ENV211 Conserving Biodiversity in a Changing Climate

[3–0, 3 cr.]

Students of the course will examine current conservation strategies in terms of their effectiveness in addressing changing risks under a changing climate and will learn to develop new and/or modified strategies where necessary to address these risks. Students will also learn to use methods and tools that can assess ecosystem responses to climate variability and change and thus guide the development of new/modified conservation strategies. Course topics include: The role of ecosystems and biodiversity in sustaining the planet and major stresses; traditional approaches to biodiversity conservation including legal and policy aspects as well as community scale strategies; effectiveness of traditional approaches; approaches to designing landscapes for protecting ecosystems and biodiversity under climate change; use of spatial analysis tools to guide landscape design; management strategies; policies and tools for protecting matrix areas; community participation; planning for long term monitoring and evaluation; and case study approaches to designing climate sensitive conservation strategies. Students will design a conservation plan that is sensitive to changing risks in a changing climate for a selected region.