Level-3G

• Introduce the components of an ecosystem
• Describe the structure and function of ecosystems
• Provide the fundamentals of quantitative and dynamic plant ecology

Intended learning outcomes

• Explain the structure and function of ecosystems
• Distinguish biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems
• Explain the horizontal and temporal variations in vegetations
• Assess plants in different plant communities

Course Contents

• Concepts of ecosystems: Biotic and abiotic components of ecosystem, Ecological niche, Bio-geo chemical cycles, Energy flow and trophic structure of ecosystem, Ecosystem diversity.
• Introduction to soil profile, physical and chemical properties of soil, common soil types in Sri Lanka. Effects of soil environment on vegetation.
• Quantitative ecology: Vertical stratification of vegetation, Horizontal distribution of species, Abundance of species, Association between plants.
• Dynamic plant ecology: Disturbances to the ecosystem, Small scale gap dynamics, cyclic changes and succession.

             End of Course    Examination: 70%

Practical: In-course assessment(s):30%

             End of Course Examination: 70%

Overall marks = (6MT+4MP)/10

MT – Marks for theory component, MP – Marks for practical component

 References

• Odum, P. E. and Barett, W. G. (2005). Fundamentals of Ecology, Thompson Brooks/Cole.
• Kent, M. (2011). Vegetation description and data analysis: A Practical approach, 2nd Ed. Wiley Blackwell.
• Begon, M., Townsend, R. and Harper, L. (2006).  Ecology from individuals to ecosystems, 4th Ed. John Wiley and sons.

• Provide fundamental knowledge on development of varies plant diseases
• Introduce techniques in disease diagnosis
• Impart plant disease management practices

Intended learning outcomes

• Outline the concepts and fundamentals of plant diseases
• Explain various plant diseases that affect plant growth and yield
• Apply various fundamental techniques in disease diagnosis
• Discuss the fundamentals of plant defense mechanisms

Course Contents

•  History, principles, terminology, symptomatology and causes of plant diseases.
• Plant disease cycles.
• Techniques involved in the study of plant diseases; laboratory culturing, isolation and identification of bacteria and fungi.
• Diseases caused by major taxonomic groups of fungi, bacteria, viruses, viroids, mollicutes (phytoplasmas and spiroplasmas), and nematodes
• Postharvest diseases.
• Plant disease management practices.
• Diagnosis of plant diseases and confirmation of pathogenicity by Koch’s postulates
• Fundamentals of plant defense mechanisms

Evaluation /Assessment strategy

             End of Course    Examination: 70%

Practical: In-course assessment(s):30%

             End of Course Examination: 70%

Overall marks = (6MT+4MP)/10

MT – Marks for theory component, MP – Marks for practical component

• Agrios, G. N. (2005). Plant Pathology, 5th Ed. Elsevier Academic Press.
• Lacomme, C. (2015). Plant pathology: Techniques and protocols, 2nd Ed., Humana Press.

• Introduce various types of vegetation
• Provide knowledge for identification and characterization of plants in different ecosystems

• Explain the various types of vegetation
• Discuss the characteristic features of plants and their relevance
• Identify plants in various types of vegetation
• Distinguish various plant communities

• Natural vegetation types of Sri Lanka: distribution, geography, climate, geology, vegetation structure and floristic richness, family and species dominance, endemic species of marine, maritime vegetation (mangroves, sea shore and salt marshes) and inland aquatic ecosystems, forests (lowland rain forests, montane forests, dry forests) and grasslands.
• Environmental adaptations exhibited by inhabiting plants
• Importance of these ecosystems in the context of environmental, economic and social benefits; disturbances leading to the degradation of these ecosystems.
• Conservation of biodiversity in these ecosystems.

End of Course Examination            (70%)

• Maarel, E. V. (2013). Vegetation Ecology. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
• Crawley, M. J. (1977). Plant Ecology, 2nd Ed. Blackwell Science Ltd.

• Provide the fundamentals in plant physiology
• Introduce the principles involved in plant water relations

• Categorize photosynthesis with special reference to C3, C4 and CAM
• Discuss the efficiency of photosynthesis in C3 and C4 plants
• Explain plant water relations
• Discuss mineral nutrition in plants

• Photosynthesis: General concepts of photosynthesis, light driven Redox process, photo system I & II. Carbon reaction: The Calvin cycle, C4 and CAM cycle, Photo respiratory carbon oxidation cycle.
• Photosynthetic responses to light, CO2, temperature and H2O, Measurement of rate of photosynthesis, Leaves and atmosphere; structure, functions and movement of stomata.
• Soil – water relations: concept of water potential, field capacity, permanent wilting point. Plant water relations: absorption of water by roots, radial pathway of water in roots, ascent of sap, water potential measurements
• Active and passive transport of solutes across membrane barriers
• Mineral nutrition of plants: macronutrients and micronutrients, plant nutrients functions and deficiency.

End of Course Examination                      :            70%

Practical: In-course assessment(s)            :            30%

End of Course Examination                      :            70%

Overall mark = (6MT+4MP)/10

MT = Marks for theory component, MP = Marks for practical component

• Taiz, L. and Zeiger, E. (2010). Plant Physiology, 5th Ed., Sinauer.
• Salisbury, F. B. and Ross, C. (1991). Plant Physiology, 4th Ed. Brooks Cole.

