Population Ecology

Catalog description

This course examines the fundamental laws of population ecology, providing an overview of the underpinnings of population theory. Emphasis is placed on these principles as applied to conservation and management of fish and wildlife populations. Topics include assessing extinction risk of rare species, invasion dynamics of exotic species, demographic and environmental stochasticity, metapopulation dynamics, structured populations, species interactions, interspecific interactions, and micro-evolutionary processes. Use of case studies will demonstrate the application of population ecology models and methods to the management of fish and wildlife populations, and provide the opportunity to apply concepts to current problems and challenges in this field. Students will complete quantitative analyses throughout this course, and a familiarity with college algebra or statistics is encouraged.