ESC 4770 - Meiofauna Biodiversity

4 Credit Hours

This course will explore patterns and mechanisms of biodiversity with a focus on small-sized invertebrates known as meiofauna. Students who take this course will become familiar with the major meiofaunal taxa and fundamental methods of biodiversity estimates and biomonitoring. The class is substantially hands-on. Students will develop, interpret, and analyze large and diverse datasets using computational tools, collect and analyze samples in the field, and develop an independent and creative research project.Fall semester.Lecture 3 hours, laboratory 3 hours.Prerequisites: BIOL 3060 or BIOL 3250 or BIOL 3350 with minimum grades of C, or department head approval.Corequisites: ESC 4770L or department head approval.