Course description
How have so many different living organisms developed? What factors limit their growth and geographic spread? How is human activity affecting biodiversity locally and globally? Biogeography examines the geographic distribution of plants and animals and the causes of these patterns. It focuses on the physical and biological factors that control species, community and ecosystem distribution and development over space and over time. A variety of climatic, tectonic, soil, biological and anthropogenic controls on patterns of life are examined. A Saturday field trip to a local estuary introduces biophysical sampling techniques and measurements, and provides data for laboratory assignments.
Course content
- Introduction
- Spatial concepts in Geography and Biogeography
- The Science of Biogeography
- Taxonomic, ecological and trophic hierarchies
- Organization of Life
- Populations, communities, ecosystems and biomes
- Vegetation structure and formations
- Realms, regions and provinces
- The Physical Environment and the Distribution of Life
- Patterns and influences of solar radiation, temperature, moisture and soil
- Interacting physical controls on geographic distributions
- Biological Interactions and the Distribution of Life
- Predation competition, symbiosis
- Combined physical and biological controls on geographic distribution
- Environmental gradients and niches
- Temporal/Historical Influences on the Distribution of Life
- Plate tectonics and continental drift
- Past and future climate change
- Dispersal, colonization and invasion
- Evolution, speciation and extinction
- Description and Interpretation of Biogeographic Distributions
- Geographic range
- Mapping biogeographic distributions
- Endemism, provincialism and disjunction
- Reconstructing biogeographic histories
- Contemporary Patterns and Processes
- Conservation biogeography
- Disturbance
- Human impacts on the distribution of life
Learning activities
This course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:
- Lecture
- Labs
- Field Work
- DVDs/Digital Media
- Individual and/or Team Projects
- Small Group Discussions
- Analysis of Maps, Air Photos and Satellite Imagery
Means of assessment
The evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College student evaluation policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria during the first week of classes.
An example of an evaluation scheme would be:
| Labs |
30% |
| Field Trip Report |
10% |
| Project |
20% |
| Midterm Exam |
20% |
| Final Exam |
20% |
| Total |
100% |
Learning outcomes
At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to:
- Describe and use the frameworks of science applicable to 2nd-year physical geography.
- Think critically and examine biogeographical concepts and issues at population, community, ecosystem and biome levels.
- Describe and explain the major biotic and abiotic influences on organism growth and distribution in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments.
- Communicate effectively using the language, graphical presentation methods and quantitative methods employed in physical geography.
- Connect theoretical applications to “real-world” observations and measurements.
Textbook materials
Texts will be updated periodically. A typical example of a text would be:
- Cox, C.B. and Moore, P.D. (2010). Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach, (8th Ed.). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
- Ganderton, P. and Coker, P. (2005). Environmental Biogeography. Pearson Education Ltd., Harlow.
- MacDonald, Glen. (2003). Biogeography: Introduction to Space, Time and Life. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.