• Provide knowledge on basic to comprehensive cell and tissue culture propagation techniques.
• Emphasize in vitro plant breeding techniques and germplasm conservation that are applicable to crop improvement.
• Develop the practical skills and confidence of students to successfully culture plant cells and tissues.

• Explain the basic requirements to establish plant tissue culture media
• Demonstrate some of the more advanced techniques for plant cell and tissue culture
• Develop plants in tissue culture
• Assess the growth performance of tissue cultured plants

• Fundamentals of plant tissue culture: role of tissue culture in rapid clonal propagation, laboratory requirements, sterilization techniques, media preparation, explant selection, growth requirements
• Technology and potential applications of various tissue culture techniques: callus culture, cell suspension culture, meristem culture, micropropagation of economically important plants.
• Embryo culture, anther/pollen culture, protoplast techniques and somatic hybridization
• Somatic embryogenesis; production, preservation and use of somatic embryos as propagules
• Artificial seeds and their applications; cell suspension culture and secondary metabolite production, cryopreservation and germplasm conservation of plant genetic resources.

End of Course Examination                       :            70%

Practical: In-course assessment(s)             :            30%

End of Course Examination                       :            70%

Overall mark = (6MT+4MP)/10

MT = Marks for theory component, MP = Marks for practical component

• Smith, R. H. (2013). Plant Tissue Culture: Techniques and Experiments, 3rd Ed. Elsevier Academic Press.
• Bhojwani, S. S. and Dantu, P. K. (2013). Plant tissue culture: An introductory text, 1st Ed. India: Springer.
• Neumann, K., Kumar, A. and Imani, J. (2009). Plant cell and tissue culture – A tool in biotechnology, 1st Ed. Springer-Verlag.

• Introduce the fundamental concepts of biostatistics

• Perform basic statistical tests and experimental designs
• Analyze statistical problems and designing experiments
• Analyze data by using statistical packages
• Apply various statistical analysis methods

• Introduction in application of statistics in plant and crop research, variables.
• Population and sample, sampling techniques, descriptive statistics.
• Probability distributions (binomial, poisson & normal probability distribution).
• t-distribution, application of hypothesis testing in field and laboratory experiments of plants (Chi-square test, paired & unpaired t-test), ANOVA, basic designs to arrange the experiments in botany.
• CRD, RCBD and LSD, use of correlation and regression in plant related experiments.

End of Course Examination                       (70%)

• Rangaswamy, R. A. (1995). Text Book of Agricultural Statistics. 1st Ed., Wiley 
• Eastern Limited, New Age International Limited, 1995.
• Sokal, R. R. and James, R. F. (1987). Introduction to Biostatistics, 2nd Ed. Dover Publications INC.

• Provide the knowledge of food constituents and understanding of nutritional surveys
• Impart knowledge on nutrition related diseases in human

• Explain the food systems
• Discuss dietary requirements for different age groups
• Explain various food preservation methods
• Interpret various types of nutritional assessment methods

• Constituents of food and food products, nutritional aspects of cereals and tubers, Pulses and animal proteins, fruits and vegetables, fats and oils, protein requirement and protein quality, food systems
• Functional properties of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids, role of fiber in diets, food pyramid and balanced diet
• Assessment of nutritional status in the community, energy requirements, dietary assessment, biochemical assessment and anthropometric assessment, nutritional surveys
• Nutrition rehabilitation, nutrition for different stage of life cycle, special dietary requirements and nutrition related diseases
• Food deterioration and principles of food preservation, principles and applications of hurdle technology, chemical preservation, preservation by radiation, temperature reduction, water removal, heat, controlled atmospheric storage and Modified atmospheric storage, preservation by microwave.

End of Course Examination                       (70%)

• Potter, N. N. and Hotchkiss, J. H. (1995). Food Science, 5th Ed. Springer.
• Ward, J. D. and Ward, L. T. (2013). Principles of food science, 4th Ed. Good heart-Wilcox.

• Impart knowledge of unconventional foods
• Provide understanding of nutrient losses during processing

• Explain the food security at national and global levels
• Discuss the metabolism of food components in human
• Explain the role of food additives in various foods
• Describe the microbial standards of foods

• Global and Sri Lankan nutrition situation, food security
• Nutritive properties of unconventional foods, fast foods and junk foods, organic foods, functional foods, food allergy, toxicants in foods, nutraceuticals, losses of nutrients during processing and cooking, metabolism of major food components
• Dietary needs of fat, minerals and vitamins, nutritional role of complex carbohydrates, beneficial aspects of food additives, adulterants, microbial standards of foods, nutritional labeling and packaging of foods.

End of Course Examination                       (70%)

 References

• Savage King, F., Burgess, A., Quinn, V. J. and Osei, A. K. (2015). Nutrition in developing countries, 3rd Ed. Oxford University press.
• Gibson, R. S. (2005). Principles of nutritional assessment, 2nd Ed. Oxford University press.