Medical Emergency Forms Waiver Forms Course Description Scientists equate the rapid loss of species due to human activities in the modern era to the massive extinction events evident in the geologic record. However, these two types of extinction events differ in important ways. In the extinction event in which we now live, humans make decisions about which species to save. We also decide, explicitly or implicitly, which species will go extinct. Understanding and formulating solutions to modern extinctions is the central concern of the field of biodiversity, a discipline that requires skills in the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities.
Tropical ecosystems are critical reservoirs of biodiversity.
Twenty-five acres of rain forest are lost throughout the world every minute of every day. Banana Plantations supply many jobs to Costa Ricans. Yet, one plantation destroys many square kilometers of rainforest. An intensive lecture schedule will be combined with first-hand field experiences, individual projects, and group investigations emphasizing research methods in tropical systems. Topics to be covered in depth include tropical ecology, the geology of Costa Rica, Pre-Columbian to modern patterns of land use, indigenous patterns of land use by the Bribri, and the statistical analysis of field data.