Global Change Biology

We will examine the effects of global change (climate and land use change) on ecosystems. Our emphasis will be on exploring what we know about global change biology, and also how we know it: how do biologists study processes on a global scale? How can we accurately predict future changes in ecosystems? We will also investigate biological feedbacks on the earth system: how changes in the composition of ecosystems and the rate of basic ecosystem processes (photosynthesis, respiration) may alter the climate of the earth. (BIOL 0140) 3 hrs lect.