ZOOL 22034
>< Type/status : Compulsory
course for the students who intend following Zoology as one of the main subjects.
Elective course for the other biological science students.
>< Title : Animal Ecology, Zoogeography and
Ethology
>< Pre-requisites : G.C.E. (A/L) Biology
>< Co-requisite : ZOOL 22042
>< Objectives : By the end of this course,
students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in basic principles
related to the structure and functioning of various types of ecosystems, global
and local distribution patterns of animals and basic behavioural patterns of
animals and behavioural ecology.
>< Course contents :
Principles related to the structure and functioning
of ecosystems, Introduction to population ecology, population growth, population
regulation, life history patterns, Interspecific interactions, Predation, Competition,
Niche, resource partitioning, species diversity, terrestrial ecosystems, freshwater
ecosystems, brackishwater ecosystems and marine ecosystems. Earth’s mantle
and core, Plate tectonics and Continental drift, Animal maps and Zoogeographical
regions, Paleogeography, evolution of animals, Migration and dispersal of plants
and animals, barriers for dispersal, land bridges, island patterns, continental
islands, Present biogeographic regions, centers of origination and divergence
of species, extinction of species, Sri Lankan fauna and patterns of Zoogeography.
Introduction to animal behaviour; Basic elements in animal behaviour; Evolution
and description of behaviour; Convergence and divergence of behavioural patterns;
Animal communication; Instinct learning and memory; Aggression; Motivation and
drive; Sexual behaviour and parental care; Rhythms in animal behaviour including
biological clocks, migration, hibernation; Social organization in higher vertebrates;
territoriality, dominant hierarchical system, altruism and kin selection.
>< Methodology : A
combination of lectures, tutorials and web-based studies.
>< Scheme of evaluation: End-of-course written
examination
>< Recommended reading:
1. Odum E.P. (1971). Fundamentals of Ecology. Saunders
College Publishers, Philadelphia.
2. Tait R.V. and Dipper F.A. (2000). Elements of marine
ecology. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
3. McLusky D.S. (1971). Ecology of estuaries. Heinemann
Educational, London.
4. Krebs C.J. (1985). Ecology. Harper and Row Publishers,
New York.
5. Wetzel R.G. (2001). Limnology. Academic Press, London.
6. Begon M., Harper J.L. and Townsend C.R. (1986). Ecology;
Individuals, Populations and communities. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
7. Manning A., and Dawkins M.S. (1995). An Introduction
to Animal Behaviour, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
8. Keeton W.T. and Gould J.L. (1993). Biological Science
5th edition. W. W. Norton and company, New York.
9. George W. (1962). Animal geography. Heinemann, London.
10. Chapman J.L. and Reiss M.J. (1997). Ecology, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
11. Darlington P.J. (1957). Zoogeography; the geographic
distribution of animals. John Wiley, New York.
12. Cox C.B. and Moore P.D. (1993). Biogeography, 5th
edition, Blackwell, Oxford.
13. Current information on the Internet.
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