| Course ID: | ECOL 8145. 3 hours. |
| Course Title: | Life History Evolution |
Course
Description: | Exploration of the fundamental concepts and analytical
techniques used in life history theory. It will provide
students with content designed to illustrate both the
fundamentals of life history evolution, and how life histories
are studied. Theory and applications will be covered,
including demography, senescence theory, and community
feedbacks. |
| Oasis Title: | LIFE HISTORIES |
| Prerequisite: | GENE(BIOL) 3000 or permission of department. |
Semester Course
Offered: | Offered fall semester every even-numbered year. |
| Grading System: | A-F (Traditional) |
|
| Course Objectives: | Students will learn the fundamentals of life history theory and
evolution, and will learn how to apply both ecological and
evolutionary analyses to life history problems. An additional
goal is to strengthen students’ understanding of the scientific
process via an analytical paper and presentation requirement. |
| Topical Outline: | 1 Overview of fundamental concepts
2 Evolutionary demography
3 Demography: modern techniques
4 Demography: applications
5 Senescence: historical perspectives
6 Senescence: contemporary theory
7 Trade-offs: basic overview
8 Trade-offs: contemporary issues
9 Life histories in constant environments
10 Life histories in stochastic environments
11 Life histories in predictable environments
12 Phylogenetics of life histories
13 Organismal issues and lineage-specifc life histories
14 Community feedbacks
15 Further directions in life history theory |