BIOL339 Wildlife Ecology (3,0)        3 A theoretical analysis of the distribution, structure and dynamics of animal populations. The influence of biotic and abiotic limiting factors on wildlife populations. Community interactions including competition, predation, and herbivory are explored in detail. Prerequisites: BIOL250, 280 and BIOL337. Effective management of any resource, including wildlife populations, requires a fundamental understanding of the conditions and processes which impact that resource.  This course builds on the principles of ecology acquired in earlier classes, expands upon them, and applies them to animal populations.  Although emphasis is placed on game populations as well as threatened and endangered species, most of these principles apply to any population of wild animals. This is a lecture-only course covering a wide range of topics including nutritional ecology, foraging theory, population dynamics, dispersal and distribution of animals, competition, and predator-prey dynamics.  Quantitative and modeling approaches are introduced as appropriate for each of these areas.  Although this course can serve as a stand-alone presentation of advanced ecological concepts, for majors it constitutes the first half of the Wildlife Ecology - Wildlife Management sequence. updated 2/12/2010