Course Description
Students will integrate landscape ecology and population genetics to understand how spatial processes influence dispersal and gene flow. Students will become familiar with analytical approaches and will discuss a variety of empirical applications across multiple biological systems to understand how landscape genetics can be utilized for conservation genetic management.
Athena Title
Landscape Genetics
Non-Traditional Format
This course follows a Distributed Graduate Symposium (DGS) model. Each week, landscape genetics experts will present lecture materials via live video conferencing. Students will then participate in group discussions with experts and peers both locally and from other universities around the world. In addition to the lecture (2 credits), students may register for an associated computer lab in which they will gain practical experience in landscape genetic methods and data analysis (1 credit) and/or a group research project (1 credit).
Prerequisite
[FANR 3800 and (FANR 4350/6350 or ECOL 4500/6500 or GENE 3000-3000D or GENE 3000E or GENE 3000H)] or permission of school
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course provides a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary training and an overview of the field of landscape genetics. The course is designed for students with an interest in ecology, evolution, conservation/population genetics, landscape ecology, and conservation biology. A key objective of landscape genetics is to understand how landscape modification and habitat fragmentation affect organism dispersal, gene flow, and maintenance of genetic diversity. Landscape genetics requires specialized interdisciplinary skills that link population genetics, landscape ecology, and spatial analysis. This course will provide students with the linkages and synthesis necessary to draw these disciplines together. Landscape Genetics will be taught in both a classroom and online format, linking students, faculty experts, and online participants from multiple universities across the world. This gives students the opportunity to learn from international experts and work with peers from other institutions. The global network of universities will be linked by live webcast. The course will be taught by an international team of leading experts in the field of landscape genetics. This course unites some of the most active landscape genetics groups in North America and Europe, drawing on the experience of experts both in population genetics and landscape ecology with the goal of providing an integrated overview of approaches for testing the effects of landscape and environmental variables on genetic diversity, gene flow, and adaptive variation. Each class will start with a ~50-minute live webcast lecture, followed by a discussion among the course participants. After the classroom discussion, a web-based plenary discussion across campuses will wrap up the weekly topic. To gain hands-on experience practicing landscape genetic data analysis methods, students can enroll in the co-listed computer lab (Landscape Genetics Lab), and/or participate in a group research project working with other students from around the world (Landscape Genetics Group Research and Scientific Writing Project). Course Learning Objectives 1. Students should increase their understanding of how landscape ecology, population genetics, and spatial modeling can be integrated to address research questions in landscape genetics. 2. Students should understand how to design a landscape genetics research project. 3. Students should be able to describe a variety of analytical approaches for addressing landscape genetics research questions. 4. Students will gain an understanding of how landscape genetics can be used to support spatial conservation genetic management of native plants, wildlife, and aquatic systems.
Topical Outline
Week 1 - Introduction to Landscape Genetics Week 2 - Landscape Ecology Week 3 - Population Genetics Week 4 - Meta-population Dynamics Week 5 - Study Design Week 6 - Adaptation and Quantitative Genetics Week 7 - Spatial Data Analysis Week 8 - Simulation Modeling Week 9 - Population Assignment and Clustering Methods Week 10 - Resistance Surface Modeling Week 11 - Adaptive Landscape Genetics Week 12 - Model Selection and Multi-model Inference Week 13 - Graph Theory and Network Models Week 14 - Plant Studies in Landscape Genetics Week 15 - Aquatic Systems Week 16 - Presentation of Group Projects Week 17 - Bringing It All Together and Looking to the Future