Objectives: This course is designed for environmental science majors and covers the identification and quantification of fish, zooplankton, and benthic organisms with emphasis placed on the productivity of aquatic animals and their importance as indicator species.

Prerequisites: General Biology (Biol 101) or Principles of Biology (Biol 104)

Credit Value: 3

Contact Time: Two 50 minute lectures and one 3 hour laboratory per week.

Outcomes: Upon the successful completion of this course a student should be able to:

• understand the physical habitat for freshwater ecosystems (i.e. lakes and streams) and the physiological adaptations of zooplankton, macroinvertebrates and fish that allow them to live in particular kinds of freshwater habitats
• understand the ecological interactions of freshwater organisms
• understand the environmental requirements of freshwater organisms and to be able to use this information to assess water quality
• classify and identify freshwater zooplankton, macroinvertebrates and fish
• identify the major groups of zooplankton, families of macroinvertebrates, and genera of fish without the use of a reference source

Assessment:

• Two terms tests (100 points each)
• Rapid assessment exercise (50 points)
• Two laboratory practicals (150 points each)
• Comprehensive final examination (100 points)

Lecture Schedule:

• Physical habitats of lakes and streams
• Invertebrate sampling methods, classification
• Zooplankton ecology, introduction to aquatic insects
• Adaptations of macroinvertebrates to aquatic habitats
• Ecology of aquatic insects
• Sampling fish, morphological adaptations of fish
• Term test one, fish physiology
• Behavior of fish
• Environmental requirements of fish
• Ecology of fish
• Introduction to and history of biomonitoring
• Indicator and sentinel species concepts
• Term test two, community indeces
• Community indeces, toxicity bioassays
• Conservation of aquatic animals
• Final examination

Laboratory Schedule:

• Field methods, protozoans and some weird phyla
• Crustaceans
• Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera
• Trichoptera and Hemiptera
• Odonata and Coleoptera
• Laboratory practical one
• Diptera and Coleoptera
• Oligochaeta, Hirduinae, Mollusks
• Fish
• Fish and amphibians
• Biomonitoring field trip
• Collection field trip
• Collection field trip
• Identify collected material, review
• Laboratory practical two