students will collect measurements from the trees. In a follow up computer workshop this data will be collated and screened by the class, then analysed individually. Field trip and workshops will be supervised by academic staff and postgraduate demonstrators. The workshops will be assessed through two pieces of written coursework.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 4/4/2024
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team