Field Botany is an iconic part of the University of Tasmania's undergraduate offerings, remembered fondly by students for the past 30 years. In this unit, you will experience the major natural vegetation communities in Tasmania & the key processes shaping them. You will be introduced to the diversity of plants found in environments from near sea level moorlands to exposed alpine heaths, from rich basalt soil to ancient, weathered quartzite, and from sites ravaged by clear felling and burning to ancient cool, temperate rainforest.

The first five days of the course are based in the spectacular Mt Field & Southwest National Parks, including a quite strenuous walk along the Tarn Shelf, over Newdegate Pass & back along the Rodway Range. Students that are not physically fit must seek the advice of the unit coordinator.

The second part of the course introduces demographic techniques, conservation strategies & practice, & examines applied ecological practice in forestry harvesting methods in wet sclerophyll forest in the long-term ecological monitoring site at Warra, in day excursions from the Sandy Bay campus.

Assessment is by: a field test (50%) on the last day of the course, assessing plant identification ability & an understanding of the ecological processes shaping the vegetation; a report based on data collected in the field (20%) and a wiki entry on a negotiated topic (20%); & a group plant collection (10%).