Search: Course, Ecosystems

Interdisciplinary course taught in conjunction with Civil and Environmental Engineering 210N, for students who intend to carry out research on damaged ecosystems, supervise actual restorations or enhancement, and also students who are simply interested in this field. The course emphasizes differences and similarities in restoration goals and strategies among wetlands, rivers, lakes, and estuaries, and coastal oceans. The course format is based on the Dahlem system where students prepare and present orally and in writing, one or two aspects of the topic and culminates with an all-day conference on aquatic restoration/enhancement

This course will introduce students to the diversity of methods and techniques used in ecology and environmental biology. It will focus on major areas of research such as environmental science, population and community ecology, environmental physiology, and ecosystem ecology. In particular, we will discuss the processes that influence the relationships between the biosphere and the atmosphere and the effects of anthropogenic changes, the components and functions of biodiversity, the interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environments, and the major biogeochemical cycles. Each topic will be analyzed from a theoretical and an empirical - practical perspective during the weekly sessions.

Examine major issues and approaches in ecosystem management. Topics include development of the ecosystem approach, valuation of ecosystem commodities and services, assessment of ecosystem sustainability, simulation and prediction of ecosystem dynamics, decision-making methods, social and institutional aspects. Particular emphasis is given to emerging conceptual frameworks and analytical tools.

Analysis of environmental factors, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem dynamics, as related to decision-making for landscape planning and design

In this field-oriented course, we will visit sites representative of diverse grassland, chaparral, scrub land, forest, desert, river, marsh, and intertidal ecosystems of California. We will spend up to three weeks studying one or two habitat types that occur at a given field site. Our first site will introduce students to the natural history and ecological patterns at sites. During a second meeting on campus, we will give a 1.5 hour lecture and lead a 2 hour discussion on ecological issues relevant to processes and patterns exemplified at a given site. Methods for field investigations will also be discussed and demonstrated. During our third meeting, we will revisit the site, and students will collect quantitative data that test hypotheses about processes influencing species distributions and abundances. Course requirements will include a research proposal in National Science Foundation format, that presents field results as seed data, develops a program for subsequent investigation of problems uncovered by preliminary results, and justifies the importance of the proposed research with discussions from the literature. A final oral presentation in a class symposium is required.

An overview of the interactive processes that result in the mosaic of environments on the earth and the controls on the distribution of ecosystems. Environmental change is explored on a variety of time and spatial scales so as to enhance our capability to distinguish between natural and human-induced climatic, biotic, and physical changes.

Begins with the evolution and domestication of grazing animals, continues through ranching and rangeland stewardship practices, and explores new institutional arrangements for conservation and restoration. Woodlands, grasslands, and shrublands provide biodiversity, wildlife habitat, watershed, recreation, open space, and forage. Human practices and ecosystem dynamics meet in rangeland management. Methods for changing, predicting, or assessing the results.

Introduction to the ecology of terrestrial tropical ecosystems, with particular emphasis on neotropical forests. Explores unique aspects of tropical ecosystems, especially nutrient cycles, net primary productivity, biological diversity, forest structure and dynamics, disturbance ecology, and the natural history of key forest organisms. Basic ecology is integrated with discussion of human disturbances, restoration of tropical ecosystems, and the global importance of tropical forests.

The ecological basis for range management activities, considered in the context of western range ecosystem types. Specific range improvement and range management practices are discussed in the context of ecosystem processes

This course will develop principles of ecosystems ecology, emphasizing terrestrial ecosystems, and will consider how these principles apply to ecosystem recovery and to regional and global fluxes of carbon and nutrients.