BIOE 402 - Alpine Community Ecology

4 Credit(s)

Exploration of the distribution, abundance and biotic interactions of plants and animals and their unique ecophysiological adaptations to life in the rigorous environments of high mountains above the timberline, with emphasis on the Crown of the Continent area. Students learn about the distributions of plants and animals and study the processes and interactions that are the foundation to ecology in alpine environments. Emphasis is placed on the processes that organize communities including drivers of global climate, and the complex interrelationships of biotic and abiotic interactions, including natural and human components as modifiers of system dynamics, and how those processes affect alpine systems. The class is organized around field trips and data intensive class projects that underscore major concepts and allow training in experimental design, data collection, analysis, presentation and interpretation by students. This course includes one all day field trip week one, and a four day long overnight field experience in Glacier National Park, MT week two. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE—To participate in this course and to learn the content fully, you must be in reasonably good physical condition, able to hike up to 3+ miles a day in strenuous conditions at altitude and properly equipped for a great deal of hiking. $50 course fee

Nat Sci.
Prerequisite(s): BIOB 160 and BIOB 170
(fall/odd-numbered years)