This unit examines the patterns in natural vegetation communities and the processes that shape them, both at present and in the past. The unit focuses on Tasmania but sets this in a global perspective. An understanding of the variety of plant communities and the forces shaping them is essential for appropriate land management, whether it be maintenance of natural vegetation for wilderness management and ecotourism or sustainable forest production. Theoretical topics include: the Tasmanian environment, vegetation types of Tasmania, introduction to the non-flowering plants of Tasmania, ecological interactions between species, ecological variation within and between species.

The practical component of the unit will introduce students to the diversity of non-flowering plants (incuding fungi) in Tasmania, and the major lowland vegetation communities (on an excursion to the East Coast of Tasmania), and the ecology underlying different seed germination strategies of Tasmanian plant species.