Courses of Study 2013-2014 
    
    Oct 03, 2024  
Courses of Study 2013-2014 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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BIOEE 4570 - Limnology: Ecology of Lakes, Lectures


(PBS)
Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only. (S-U grades by permission of instructor)

Prerequisite: BIOEE 1610  or written permission of instructor. Recommended prerequisite: introductory chemistry. Offered alternate years.

N. Hairston.

Limnology is the study of fresh waters and other inland, nonmarine environments. This course focuses on lakes and ponds, which are discussed as distinct aquatic environments with clear terrestrial boundaries, and within which ecological interactions are especially evident. In lakes, interactions between organisms are often strong and adaptations easily recognized. Physical and chemical properties of the environment impact organisms in important ways and organisms, likewise, influence physics and chemistry. As a result, lakes provide excellent systems for understanding the links between physical (thermal and mixing), chemical (dissolved elements and compounds), and organismal dynamics. Lakes are exciting environments for study in their own right and for gaining perspective on ecological and evolutionary processes in general.

Outcome 1: Students will understand how lakes with different basin shapes are formed, how basin shape and lake situation in the landscape and air-scape influence physical water movement and the distribution of chemicals and organisms.

Outcome 2: Students will be able to use knowledge of the physical and chemical dynamics of lakes discussed in class to infer the dynamics of lakes that are different in basin shape or situation in the landscape.

Outcome 3: Students will understand how the viscosity of water determines the nature of interactions among organisms through competition, predation and parasitism.

Outcome 4: Students will be able to interpret equations and graphs and will be able to use them to explain the outcomes of ecological interactions among organisms in lakes.

Outcome 5: Students will be able to assemble the components of lake ecosystems into a coherent understanding of how the parts interact.

Outcome 6: Students will be able to assess the effects of human impacts on lake organisms and ecosystems, to understand the ecological processes underlying those effects, and to explain possible mitigation management actions.

Outcome 7: Students will appreciate lakes as exemplars of ecosystems more generally and will understand how the interspecific interactions that take place in lakes provide models for understanding ecology more broadly.

Outcome 8: Students will be familiar with experimental and synthetic approaches to gaining knowledge about lake dynamics.



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