This Domain is open only to students in the B.Sc. or B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.) Major Environment.
What is biodiversity, and what ecological and social strategies can be used in conservation efforts?
This Concentration links the academic study of biological diversity with the applied field of conservation biology. The study of biological diversity, or "biodiversity," lies at the intersection of evolution with ecology and genetics, combining the subdisciplines of evolutionary ecology, evolutionary genetics and ecological genetics. It has two main branches, the creation of diversity and the maintenance of diversity. Both processes are governed by a general mechanism of selection acting over different scales of space and time. This gives rise to a distinctive set of principles and generalizations that regulate rates of diversification and levels of diversity, as well as the abundance or rarity of different species.
Conservation biology constitutes the application of these principles in the relevant social and economic context to the management of natural systems, with the object of preventing the extinction of rare species and maintaining the diversity of communities. As the impact of industrialization and population growth on natural systems has become more severe, conservation has emerged as an important area of practical endeavour.
See also Information for Students for details concerning:
- Suggested First Year Courses
- Taking courses on both campuses
- ENVR course sections - beware!
Program Requirements
NOTE: Students are required to take a maximum of 30 credits at the 200 level and a minimum of 12 credits at the 400 level or higher in this program. This includes Core and Required courses.
Core: Required Courses (18 credits)
ENVR 200. The Global Environment.
ENVR 201. Society, Environment and Sustainability.
ENVR 202. The Evolving Earth.
ENVR 203. Knowledge, Ethics and Environment.
ENVR 301. Environmental Research Design.
ENVR 400. Environmental Thought.
Core: Complementary Course — Senior Research Project
(3 credits*)
AEBI 427. Barbados Interdisciplinary Project. (in Barbados)
ENVR 401. Environmental Research.
ENVR 451. Research in Panama. (in Panama)
FSCI 444. Barbados Research Project. (in Barbados)
GEOG 451. Research in Society and Development in Africa. (in Africa)
* Only 3 credits will be applied to the program; extra credits will count as electives.
Concentration Complementary courses (42-43 credits)
9 credits, basic courses in the biological principles of diversity, systematics and conservation:
BIOL 304. Evolution.
or AEBI 212. Evolution and Phylogeny.(M)
BIOL 305. Animal Diversity.
or AEBI 211. Organisms 2.(M)
BIOL 465. Conservation Biology.
or WILD 421. Wildlife Conservation. (M)
3 credits of Ecology:
BIOL 308. Ecological Dynamics.
orENVB 305. Population and Community Ecology. (M)
3 credits of Statistics:
AEMA 310. Statistical Methods 1. (M)
orGEOG 202. Statistics and Spatial Analysis.
orMATH 203. Principles of Statistics 1.
9 credits, Interface between Science, Policy and Management:
AEBI 423. Sustainable Land Use. (in Barbados)
AGEC 430. Agriculture, Food and Resource Policy. (M)
AGEC 200. Principles of Microeconomics. (M)
or ECON 208. Microeconomic Analysis and Applications.
BIOL 451. Research in Ecology and Development in Africa. (in Africa)
or NRSC 451. Research in Ecology and Development in Africa. (in Africa)
ECON 225. Economics of the Environment.
ENVB 437. Assessing Environmental Impact. (M)
ENVR 422. Montreal Urban Sustainability Analysis. (offered alternate years, in May term)
GEOG 302. Environmental Management 1.
GEOG 340. Sustainability in the Caribbean. (in Barbados)
GEOG 360. Analyzing Sustainability.
GEOG 408. Geography of Development.
PLNT 312. Urban Horticulture. (M) (offered winter 2025 and alternate winters)
POLI 345. International Organizations.
POLI 350. Global Environmental Politics.
WCOM 314. Communicating Science.
3 credits of Field Courses:
BIOL 240. Monteregian Flora.
