BIO 402 - Biodiversity and Conservation

3 cr.

During the past 200 years, thousands of species have gone extinct on Earth. The current time period is being called “The Sixth Major Species Extinction” by environmental scientists. This course explores the following main questions: What is biodiversity? What processes are thought to cause the patterns of global biodiversity we see today? How has biodiversity changed over the history of the Earth? How is biodiversity being threatened today? Why is it important to conserve biodiversity? How are environmental scientists striving to conserve biodiversity today, and what is the future of biodiversity on Earth? Topics include the evolutionary and ecological processes that create global biodiversity patterns; biodiversity loss and the importance of biodiversity conservation; the theory and principals involved in conservation; the human, social and economic aspects of biodiversity and conservation; biodiversity conservation policy issues and solutions. Three hours per week for lecture-discussions. Prerequisites: BIO 112 and BIO 112L; BIO 206 and BIO 206L or BIO 207 and BIO 207L. Co-requisite: BIO 402L. This course may be offered only every other year.