Module 15

University of Western Ontario
Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology

Course Title : Wetland and Waterbird Ecology
Instructor(s) :

Shannon Badzinski    
Ted Barney
Scott Petrie

Long Point Waterfowl / Bird Studies Canada
P.O. Box 160, Port Rowan, ON NOE 1M0

or Dept. of Biology University of Western Ontario  850-2555
Date(s) : Saturday 5 June – Saturday 12 June 2010; 1 week, UWO 0.25 credit
Location : Bird Studies Canada, north shore of Lake Erie at Port Rowan, Ontario
Cost : $500 payable to the student’s home university with application. This fee includes accommodation, meals and local transportation. You must supply your own bedding and you must arrange your own transportation to and from Port Rowan.
Prerequisites : Students entering the 3rd or 4th year of a Biology or Zoology program.
Description : Students will learn about ecological processes and the importance of natural and man-made wetlands to humans and the animals that inhabit them by listening to lectures and through participating in several field trips to local wetlands and wetland rehabilitation, creation, and restoration projects.  We also will introduce concepts regarding how man-made wetlands are created and managed for wildlife and specifically discuss basic waterbird and waterfowl management activities. Basic monitoring and research/sampling techniques will be taught and demonstrated for marsh-inhabiting wildlife and plants.  Students also will actively participate in group-based data collection and summarization by conducting point counts for marsh-birds, trapping amphibians, and sampling aquatic invertebrates and plants.
Enrollment : 16 students
Evaluation : Field notebook 15%, Plant collection 15%, Aquatic invertebrate collection 15%, Field participation 15%, Final Exam 40%
Assignment(s) :
  1. Students will make an organized account of daily activities in a field notebook. This notebook will include all notes taken within the classroom and during field outings, plus cumulative lists of wetland-dependent birds, mammals, and amphibians.
  2. Students will collect wetland-dependent plants and aquatic invertebrates from wetlands throughout SW Ontario. Specimens will be properly identified, preserved, organized and handed in at the end of the week as formal plant and invertebrate collections.
Additional Information: