Life evolved on the Earth partly due to favorable climate conditions, but life has also played an important role in shaping the Earth's atmosphere and climate - a perfect example of the complex feedbacks occurring between biological and geophysical systems. This course will explore in-depth interactions occurring between relevant areas of ecology - the study of the interactions of organisms among themselves and with their environment - and climatology - the study of the physical state of the atmosphere - to understand the functioning of terrestrial landscapes in the climate system. A central focus will be on the exchange of energy, water, chemical elements, and trace gases between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere and how this exchange leads to fascinating feedbacks in Earth's climate system.
This course combines aspects of physical climatology, hydrology, ecosystem ecology, and biogeography in an interdisciplinary framework to elucidate how the biosphere and atmosphere are inextricably linked. Students that take this course will develop a solid conceptual framework for evaluating how the biosphere responds to climate perturbations and how, in turn, perturbations in the biosphere affect climate. This course will provide students with a critical thinking skill-set that will allow them to evaluate important topical issues regarding climate change. Students will also get an introduction to the vast freely downloadable climate, satellite, and Earth System Model data and an introduction to the technical skills needed to incorporate these data into their own scholarship and research.
Graduate student requirements include 1) developing an analysis, writing it up in the format of a scientific paper, and presenting the analysis and paper to the class at the end of the semester, 2) selecting and formally reviewing two scientific papers from the peer-reviewed literature.