3 ECTS credits
75 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4003969ENR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Biology
Educational team
Tom Van der Stocken (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
13 contact hours Lecture
26 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The course introduces the discipline of biogeography, which focuses on understanding and explaining the patterns of biodiversity across space and through time. Different chapters cover the science and history of biogeography (subject of biogeography and historical context), the geographic template of biogeography (physical environment, climate aspects), the distribution of species (patterns of distribution, data sampling, mapping and measuring, factors and processes limiting ranges), dispersal and immigration (importance of dispersal, colonization, dispersal modes and adaptations), the changing Earth (continental drift, tectonic history of continents, and biogeographic consequences), glaciation and biogeographic dynamics of the Pleistocene (Quaternary glaciations, biogeographic responses to Pleistocene climate cycles), the geography of diversification and regionalization (fundamental geographic patterns, endemism, cosmopolitanism, bioregionalization), and biogeographic “rules” (species–area relationship, species–isolation relationship, equilibrium model of island biogeography). Besides the lectures, the course unit includes different reading assignments that consist of carefully selected articles related to the content of the lectures.

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Lecture slides and articles., Canvas
Handbook (Recommended) : Biogeography., An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach, Lomolino, M. V., Riddle B. R. & Whittaker R. J., 9de, Oxford University Press, 2018
Additional info

Course material

  • Digital course material (Required): lecture slides (available on Canvas) and articles as part of the reading assignments (available on Canvas).
  • Handbook (Recommended): Biogeography, 5th Edition, Lomolino, M. V., Riddle B. R. & Whittaker R. J., Oxford University Press.

 

Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

This course explicitly contributes to the following competences of the biology curriculum:

General

  • Evaluate the scientific relevance (II)

Field specific

  • Problem solving as a thinking process (IV)
  • Plan and conduct research in an autonomous way (V)
  • Extrapolation between different scientific fields (VI)

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Oral Exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

    Note: Oral exam with written preparation.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Additional info regarding evaluation

Reading assignments are part of the exam, i.e., exam questions can be based on content of the reading assignment articles. There is written preparation time for the oral exam.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Biology: Education (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity
Master of Teaching in Science and Technology: biologie (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)