EFB/FOR 523 Tropical Ecology
State University of New York, College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Syracuse, NY
Course Info
 
Learn Tropical Ecology on a Caribbean island over Spring break (not offered in 2019). Explore the principles of tropical ecology, resource management and island biogeography during an intensive field study over Spring Break on the Caribbean island of Dominica and in weekly on-campus meetings during the Spring semester. Learn about theories for high biological diversity in the tropics and study on-site ecology, sustainable use and conservation of tropical terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. Our base in Dominica is at the Archbold Tropical Research and Education Center of Clemson University, only a short drive from the capitol city of Roseau and Trois Pittons National Park. The field trips include diverse tropical settings: lush rain forests, elfin cloud forests, crater lakes, brackish wetlands, whale watching, and snorkling in crystal-clear waters of coral reefs and freshwater streams. The ability to swim and additional fee for travel and lodging in Dominica are required. Prerequisites: one year of college biology and a general ecology course. [3 credits; counts as EFB field experience]. Our current field trip location (since Spring 2018) has been the upper Amazon and high Andes in Ecuador (details are here).

Video features on Dominica and the Archbold Tropical Research and Education Center:
Plants and Wildlife commonly observed on field trips in Dominica.
Some of the field trip destinations and habitats explored in Dominica:
Coastline with coastal shelf containing productive fisheries and coral reefs
Deep waters near the shore provide sperm whale habitat
Littoral forest clinging to the cliffs on the Atlantic coast
Coconut palm grove along the brackish stretch of the Indian river
Elfin cloud forest, Morne Trois Pitons National Park
Class in front of a large Sloanea tree in the Syndicate rainforest
Dry tropical forest on the Caribbean coast, Cabrits National Park
Hand made baskets at the old city market in Roseau
Class on a sandy beach at the Layou river estuary
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