BIO 5076 - Ecological Modeling

Credits: 4

This course will provide an examination of the theoretical and mathemetical aspects of ecology at the organism, population, and community levels. In introductory courses, these topics are explored, but typically many simplifying assumptions are made at the expense of reality. Through lectures, reading of foundational primary literature, discussion, and laboratories, studens will acquire a conceptual and theoretical understanding of key ecological concepts, such as: population dynamics; competition, trophic relationships, and coevolutionary interactions; community structure and organization; succession; and biogeography. The relevance of theory and concepts to soliving environmental problems will be explored. Laboratory exercises explore principles of ecological sampling, data analysis, and modeling. Students will also contribute to a large class project using species distribution modeling approaches to examine research questions of interest.