Search Course Outline

Life is hard, thus responding to variation in biotic and abiotic variables is crucial for survival at all levels of biological hierarchy. Ko ahau te taiao, ko te taiao, ko ahau (I am the land, and the land is me) – the ecosystem defines quality of life. Develops an understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms through which life has evolved to cope with change over time, and the ecological mechanisms that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms today; how populations and communities adapted to change in the past, how they respond to environmental challenges today, and how they are likely to respond to change in the future as the climate changes.