Certificate of Ecology

Unit 1 – Ecosystems and populations

• Ecology
• Types of ecology:
• Behavioural ecology,
• Population ecology,
• Community and ecosystem ecology
• Biomes
• Ecosystems (energy and nutrients)
• The food web
• Populations: diversity, habitat, niche, and growth rates
• Interactions in the community: competition and predation
• Co-evolution
• Succession and climax communities

Unit 2 – The Development of life

•  Average lifespan
• Evolutionary considerations on lifespan
• Theories on the limits of lifespan
• Evolution: what evolution means
• Evidence of organic evolution
• The anatomical and physiological argument
• The paleontological argument
• The embryological argument
• Steps in organic evolution
• Multicellular organisms
• The evolution of sex
• The origin of vertebrates: the emergence of man
• Factors in organic evolution
• Germ cells and variations
• Natural selection
• Population genetics
• The synthetic theory
• Speciation
• Genetic drift
• Trans-specific evolution
• Present day evolutionary debate
• Human evolution and evolutionary patterns

Unit 3 – Animals, parasites and endangered species

• Animals in the ecosystem
• Animals in the human community
• Animals
• Phylum and classes of the animal kingdom
• Summary of phyla: the parazoa, the mesozoa, the radiata, phylum coelenterata and phylum ctenophora
• The acoelomate bilateria
• The pseudocoelomates
• Eucoelomates (the tentaculata)
• Eucoelomates (the trochozoa): phylum annelida, phylum sipuncula, phylum mollusca, phylum arthropoda
• Eucoelomates (the Deuterostomia)
• Parasites: human parasites and parasitic plants
• Endangered species: the causes of extinction and efforts for preservation
• Case study (threatened animal species in Queensland, Australia

Unit 4 – Fungi, tundra, rainforests and marshlands

• Fungi: introduction
• Types of fungi
• The structure of fungi
• The reproduction of fungi
• The physiology of fungus
• Poisoning by fungi
• The ecology of fungus
• The uses of fungi
• The classification of fungi
• Tundra: introduction, the climate and land formation, plant life on the tundra
• Rainforests: the ecology
• The vegetation
• Creatures of the rainforest
• The canopy
• The under-storey
• Clearing the rainforest
• Marshland: introduction, freshwater marshes and saltwater marshes

Unit 5 – Mountains, rivers and deserts

•  Mountains
• The formation of mountains
• The importance of mountains, volcanoes and erosion
• Rivers
• The formation of rivers, dams (ponds)
• River catchments and urban catchments
• Cleaning up stormwater
• Reducing pollutants
• Sedimentation
• Nutrients
• Other toxicants
• Damming of rivers
• Deserts: wind systems and land formation
• Plant adaptations to the desert
• Animal adaptations to the desert
• Human impacts on deserts and the spreading deserts

Unit 6 – Shallow Waters

• Estuaries
• Major natural processes occurring in coastal environments
• Rocky shores: threats and what individuals can do
• Sandy shores: threats
• Types of coral reefs
• Origin of coral reefs
• Composition of coral reefs

Unit 7 – Ecological problems

• The greenhouse effect
• Global warming
• Climate change and growing awareness
• International efforts to combat climate change
• The actual and potential effects
• Global temperature rise
• Sea level rise and impacts on weather systems
• Greenhouse gases (GHG)
• Ozone: the ozone layer
• The causes and effects of ozone depletion
• Poisons in the home
• Poisons on the farm (pesticides)
• Environmental and health impacts of pesticides
• Waste materials

When you study with Australian Online Courses, you will be assessed using a competency-based training method.

Competency-based training focuses on the achievement of skills and knowledge against set criteria to meet industry-standard and is not benchmarked against other students’ work.

In this course, the assessment will be comprised of written assignments and exercises, which may include short answer questions, reports, essays, research projects and reflective tasks.

If you do not achieve a competency result on your first attempt, you have two more attempts to pass your assessment. So, you have three attempts in total to obtain a competency result.

In this way, you can complete your course in your own time and at your own pace with the assistance of unlimited tutor support.

• Professional development that is widely recognised and respected;
• Improve your employment opportunities;
• Study online, anywhere via our elearning system;
• High-quality professional development programs written by industry experts;
• No entry requirements;
• All course materials provided online – no textbooks to buy;
• Unlimited tutor support;
• Easy to understand course content;
• We offer twelve (12) months’ access, with extensions available upon application (fees apply);
• Certificate of Attainment/Completion issued for your CV (hard copy provided); and
• Course may be tax deductible; see your tax advisor.

The approximate study hours for this course is 50 hours. We offer twelve (12) months’ access, with extensions available upon application (fees apply).

While printed materials are not available for purchase, PDF copies are available for download and self-printing for this program.

You can start within 60 minutes during business hours when you enrol and pay in full with a credit card!

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Cheque/Money Order: Upon receipt of mailed cheque.

Yes! You will receive a Certificate of Attainment upon successful completion of your assessment.

No. All courses are delivered online via our e-learning system and there are no work placement requirements in this course.

Unlimited tutor support is available throughout your studies via email during business hours Monday to Friday. Our Administrative team are available Monday to Friday via email, live chat and telephone.

Yes! We accept enrolments from individuals both within Australia and internationally; location is no barrier to entry into our programs.