BIOL 50803 Marine Biology of the Tropics
Prerequisite: Six semester hours in Biology; travel costs are exclusive of tuition. This course provides an introduction to the marine animals, plants, and ecosystems of the New World tropics. Lecture topics will include tropical oceanography and ecosystems, evolutionary patterns in the tropics, island biogeography, and conservation of marine biodiversity. The field experience will expose students to coastal marine ecosystems (coral reefs, mangroves, beaches, and seagrass beds). Two hours lecture per week, one week of field work in the tropics.