Successful completion of this course will provide the following learning outcomes:

-  Basic understanding of global atmospheric circulation, the world's main 
climate types, and why they occur where they do, as a geographic framework for 
understanding life processes

-  Familiarity with the main natural vegetation and landscape types of the 
world's land areas, where they occur on each continent, how they have developed, 
and how they are constrained by physical and biological factors

-  Familiarity with the main plant types of terrestrial environments, where they
occur, and how they are adapted to environmental conditions, both physical and 
biotic

-  Awareness of the dynamic nature of natural and man-altered landscapes and
ecosystems, how they recover from disturbance, how they have changed in the past, 
and how they may change as a result of global environmental change

-  Appreciation of the importance of science in everyday life and its crucial 
role in informed decision making


This course meets the following General Education Abilities, by accomplishing the
specific learning objectives listed below:

Communicate effectively through writing.  This is met by a series of writing 
assignments associated with supplemental reading and data analysis.
 
Computer Literacy is addressed through course administration, student-faculty 
electronic interaction, and data analysis activities and assignments.

Critical Thinking is central to the learning objectives of this class, and are 
developed through homework assignments, lecture, classroom discussion, and inquiry-
based learning efforts.

Environmental Factors: climate, soil, nutrients, disturbance; global zonation

Historical Aspects: earth's physical and biological history; development of regional
   floras

Plant processes, characters and types; vegetation structure, biomes, potential
   natural vegetation

Tropical and Subtropical Biomes
	1. Tropical Forests: rainforests, wet/dry forests, tropical mountains
	2. Tropical Savannas and Wet-Dry Woodlands
	3. Deserts and Semi-Deserts

Temperate and High-Latitude Biomes
	4. Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
	5. Grasslands (temperate)
	6. Temperate Forests: summergreen (with more detail on N American 
           paleovegetation, etc.); evergreen broad-leaved forests, temperate
           rainforests
	7. Coniferous Forests: boreal forest, continental montane forests, Pacific
           rainforest
	8. Tundra and Alpine Vegetation