Catalog Course Search Details

 Department:    ENVC

 Course #:    424

 Credits:    5

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    5.5

 CIP:    030101

 EPC:    16B

 REV:    2024

 Course Description  

Principles of population dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Key issues in the study of biodiversity and ecosystems, including functional complementarity, food web stability and complexity, material cycling, and meta-communities.

 Prerequisite  

Prerequisite: Admission to BASEC or Department Chair permission.

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 44

Lab: 22

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0

Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Vocational Preparatory N/A  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

1. Model and evaluate maintenance of species diversity and functional groups.
2. Measure and evaluate how biodiversity influence ecosystem functioning.
3. Measure and evaluate how material cycling influence the functioning of ecosystems.
4. Model and evaluate how stability and complexity influence ecosystems.
5. Through modeling, quantify and evaluate the spatial dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
6. Measure and quantify biotic and abiotic factors influencing animal populations.
7. Understand biogeography global distribution of taxa.
8. Quantify population growth of animal populations.
9. Describe and measure regulation factors of populations.
10. Quantify population growth for different life history patterns of organisms.

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

Course Contents

1. Population and ecosystem approaches in ecology.
2. Maintenance of species diversity and functional groups.
3. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
4. Food webs, interaction webs, and ecosystem functioning.
5. Stability and complexity of ecosystems.
6. Material cycling and overall functioning of ecosystems.
7. Spatial dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
8. Metacommunities and metaecosystems.
9. Evolution of ecosystems and ecosystem properties.