Class Notes for GEOG20009 at University of Melbourne

LECTURE 21: GONDWANA TO ANTHROPOCENE EVOLUTION ON AN ISLAND CONTINENT Modern Australian flora had origin in Gondwana particularly ferns gymnosperms Tectonically stable after 90Ma highly leached, deep weathering soil profi...

LECTURE 18: DIVERSIFICATION REGIONALISATION cont. Geographic patterns must show some information of evolutionlink to the past Biogeographic regions indicate the pervasive influence of geography, geology and climate on the...

LECTURE 17: DIVERSIFICATION REGIONALISATION Perspectives on patterns of life: o History of place OR (changes in geography, geology, climate, environments extrinsic to organisms, biota) o History of lineage (series of chan...

LECTURE 12: DISPERSAL AND IMMIGRATION Relative importance of longdistance dispersal events vs vicariance (population splitting events) Darwin v Lyell Vicariance: geographic range of a taxa is split into parts by the format...

LECTURE 13: SPECIATION AND EXTINCTION Species: a basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank The fundamental unit of biogeography is the geographic range of a species Speciation: branching event, leading t...

LECTURE 16: KARST LANDSCAPE AND BIODIVERSITY KARST LANDSCAPES PreProcess Karst: a landscape formed largely by dissolution of soluble rocks 3 preconditions for karst formation (karstification): Limestone is usually formed i...

LECTURE 15: LANDFORMS AND SOILS Tectonics: formation of topography endogenic (Earth interior driven) processes o Volcanism o Uplift at convergent plate boundaries Exogenic (external climate) and endogenic (internal tectoni...

LECTURE 20: HUMAN EVOLUTION Palaeoanthropology: study of ancient man What makes us human? Biology and culture Bipedalism Omnivory Large brain relative to body size Environmental manipulation Symbolic expression: art, ritua...

LECTURE 11: COMMUNITIES, BIOMES, ECOSYSTEMS cont. FOOD WEBS Food webs and keystone species: keystone species are a plant or animal that play a unique crucial role in ecosystem functions o Without them, food webs and ecosys...

LECTURE 14 (p.1): PLATE TECTONICS AND EARTH HISTORY Continental drift: Wegner proposed idea that the continents had moved other time, based on evidence from many disciplines Crust: upper layer of the Earth floats on top of...

LECTURE 19: ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY Topics ISLAND TYPES Islands are a natural laboratory for biogeography Islands importance and types Islands: any piece of subcontinental land surrounded by water (not size related) Evolutiona...

LECTURE 9: SPECIES COEXISTANCE How do individual pairs of species manage to coexist in same environment when they are competing for resources (food, habitat)? Questions What do we mean by ECOLOGICAL NICHE species coexisten...

LECTURE 2: REGIONAL V LOCAL POOLS INTRODUCTION TO FIRST 3 RD OF LECTURES ECOLOGICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY Ecological Biogeography: examines ecological theories that explain the proximate (operating now) drivers of diversity in time...

LECTURE 10: COMMUNITIES, BIOMES, ECOSYSTEMS Conditions that support life: o Liquid medium (water) environment where chemical reactions take place) Topics o Matter (atoms O, C, H) for chemical reactions Energy consideration...

LECTURE 5: HABITAT COMPLEXITY AND DIVERSITY RECAP: Limits to local diversity: dispersal constraints, environmental conditions at localities, Topics new species unable to invade established community Environmental heteroge...