William Lauenroth Teaching
RS 331 Rangeland Ecogeography I teach this undergraduate course each fall semester. The course has two major objectives which translate into tasks for students. The first is to understand the present distribution of rangeland ecosystem types in the US. The second is to learn to identify the important plants from each of the ecosystem types. [Recent syllabus]
EY 610 Ecosystem Ecology I team teach this course in even numbered Fall semesters (2006, 2008, …) with Indy Burke. The course focuses on the integrated study of biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and their interactions. We examine how ecosystems work and relate processes to their components such as chemicals, soil, plants, and animals. Key processes include primary production, decomposition, the cycling of carbon and nitrogen, and trophic interactions. We use box-and-arrow diagrams and simulation models to facilitate integration. The text is Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology by Chapin, Matson and Mooney. [Recent Syllabus]
RS 630 Ecology of Grasslands and Shrublands I teach this course in odd numbered Fall semesters (2007, 2009, …). The objectives of the course are: 1. to understand how grassland and shrubland plants, plant communities, and ecosystems work; 2. to understand the observed spatial distributions of grasslands and shrublands from landscape to global scales; and 3. to investigate explanations for the observed spatial patterns. [Recent Syllabus]