Experimental approaches, including recombinant DNA methods, will be examined in detail. An introduction to tropical biology with special emphasis on the nature and importance of high species diversity in the tropics. Includes field trip to a biological station in the Caribbean. The required extra cost of this trip will be announced prior to registration. A study of biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of lakes and streams.
Emphasis is on an ecosystem approach.
Field trips will be taken to local lakes, ponds, wetlands, rivers, and creeks. Topics include sampling techniques to describe the abundance and dispersion of organisms, estimating biomass and production, field observational methods, physiological bioassays, community and ecosystem processes, methods of chemical analysis, environmental and climatic data acquisition, and quantitative data analysis. Methods will be applied in the design, critique, and development of independent ecological projects. A detailed overview of the science of ecology, with readings in primary literatu re on ecology from physiological, life history, population, community, ecosystem, and evolutionary perspectives. An investigation of key issues in the current environmental crisis.