Environment General Courses (ENVIRON)

graduate level, taught in Durham

298.61. Problems in the Balance of Nature. How quickly will species recover following catastrophes? Can we predict which species are particularly vulnerable to extinction? Which species will succeed if they are deliberately or accidentally introduced into a community? When species become extinct, will few or many other extinctions result in the community?

These are among the questions addressed in this seminar course where we go through my book “The Balance of Nature?” The course will focus on five main aspects of stability: stability in the strict sense, resilience, variability, persistence, and resistance. While the first of these is important in defining how communities may be configured, careful extended studies of the last four types provide the means to compare and contrast natural populations and communities, as well as theoretical studies of them.

Prerequisite: Instructor Permission Required. Instructor: Pimm. 2 units.