Plant Biology BSc

Plant physiology is a key discipline relevant to agricultural, environmental and plant sciences and this module is broad in scope and aims to enable the student to understand the key mechanisms of plant physiology that can inform across these subjects.

Plant physiologists are the ‘engineers’ of botany, studying the physical and chemical mechanisms that drive plant growth and the adaptations that underly resilience and survival. Specifically this module provides an understanding of the mechanisms that plants use to capture and efficiently utilise physical resources of solar energy, water and nutrients and how they do this in diverse and challenging global habitats, including both natural and agricultural systems.

This module is delivered through lectures, practicals and group tutorials over 12 weeks covering various topics as follows:

• Week 1-2: Mechanisms of capture of light and CO2 for growth: whole plant regulation and feedback mechanisms.
• Week 3-4: Capture of water from soil; how water moves through plants; the regulation of transpiration
• Week 5-6: Environmental stress physiology and plant acclimation/adaptation. Drought, heat and light stress. Practical class on water use efficiency and photosynthesis with hands-on measurements of stomatal properties.
• Week 7-8: Nutrient uptake from soil. Nutrient efficiency and deficiency. Practical class on nitrogen use efficiency.
• Week 9-10: Whole plant physiology: the canopy-environment interface. The role of hormones in the regulation of physiological processes. Tutorial class on multi-species, cropping natural systems with self-directed learning.
• Weeks 11-12: Formative assessment with feedback. Integrated mechanisms of resource capture in the field and methods of measurement and phenotyping of plants in the field including remote sensing.

In this module you will develop and consolidate your professional and research abilities as a scientist. You’ll improve your core skills that will enable you carry out scientifically-sound research, including:

• the scientific method and experimentation
• measurement techniques
• literature searches
• data collection and statistical analysis.

You’ll also cover discipline-specific topics according to your interests in animal, crop or management science. There will be a mix of lectures, workshops and group activity sessions for you to work on your skills.

This module develops an understanding of cropping systems and how they are influenced by soil texture and climate.

The major crop species are introduced and the reliance on relatively few species is discussed. Field crop nutrition will be introduced using case studies of specific crops. Appropriate strategies for weed, pest and disease control in crops will be discussed with an emphasis on integrated crop management. The module also aims to develop an awareness of recent developments and current research in crop science.

Students will learn through lectures, group activities and practical classes about the following topics:

• Weeks 1-2 Major crop species (including practical classes)
  
• Weeks 3: Soils and cropping systems
• Week 4: Field crop nutrition
• Week 5-6: Conservation agriculture research tutorials
• Week 7: Weed biology
• Week 8: Weed competition practical
• Week 9: Weed management
• Week 10: Integrated crop management
• Week 11: Current issues/research

Through practical sessions, you will learn the techniques of biological image production and manipulation, including the ability to generate biological images of the highest technical quality and scientific value. You will build an understanding of the principles behind photography and how to get the most out of state of the art photographic and imaging equipment.

Modern biological and environmental science includes the study of complex systems and large data sets, including imaging data. This necessitates the use of computer models and analyses in order to understand these systems. This module contains an introduction to computer programming and modelling techniques that are used in the biological and environmental sciences. Specifically, it contains:  
   
(i) An introduction to computer programming and algorithms, using the Python programming language.  
   
(ii) An introduction the construction of mathematical models for biological and environmental systems using difference and differential equations, with a particular emphasis on population dynamics, and the use of computing to simulate, analyse these models and fit these models to data.  
 
Throughout the module, the focus will be on relevant examples and applications, e.g. environmental pollution, growth of microbial populations, disease epidemics, or computer manipulation of images of plants, animals or the natural environment

This module will introduce students to a range of skills for environmental monitoring and ecological assessment; students will develop key practical skills and gain valuable experience in planning and conducting fieldwork.

There will be a strong focus on developing practical skills and enhancing employability in the environmental job sector. Topics covered will include Plant identification and NVC - Phase 1 habitat surveys, surveying species, which have specific protections under law – bats and birds and terrestrial invertebrate survey techniques.

