Course descriptions

Modeling of Ecological Systems (CIE 500)

Instructors:
David Blersch

Last Offered:
Spring 2009

Summary:
This course provides an introduction to ecosystem modeling in order to understand and evaluate the connections between components of natural systems. This course will provide an in-depth study about the structure and organization of ecosystems using energy circuit modeling to interpret and diagram interconnections within and between ecological systems. Students will model ecosystems in miniature using concepts of microcosmology, construct energy circuit diagrams of microcosms and natural systems, and convey their models for computational numerical simulation. The material for this course will provide a basis for introduction to environmental accounting and ecosystem valuation using concepts of energy hierarchy.