BIOL 418 - Seminar: Alpine Plant Ecophysiology

FC NSMA WINT

4 credits
This seminar course has twin goals: to increase our understanding of how plants survive and flourish in alpine and subalpine communities and to increase your skill in critically analyzing primary scientific data. How do lodgepole pine trees survive frigid (-20 F) winter temperatures? How do alpine flowers that bloom in the meltwater of snowfields survive when the growing season is so short? Each week, a few students will meet with the instructor, and then lead the discussion of a primary article on topics such as these. Students who are not presenting will write a short critique of one of the articles that we discuss. Over the course of the semester, the papers will address challenges faced by plants living in the sagebrush steppe, aspen and lodgepole forests, subalpine meadows, and alpine tundra.

Prerequisites: BIOL 200 or 210/211 and BIOL 213 or 223/224.