Instructor: Dr. Skip Walker

Summer 2012 BIOL 495/695, Arctic Vegetation Ecology: Excursion

Spring 2012 BIOL 492/692, Arctic Vegetation Ecology

2012-2014 Course Proposals

Arctic Vegetation Ecology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Understanding of the Arctic tundra biome and its role in the total global system. Emphasis is on the factors controlling arctic vegetation patterns.

2010 IARC Field School
The field school is based on the Dalton Highway field trip offered during the 2008 Ninth International Conference on Permafrost. It's led by experts in permafrost sciences and other disciplines with ties to permafrost (engineering, biology, ecosystem modeling, disturbance, climate modeling, social sciences, and hydrology), who describe the current state of knowledge, disciplinal links, and research gaps, and give an in-depth view of the landscapes and research along one of the most remote and scenic highways in North America. Major themes include permafrost and ecosystem variation along the arctic climate gradient, biocomplexity of patterned ground, and engineering solutions.

BIOL 474, Plant Ecology (4 credits)
Principles and contemporary topics in plant ecology. Autecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology and evolutionary ecology.
Prerequisites: BIOL 239, BIOL 271, STAT 200.

BIOL 475, Vegetation Description and Analysis (2 Credits)
Methods of vegetation science including sampling, classification, gradient analysis, ordination, field description, and mapping. Field trips to the plant communities of interior Alaska.
Prerequisites: BIOL 474 or other general ecology course, permission of instructor.

BIOL 493/693, Arctic Ecosystems (2 Credits)
Examination of tundra ecosystems of Arctic Russia and North America. Emphasis is on factors controlling vegetation patterns.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

More information about the biology program at UAF:

• Department of Biology and Wildlife
• Degree requirements
• Course descriptions