BIOL 402
Rapid Evolution in Ecology
Last Offered Spring 2018
Division III
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Darwin believed that evolution was a slow process. Until recently, the impact of evolutionary changes on short-term ecological studies was considered to be minimal. However, empirical documentation of rapid, directly observed evolution has changed this view and has led to an increased focus on the joint dynamics of evolution and ecology including community genetics, niche construction, and evolutionary rescue. In this course, we first focus on the literature presenting the evidence for rapid evolutionary change in natural and experimental populations. Then, we explore the consequences of rapid evolutionary change for our understanding of population, community, and ecosystem ecology including the impacts that evolutionary changes have for conservation efforts and predicting the response of organisms to global environmental and climate change.