BIOL 331. Ecology/Behaviour Field Course. (at Mont St. Hilaire)
BIOL 334D1. Applied Tropical Ecology.
and BIOL 334D2. Applied Tropical Ecology. (in Barbados)
BIOL 335. Marine Mammals. (in New Brunswick)
BIOL 553. Neotropical Environments. (in Panama)
ENTO 340. Field Entomology. (M) (not offered 2024-2025)
ENVB 410. Ecosystem Ecology. (M)
GEOG 495. Field Studies - Physical Geography. (in southern Quebec)
PLNT 358. Flowering Plant Diversity. (M)
PLNT 460. Plant Ecology. (M) (offered in summer)
WILD 401. Fisheries and Wildlife Management. (M)
WILD 475. Desert Ecology. (in Arizona; offered summer 2023 and alternate summers)
WOOD 441. Integrated Forest Management. (M)
6 credits of General Scientific Principles
ANSC 326. Fundamentals of Population Genetics. (M)
or BIOL 324. Ecological Genetics. (not offered 2024-2025)
BIOL 202. Basic Genetics.
or LSCI 204. Genetics. (M)
ATOC 341. Caribbean Climate and Weather.
BIOL 216. Biology of Behaviour.
BIOL 342. Global Change Biology of Aquatic Ecosystems.
BIOL 432. Limnology.
BIOL 441. Biological Oceanography.
BIOL 515. Advances in Aquatic Ecology. (not offered 2024-2025)
BREE 217. Hydrology and Water Resources. (M)
or GEOG 322. Environmental Hydrology.
BREE 529. GIS for Natural Resource Management. (M)
or ENVB 529. GIS for Natural Resource Management. (M)
or GEOG 314. Geospatial Analysis.
ENVB 313. Phylogeny and Biogeography. (M) (not offered 2024-2025)
ENVB 500. Advanced Topics in Ecotoxicology. (M) (offered Fall 2024 and alternate fall terms)
GEOG 272. Earth's Changing Surface.
GEOG 321. Climatic Environments.
MICR 331. Microbial Ecology. (M)
SOIL 315. Soil Nutrient Management. (M)
OR, Second field course from the Concentration curriculum may also be taken
3 credits of Social Sciences:
AGEC 333. Resource Economics. (M)
AGRI 411. Global Issues on Development, Food and Agriculture. (M)
ANSC 555. The Use and Welfare of Animals. (M)
ANTH 339. Ecological Anthropology.
ANTH 416. Environment/Development: Africa. (in Africa)
ANTH 451. Research in Society and Development in Africa. (in Africa)
ECON 326. Ecological Economics.
ENVR 421. Montreal: Environmental History and Sustainability. (offered alternate years, in May term)
GEOG 404. Environmental Management 2. (in Africa)
GEOG 498. Humans in Tropical Environments. (offered alternate years, in Panama)
GEOG 530. Global Land and Water Resources. (not offered 2024-2025)
6 credits of Organisms and Diversity:
AEBI 421. Tropical Horticultural Ecology. (in Barbados)
AGRI 340. Principles of Ecological Agriculture. (M)
BIOL 310. Biodiversity and Ecosystems.
BIOL 343. Biodiversity in the Caribean. (in Barbados)
BIOL 350. Insect Biology and Control. (not offered)
or ENTO 330. Insect Biology. (M)
or ENTO 350. Insect Biology and Control. (M) (not offered)
BIOL 352. Dinosaur Biology.
BIOL 427. Herpetology. (offered in Fall 2024 and alternate fall terms)
BIOL 540. Ecology of Species Invasions.
or ENVR 540. Ecology of Species Invasions.
PARA 424. Fundamental Parasitology. (M)
PLNT 304. Biology of Fungi. (M) (not offered 2024-2025)
PLNT 434. Weed Biology and Control. (M)
REDM 400. Science and Museums.
WILD 307. Natural History of Vertebrates. (M)
WILD 350. Mammalogy. (M)
WILD 420. Ornithology. (M)