FBE 609 Ecological Risk and Impact Assessment

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course student should be able to:-

  1. Advance knowledge and understanding on ecological risk and impact assessment
  2. Plan, conduct, assess and evaluate ecological risks and impacts
  3. Manage and communicate ecological risks and impacts.

Course Content

Definition and application of ecological risk assessment, impacts of different activities on the ecosystems including exposure levels and the likelihood of damage to the biological systems exposed to the activity, ecological risk and impact assessment, ecological impact assessment as a discipline, approaches to conducting ecological risk assessment, planning approaches and ecological constraints, summarising and evaluating ecological impacts, predicting impacts – the physical environment, predicting impacts- the biota, risk assessment and ecosystem management, alternative goals for ecosystem management, ecosystem processes and risk assessment, the processes of ecological risk assessment, assessing impacts of pollutants on biota, risk exposure assessment basics and overview, exposure classifications, measuring exposure, risk characterization for ecological risk assessment, risk management & communication,

Required Reading

  1. Westman E, Walter 1985.       Ecology, Impact Assessment and Environmental Planning. John Willey and Sons Inc. New York 532 pp
  1. Martha L. Walter, Michael A. Kamrin and Delores J. Katz (2000). A Journalist’s Handbook on Environmental Risk Assessment 156 pp

Recommended Reading

  1. Groom M.J., Meffe G.K. and Carrol C.R. 2006. Principle of Conservation Biology. Sinaner Associates, Sunderland 3rd Edition. 779 pp.
  1. Hutson A.M. 1994. Biological Diversity. The Coexistence of Species on Changing Landscapes. Cambridge University Press. 681pp