BIOL 389 - Animal Behavior in a Changing Climate

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Throughout geological history, animal populations responded to environmental change through movement and migration, adaptation, or extinction. With the current onset of climate change, some animal populations have not dispersed fast enough or adapted to environmental changes of this magnitude. Climate change can directly impact animal populations, as through changes in temperature and precipitation, but also indirectly, as through changes in food sources or habitat structure. We explore the behavioral and physiological responses of animal populations to direct and indirect impacts of climate change, including reproductive, feeding and foraging, and predator avoidance behaviors, as well as responses through dispersal and migration. We consider the responses of a wide variety of animal groups, including marine invertebrates, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Understanding the responses of animal populations to climate change, and their ability to adapt, can inform our predictions on the state of biodiversity in the future. Mary Ellen Czesak.

Prerequisite(s): Two units of 200-level Biology or one unit of 200-level Biology and either PSYC 249 or PSYC 229.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS