ECOLOGY OF BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS:

BIOSM 3220

dates:                Not offered in 2009 - contact SML for other options!

credit hours:      4 semester credits

total cost:          $4,372 (includes room, board and tuition)

Prerequisites: One full year of college level biology.

Invasive species are a significant global problem. This course examines marine and terrestial invasions in the field using SML facilities on an island (Appledore Island, ME) and on the mainland (Creek Farm, Portsmouth NH). The course includes a thorough review of theory and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of invasions. Students will also spend significant time in the field time with invited experts in invasive insect, plant, marine invertebrate and bird species; and in the management of invasive species. 



Seastar sitting atop an invasive species, B. Diplosoma at the Isles of Shoals (photo by J. Dijkstra)   

Topics to include:

  1. Global biotic homogenization
  2. Link between invasions and the arms race between predator and prey
  3. Invasions and ecosystem functioning
  4. Invasions as expectation
  5. Ecological impacts of invasions
  6. Micro-evolutionary impact of invasions
  7. Managing marine invasions: lines of protection, lines of post-invasion management
  8. Field experience: identifying local invasives: marine invertebrates, birds, insects, plants, seaweeds

Faculty:
Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley, Shoals Marine Laboratory/Cornell University
Dr. Jenn Dijkstra, University of New Hampshire

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