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F&W ECOL 451

ENVIRONMENTAL BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

3 credits.

Explores long and short-term cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and metals as well as water and energy cycles between water, the atmosphere, terrestrial vegetation, and soils. Emphasizes the linkage between terrestrial vegetation and soils across global biomes for managed and unmanaged ecosystems. Investigates biogeochemical processes through their biochemical constituents, conceptual models and exploration of isotopic and chemical data. Provides a practical understanding of the interactions between components and fluxes of terrestrial ecosystems and how data is developed and employed.

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: CHEM 104 , 109 , 116 , or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness Breadth - Biological Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe global biogeochemical cycles of C, N, P, K, S, Fe, energy, and water and their importance Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Explain the importance of human perturbations to and management of biogeochemical cycles Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Describe key methods used to study biogeochemistry and explain their limitations Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Predict which biogeochemical reactions would be likely across different environments and conditions Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Discuss and critically evaluate scientific papers in biogeochemistry at a graduate level Audience: Graduate 6. Discuss and critically evaluate scientific papers in biogeochemistry at an advanced undergraduate level Audience: Undergraduate 7. Characterize elemental cycling within a system of interest, comparing and contrasting different elements Audience: Graduate 8. Characterize elemental cycling within a system of interest Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe global biogeochemical cycles of C, N, P, K, S, Fe, energy, and water and their importance Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Explain the importance of human perturbations to and management of biogeochemical cycles Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Describe key methods used to study biogeochemistry and explain their limitations Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Predict which biogeochemical reactions would be likely across different environments and conditions Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Discuss and critically evaluate scientific papers in biogeochemistry at a graduate level Audience: Graduate 6. Discuss and critically evaluate scientific papers in biogeochemistry at an advanced undergraduate level Audience: Undergraduate 7. Characterize elemental cycling within a system of interest, comparing and contrasting different elements Audience: Graduate 8. Characterize elemental cycling within a system of interest Audience: Undergraduate

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