BIOL 302 - Principles of Ecology

(4 semester hours)
Prerequisites: BIOL 102-BIOL 103 or permission of instructor
Description: This course examines theories (including a variety of mathematical, verbal, and graphical models of important ecological processes), techniques of study (both laboratory and field-based), and natural history. The student explores: 1) various questions (in a broad sense) asked by ecologists; 2) ideas (theories, models) from which hypotheses are suggested to answer the questions; and 3) ways in which ecologists go about gathering data to refute or support the proposed hypotheses. Specific ecological studies are used to illustrate what has been learned about the natural world. Three hours of lecture, three hours of laboratory per week. Offered Fall semester, annually.