11:216:487 Urban Ecology (3 cr)
Odd years only
Syllabus 11:216:487 (243k PDF)
Instructor(s): Dr. Myla Aronson
Pre-Requisite(s): 11:216:351 OR 11:216:332
One Lec. 3 hrs.
No ecological systems are free from human disturbances. This is of course is most prevalent in cities. Urban landscapes are rapidly expanding globally and over 50% of the human population now lives in urban areas. Because the majority of human settlements are in areas of high biodiversity, the rapid urbanization of the world has profound effects on global biodiversity. Urban Ecology is a seminar course, with a mix of lecture and discussion, where we will focus on the processes determining patterns of abundance and distribution of organisms in urban ecosystems, the interactions among organisms in the urban environment, the interactions between humans (and societies) and nature in urban environments, and some aspects of urban planning as it relates to ecology and the environment. This course will meet once a week for three hours and will be offered for 3 credits. There will be two-three field trips.