The module theme is the application of economic ideas to problems of concern to Agricultural and Environmental Scientists. Supply and demand analysis is used to show how market prices are determined and the idea of an `efficient market' is introduced and contrasted with `market failure'. Topics of sustainable agriculture, farm animal welfare, biodiversity, air, water and soil are also explored within this context 

The course will focus on the processes that govern terrestrial ecosystem function. We will identify key ecosystem drivers and processes and explore how these have shaped the biosphere. Students will gain an understanding of the mechanisms that control changes in the physiochemical environment and their impact upon communities. Particular topics will include primary productivity, decomposition, herbivory, biodiversity and human impact on ecosystems. 

10 credits in the Autumn semester.

This module aims to introduce you to agricultural management decision making in practice through team-based activity, integrating science, business and economics. Working in small teams and supported by teaching staff and industry consultants, you will be responsible for making management (science and business) decisions relating to the production of a crop or livestock enterprise for commercial purposes. The challenge will be based on the University Farm. Your team’s decisions – in the roles of both professional consultant and farm manager - will be implemented by technical staff.

For this module you will have lectures plus significant ‘field time’, including formal field site visits and informal field observation visits.  

This module will introduce you to some key ecological processes in forest ecosystems and provides an overview of forest biodiversity and its assessment. You will develop practical skills in tree species identification and survey techniques during fieldwork and site visits. We will look at the scale, rates, distribution and causes of deforestation and forest degradation and the implications of this for global and local ecosystem services. We will examine different management objectives including timber production, environmental services, amenity and conservation.

In this module we will examine how insects are classified, the external and internal features of their bodies, their lifecycles and how they reproduce.  
 
We will look at the importance of insects and insect biodiversity, investigating the central role they play in ecosystem function.   

We will investigate how entomologists collect insects, how we measure populations and recent insect declines.  
   
We will examine the insects that humans describe as beneficial or harmful, looking at the impact of insects on plants, crops, livestock, and human health.

This module offers a detailed study of the core molecular processes that enable cells to function such as DNA biochemistry, gene expression, protein synthesis and degradation. You will learn about the basic molecular processes that underpin the function of eukaryotic cells and to describe how different organelles within the cell function, with an emphasis on the dynamic nature of cell biology. You will have lectures, practical classes, a poster presentation and tutorials.

The creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is having a major impact on modern agriculture. Transgenic research and “synthetic biology” approaches have the potential to enable plants to be used as “green factories” for the production of novel products. Through this module, you’ll gain both theoretical and practical knowledge as to how transgenic organisms are engineered. You’ll also learn about the production of traditional plant products and their uses in biotechnological industries, and the use of marker assisted breeding techniques. You’ll have lectures and practical laboratory sessions to really get into the analysis of the applications of these technologies, but you’ll also get to look out into industry and broader. There will be industrial field trips to see what you’ve learnt in practice and experts in the field will be invited to lecture and give some thought-provoking debate about the ethical, commercial and environmental concerns around GMO technology.

This module will introduce students to the importance of interactions between plants, microbes, and insects. It will explain the nature and etiology of the organisms that are pests and cause diseases in plants. It will explore the integrated management strategies for pests and diseases, including monitoring and diagnosis, chemical control, plant resistance, and biological control. Lecture material will be complemented by practical sessions/field visit, videos, and self-study. This module will explore the nature and importance of plant pests and diseases, the organisms involved, and the integrated approaches to control them.

Overview: Soils are the most complex biomaterial on earth. An understanding of the basic concepts concerning the form and function of soils is important for future management strategies such as mitigating the effects of climate change and providing safe and sustainable food. This module focuses on the important soil properties from physical, chemical and biological perspectives including soil organic matter (microbiology and chemistry); soil chemical reactions (acidity, redox); soil fauna and flora; soil-water relations (irrigation and drainage).

10 credits

This module explores the evolution of key plant systems through deep time, and the significance of this process for understanding modern ecology and food security. You will learn about the challenges that plants faced when moving onto land and evolutionary innovations within the early spermatophytes. You will also gain an understanding of the power of natural selection in producing plant diversity over deep time.