WETLAND ECOLOGY

Undergraduate (11:704:421) and

Graduate (Environmental Sciences Program - 16:375:519, Ecology & Evolution Program 16:215:599)

Fall Semester

Professor : Dr. Joan G. Ehrenfeld

Dept. Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Env. & Nat. Resources Bldg. Room 126
732-932-1081
ehrenfel@rci.rutgers.edu

Readings :

Undergraduate Text: Tiner, Ralph. 1998. In Search of Swampland: A wetland sourcebook for the Northeast. Rutgers University Press (paperback)
Graduate Text: :Wetlands 4rd  edition, by W. Mitsch and J. G. Gosselink,, John Wiley & Sons, New York.  582 pp.  2007
Paper(s) from the research literature most weeks (available on the web on the ecompanion site).

Course Description:

The goals of this course are (1) to introduce you to the major conceptual and factual bases for understanding, studying, managing and utilizing wetlands, (2) introduce the range of methods used to obtain scientific information about wetlands, and (3) develop the ability to critically review and evaluate scientific information about wetlands. The first third of the course covers topics common to all wetlands, the second third reviews the ecology of the major classes of wetland, and the last third introduces topics in the management, utilization and conservation of wetlands.

The course will consist of alternate lectures and discussions of papers from the research literature. One or two papers will be examined each week. The purpose of these assignments is to familiarize you with the methods and approaches used in gaining a scientific understanding of wetlands by studying how scientists have gone about the job of developing this understanding, and to hone your skills in critical reading of research literature by learning to identify strengths and weaknesses in scientific investigations in ecology. We will also have at least one guest presentation on wetland mitigation and restoration, from a practictioner in the field.

There will be a term paper due at the end of the semester. Undergraduates will write a shorter (10 pages or less) critical examination of a topic (individual choice), researching relevant papers from the primary literature to explore a scientific question. Graduate students will write a longer paper in the style of a proposal to the National Science Foundation. More detailed information about these assignments is provided in class. In both cases, the paper provides you with the opportunity to explore a single topic in more depth than we can do in class.

Assignments and Grading:

Undergraduate course: The course involves weekly one-page summaries of a paper from the research literature, reading of relevant material from the textbook, and the preparation of 5-10 page literature review paper.

Graduate course: The course involves presenting and discussing research literature papers to the class, and the preparation of a term paper in the form of a National Science Foundation proposal.

There will be a mid-term and a final examination.

There is a mandatory one-day field trip (on a Sunday)..

General outline of class subjects:

Introduction

Hydrology (2 periods)

Soils and biogeochemistry (3 periods)

Adaptations of plants and animals (2 periods)

Wetland types: emergent marshes (2 periods)

Wetland types: swamps (2 periods)

Wetland types: peatlands (2 periods)

Wetland types: coastal wetlands (2 periods)

Community dynamics (2 periods)

Classification, Delineation, Assessment (2 periods)

Wastewater treatment wetlands (2 periods)

Creation and restoration (2 periods)