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Course Description

Summary

Quantifying and monitoring the abundance of particular organisms is often the major endeavor in conservation and ecology research. We work to protect endangered species, facilitate the recovery of threatened species, reduce invasive species, and restore historically present species, but we also understand that even absent human pressures, some species are more rare than others. How do ecologists understand what makes some species rare and others common? What impacts do rarity or commonness have on ecosystem structure and function? How do human-caused changes in abundance shift these dynamics? In this class, we will explore questions of rarity and commonness through peer-reviewed papers in ecology and biological conservation. We’ll unpack how scientists have defined and framed rare and common species in papers spanning four decades of research. Finally, we will connect our ecological understandings of “rare” and “common” to conservation policy-making and management.