Biogeography: Biol 582/782

Lomolino et al's awesome text

Biogeography is the study of historical and contemporary distribution of life on earth.  Modern biogeography incorporates both the study of ecological and historical factors that govern the distributions of plant and animal life.  In this class, we will integrate lectures, readings from a text (Lomolino, Riddle, and Brown, “Biogeography,” 3rd Edition), and selected readings from primary literature to explore the field of biogeography.  Goals of the course are to understand the historical and philosophical underpinnings of biogeography, gain a broad appreciation for current biogeographical research, and relate past studies to future directions in the field.

This lecture course will cover geographical patterns of species diversity and the processes that gave rise to those patterns:

• Speciation,
• Extinction,
• Dispersal,
• Vicariance,
• Continental drift, and
• Phylogeny

   

  Biogeography class is offered in the fall, every other year. Download current syllabus.

Topics will be presented within the framework of evolutionary history and will include discussion of the biology of species on islands, terrestrial biomes, altitudinal zonation of species gradients, historical factors governing species distributions, adaptive radiation, macroevolutionary trends in the fossil record, and application of modern molecular techniques for testing biogeographical hypotheses.

Prerequisites:  Biol 152 or 153.  Past or concurrent enrollment in Biol 412, 413, 414, 550 or permission of instructor.  Questions?  Contact Rafe Brown (rafe at ku.edu)

A. R. Wallace, Father of the field of Biogeography

Reading assignments from class text (Lomolino, Riddle, and Brown, 3rd edition) and regular attendance in all scheduled lectures is required.  Part of your grade will be determined by your regular participation in class, so active classroom interaction is a must for those who want to do well in this course.  There are two midterm exams, a comprehensive final, and a term paper.  Graduate students are required to read additional materials from primary literature and participate in separately scheduled discussions. Undergraduates are welcome and encouraged (but not required) to participate in these discussions as well.