NTRES 4220

Wetland Ecology Lecture

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

Examination of the structure, function, and dynamics of wetland ecosystems with an emphasis on ecological principles required to understand how human activities affect wetlands. Topics include geomorphology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, plant and animal adaptations to wetland environments, and vegetation dynamics. Biodiversity conservation, state and federal wetland regulations, and other approaches to wetland protection are considered.

When Offered Fall.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: BIOEE 1610, BIOEE 1780, or BIOEE 2070.  A course in plant ecology, soils or biogeochemistry recommended.

• Students will be able to differentiate wetlands from non-wetlands, and the different major types of wetlands from each other.
• Students will be able to explain where wetlands occur in the landscape and why.
• Students will be able to analyze the different components of wetland hydrology; relate these components to landscape setting; and contrast different wetland types in terms of their hydroperiods, hydrologic regimes, and water budgets.
• Students will be able to differentiate the characteristics of wetland soils and how they form from those of non-wetland soils.
• Students will be able to analyze the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, and sulfur in wetlands, as well as how wetlands alter and are altered by human influences on these cycles.
• Students will be able to identify the major morphological, physiological, phenological, and behavioral adaptations of wetland plants and animals to wetland environments.
• Students will be able to relate changes in wetlands through time to climate, the landscape settings in which they occur, their different biotic characteristics, and human activities.
• Students will be able to critically discuss the ecosystem processes of production, decomposition, and nutrient cycling, and relate these processes to the ecosystem services often claimed as justification for wetland conservation and regulation.
• Students will be able to apply these concepts to a major wetland conservation or management issue currently facing wetlands.

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