Course Descriptions

BIOL 48300 Environmental & Conservation Biology

Session Offered:

Spring Credit 3.0

Prerequisites:

BIOL 11000 or 11100 or 12100 or 28600 or 24100.  Restriction:  Must be enrolled in the College of Science.

Description:

Intended for mid-level undergraduate biology majors, this course will provide an introduction to the application of ecological principles to environmental issues.  It will introduce fundamental ecological theory and empiricism, and demonstrate their application to practical issues concerning effects of environmental change, at each level of organization from the individual to the ecosystem.  Whole-biosphere issues, such as global warming and global patterns of productivity, will form the umbrella issues for more focused integrations of ecological knowledge centered at the population level to understand the viability of small and threatened populations. The global extinction crisis and the geography of biodiversity will be covered, and the course will focus on particular case studies of threatened ecosystems and analyses of the genetic and demographic stability of populations.  The history and prognosis for the coexistence of human civilizations with the rest of natural ecosystems form the background for applying ecology to policy.

Instructor(s):

XIMENA BERNAL

E-mail:

xbernal@purdue.edu

Textbook(s):

Text:  Essentials of Conservation
Year/Edition:  5th
ISBN Number:
Author(s):  Primack, Richard B.
Publisher:  Sinauer

Text:  Future of Life
Year/Edition:  2002
ISBN Number:
Author(s):  E. O. Wilson
Publisher:  Norton

Course Format:

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