BIOL 355 - Plant Responses to Global Change

(1.25 units)

Global warming is one of the most significant environmental issues of the 21st century and interacts in complex ways with many other ecosystem processes. Students will explore plant and ecosystem responses to four major global changes: increasing temperature, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing nitrogen deposition, and changing precipitation patterns. Laboratory exercises include observations of flowering times in local plant communities, plant gas exchange, tree coring, and hands-on training in statistical analyses. Readings from the primary literature will be discussed, and students will design and carry out an independent research project. Lecture and laboratory. The laboratory is replaced by the travel component when taught as a Travel-Learning Course. This course is intended for junior and senior science majors. Prerequisites: BIOL 122 or ENVS 112, plus one additional course in the biological sciences, or permission of instructor. Spring