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Objectives:
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By taking this course, students will:
- Understand the general aims of ecology, its historical
basis, and its relationship to other sciences and other human concerns.
- Understand how the growth and distribution of
organisms are affected by various physical and biological environmental
factors, acting individually and in an interactive fashion.
- Understand concepts of population biology, focusing on
demographic techniques and mathematical models that can be used to
predict population change over time.
- Understand ecological patterns and processes at the
community, ecosystem, landscape and biosphere levels.
- Understand how the actions of humans have affected the
ecological relationships of organisms in ecosystems subjected to
various levels of disturbance.
- Learn how ecologists study ecological phenomena, both
in the laboratory and in the field.
- Become better acquainted with the diversity of natural
and human-influenced habitats and communities in Northeastern
Pennsylvania.
- Become acquainted with other sources of ecological
information, including published as well as on-line formats.
- Learn how to identify, download, and analyze on-line
data to answer ecological questions.
- Learn how to interpret tables and graphs containing
data of ecological relevance.
- Understand how ecological knowledge is used to
identify and address human problems.
- Learn about large-scale international initiatives
including LTER and NEON.
- Develop a more sophisticated understanding of career
opportunities in ecology and how to pursue them.
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