4 hours. 3 hours lecture and 2 hours lab per week.
Plant Biodiversity
Course Description
History of taxonomy, nomenclature, characters, identification principles, classification, taxonomic relationships, taxonomic literature, species biology, collecting and herbarium, floristic studies.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: A plant collection is required.
Athena Title
Plant Biodiversity
Prerequisite
(BIOL 1104 and BIOL 1104L) or (BIOL 1108 and BIOL 1108L) or (PBIO 1220 and PBIO 1220L) or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will identify native ferns, wildflowers, weeds, shrubs, and trees using diagnostic keys.
Students will learn the basic morphology needed to identify vascular plants.
Students will learn to recognize 200 species of the local flora and 25 major plant families.
Students will learn how to collect plants and how they are prepared for the herbarium.
Students will learn some of the literature of vascular plant systematics and floristics.
Students will learn some natural history of plants, including edible, poisonous, and
medicinal uses of plants.
Students will become more aware of the world around us by observing and learning to recognize plants in the field.
Students will reach non-biologists interested in plants and who enjoy the out of doors.
Topical Outline
Definitions and research approaches of taxonomy, systematics, phylogenetics
The scientific name
Collecting, preserving, and documenting plants
Introduction to plant parts and their descriptors
Overview of the phylogeny and diversity of the four groups of Vascular Plants
Life Cycles
Introduction to the phylogeny, natural history, and major characters of the important families in each of the 4 groups
