As children we are told that 'you are what you eat', but as ecologists we learn that 'you are what, where, when, and how you eat'. This course explores the diverse topics ecologies observed in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine consumers, and how these ecologies interact to form complex food webs in each of these biomes. The course outlines the methods by which ecologists can measure consumer trophic ecology in addition to food web size and complexity. You will learn how to measure consumer niche width, trophic interactions and food web structure using consumer diet, stable isotope ratios and essential fatty acid profiles. Finally, the course examines the effects of environmental stressors such as climate change, biological invasions and land use on food web structure.
Prerequisites: BIOL 2003 and BIOL 2008 , or FOR 2113, for FOR 2505, or equivalent. |
