Biogeography

Catalog description

An examination of historical, environmental, and biotic influences that shape spatial patterns of plant and animal distributions and community structure in the contemporary landscape. The course also explores the role of disturbance as a shaper of biological communities, and students will be introduced to field, laboratory and statistical means of analyzing ecological data. The role of human activities in altering biogeographic patterns is informed by our understanding how and why biological diversity varies over the surface of the earth.