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Fall 2022
Mar 29, 2024
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Information Select the Course Number to get further detail on the course. Select the desired Schedule Type to find available classes for the course. The Schedule Type links will be available only when the schedule of classes is available for the selected term.

FNR 58600 - Urban Ecology
Credit Hours: 3.00. Urbanization is on the rise, transforming natural ecosystems into coupled human-natural ecosystems that encompass complex, novel functional and structural characteristics shaped by people and the inherent environment. Through local field trips and readings of the primary scientific literature, we examine the unique characteristics of coupled human-natural ecosystems. The course is designed to be broadly accessible to students from a variety of backgrounds, interests, and majors who are interested in environmental science and engineering and emphasizes the importance of incorporating an ecological perspective in environmental engineering and natural resource management. This course covers fundamental principles of ecology as applied in urban and other coupled human-natural systems with emphasis on the impact of modern industrial society on ecosystem structure and function. Organizing themes addressed in this class include macroscale processes, systems thinking, and topics related to urban systems.
0.000 OR 3.000 Credit hours

Syllabus Available
Levels: Graduate, Professional, Undergraduate
Schedule Types: Distance Learning, Lecture, Recitation

Offered By: College of Agriculture
Department: Forestry and Natural Resources

Course Attributes:
Upper Division

May be offered at any of the following campuses:     
      West Lafayette

Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe and diagram flows of matter and energy in coupled human and natural systems. 2. Discuss how drivers in each cycle change across an urban-rural gradient. 3. Describe the changes to natural ecosystems imposed by urbanization and other forms of global change (climate change, altered biogeochemical cycling, invasive species, mass extinction, etc.). 4. Compare and contrast urban and rural ecosystem structure and function, including diversity and distribution of organisms, landcover types, and ecosystem services. 5. Discuss provisioning of ecosystem services in urban and rural ecosystems; compare and contrast green vs grey infrastructure; identify areas of traditionally grey infrastructure that have the potential to integrate green infrastructure. 6. Describe the key components of the following ecological concepts and apply them to an analysis of urban vs rural ecosystems: a. resistance and resilience b. dynamic equilibrium c. alternate stable states d. disturbance and succession



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