BIOEE 3611 - Field Ecology

(BIO-AS, PBS-AS, SDS-AS) (CU-UGR)

Fall. 3 credits. Student option grading.

Prerequisite or corequisite: BIOEE 1610. One weekend field trip.

A. Agrawal.

Exercises designed to give students direct experience with field research to address ecological hypotheses, with emphasis on developing observational skills and basic methods in population and community ecology. Topics include methods in plant succession, niche relationships, influence of herbivores and competitors on plant communities, aquatic food web analysis, use of scientific collections, and presenting research results in written and oral form. We will visit a diversity of habitats and natural areas in Central New York. Students will conduct an independent research project and present their findings.

Outcome 1: Identify habitat types and characterize habitats based on key structural features and organisms.

Outcome 2: Integrate textbook knowledge with field observations to formulate and discuss research questions in ecology based on personal observation and scientific theory.

Outcome 3: Creatively identify research questions and derive appropriate scientific hypotheses.

Outcome 4: Design and plan experiments and surveys based on scientific hypotheses.

Outcome 5: Conduct field experiments/surveys and analyze and discuss the results.