New Graduate Level Course for Fall 2009

Ecohydrology
FOR 6934 - 3 Credits
Instructor: Dr. Matt Cohen ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/faculty/cohen/index.htm
Tuesday 1:55-2:45 pm in NZ-222 & Thursdays 12:50-2:45 pm in NZ 219

The manner and magnitude of ecological regulation of hydrologic processes (broadly construed to include geomorphic and geochemical processes) are frequently overlooked.  These feedbacks are often responsible for non-linear ecosystem responses to perturbations, underly the development of patterned landscapes, help explain unexpected watershed responses to rainfall, and set system-scale evolutionary constraints on organisms (the concept of "extended phenotype").  Reversing ecosystem degradation requires understanding and predicting the influence of, and hysteresis induced by, ecohydrologic feedbacks.

This course will introduce the field of ecohydrology via targeted examples, including arid land plant-water equilbria, Everglades and boreal peatland patterned landscapes, riparian self-organization, biogeomorphology and nutrient chemistry of karst landscapes, continental-scale ecological (and agro-ecological) control over the hydrologic cycle, and analytical models of watershed rainfall-runoff response.  Students will synthesize recent literature and demonstrate experimental competence in ecohydrologic systems analysis.

http://sfrc.ufl.edu/ecohydrology/FOR6934/Syllabus.pdf

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