Course Descriptions
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
C. E. Adams, J. Alvarado-Bremer, K. A. Arnold, J. W. Bickham, R. D. Brown, J. C. Cathey, S. M. Cooper, D. S. Davis, R. W. Davis, S. E. Davis, III, T. J. DeWitt, R. B. Ditton, J. R. Dixon, N. O. Dronen, W. E. Evans, Jr., L. A. Fitzgerald, D. M. Gatlin III* (Interim Head), F. P. Gelwick, J. R. Gold, W. E. Grant, S. J. Hejl, B. J. Higginbotham, R. L. Honeycutt, T. M. Iliffe, T. E. Lacher, A. M. Landry, Jr., J. C. Laurenz, A. L. Lawrence, T. L. Linton, R. R. Lopez, C. D. Marshall, M. P. Masser, J. D. McEachran, M. L. Morrison, W. H. Neill, J. M. Packard, M. J. Peterson, T. R. Peterson, D. Ransom, S. M. Ray, D. L. Roelke, D. Rollins, J. R. Rooker, N. J. Silvy, R. D. Slack, R. R. Stickney, W. M. von Zharen, R. N. Wilkins, K. O. Winemiller, G. A. Worthy, B.G. WŸrsig
* Graduate Advisor
Graduate programs of study and research lead to the Master of Wildlife Science or Master of Fisheries Science, and MS and PhD degrees in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. These programs prepare students for careers with academic institutions, governmental agencies and private business/industry. Studies in environmental conservation and education are available to those students interested in preparing themselves for public service in a number of fields other than research and management. The non-thesis Master of Wildlife Science and Master of Fisheries Science programs are designed to give students broad academic training combined with practical experience, to develop problem-solving and management skills. The MS (thesis option) and PhD degrees require a strong background in the basic and applied agricultural and life sciences, particularly as they relate to whole-organism biological systems. The latter two degrees involve intensive research, and the resulting thesis or dissertation must demonstrate a superior knowledge and understanding of the subject area.
Graduate study in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences normally requires some breadth in several disciplines, which differ among courses of study and are dependent on candidate background. The academic program of study is tailored to the background and educational goals of each degree candidate in consultation with his or her Graduate Advisory Committee. There are no foreign language requirements for any of the department’s graduate degree programs, unless set by the student’s Advisory Committee.
Research activities in the department involve vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and natural-resource systems, and span the broad fields of wildlife ecology and management, fisheries ecology and management, aquaculture, biodiversity and systematics, conservation education/museum science and the human dimensions of wildlife and fisheries resource management. Research in these fields is supported by disciplinary expertise in aut- and synecology, evolutionary biology, resource sociology, animal behavior, physiology, animal diseases and parasitology, bioenergetics, nutrition, genetics, and systems analysis and modeling. Although much of the research program is without geographic bounds, the more site-specific aspects of the program focus on Texas, Mexico and the neotropics.
Facilities for research and graduate education include over forty laboratories with modern and sophisticated scientific instrumentation; an NSF-sponsored Center for Biosystematics and Biodiversity; the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection, which is among the largest collections of animals and genetic tissues in the New World; the Marine Mammal Research Facilities at Galveston; an Aquacultural Research and Teaching Facility (laboratory and ponds) devoted to study of fish and invertebrate production for food and sport fishing; and, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division and Brazos Research Station, which focuses on problems of environmental toxicology. Provisions for research in marine mammalogy, marine fisheries ecology and mariculture are available at Texas A&M University in Galveston. Field studies may be conducted at the Texas A&M University System’s off-campus research and extension centers. Texas A&M is a member of the Archbold Tropical Research Center on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Graduate students are eligible to apply for usage of laboratory and field facilities at both of these locations.
Some faculty members in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences have appointments on the intercollegiate faculties of Genetics, Ecology, Nutrition and Toxicology; graduate students are eligible to seek degrees in those areas. The department also encourages interdisciplinary research efforts with other departments, and within the Institutes of Marine Life Sciences and Renewable Natural Resources.
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences has a residency requirement for all MS and PhD students. Master of Science students must complete, on the campus at College Station, 9 credit hours during one semester. Students who enter the doctoral degree programs with baccalaureate degrees must spend four semesters, of 9 hours each, on the campus at College Station. Students who hold master’s degrees when they enter doctoral degree programs must spend two semesters, of 9 hours each, in resident study on the campus. A semester may be fall, spring, a 10-week summer semester, or two 5-week summer terms. Full-time staff members of the University or of closely affiliated organizations stationed on the campus at College Station may fulfill residency requirements by completion of less-than-full course loads. Any exception to these rules must be approved in writing by the department head.
Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
(WFSC)
600. Field and Laboratory Methods. (3-0). Credit 3.
Experience in field studies, organizing field notes, collecting and preserving vertebrate animals for teaching and museum purposes; methods for maintaining live animals and for identifying animals collected; training in preparing skeletons, corrosion models, cleared specimens and in plastic embedding. Prerequisite: Eighteen hours of biological sciences or approval of instructor.*
601. Vertebrate Systematics. (1-6). Credit 3.
Theory and practice of biological systematics and taxonomy; historical development of discipline, mechanisms of speciation, the origin of higher categories and major taxonomic philosophies (numerical taxonomy, phylogenetic systematics and evolutionary systematics); theory involved in the study of vertebrates.
603. Vertebrate Ecology. (3-0). Credit 3.
Examination of the philosophical perspectives and ecological paradigms associated with modern animal ecology studies; emphasis on community ecology including structure and organizing processes; theoretical foundations and applicability of ecosystem management discussed.
604. Systems Analysis and Simulation in Ecology and Natural Resource Management. (3-0). Credit 3.
Philosophical basis, theoretical framework, and practical application of systems analysis and simulation within the context of ecology and natural resource management; emphasis placed on development, evaluation and use of simulation models by students. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
606. Systematic Herpetology. (2-3). Credit 3.
Distribution, evolution, speciation and new systematics of amphibians and reptiles; extensive field studies of local problem groups and philosophy and role of herpetology as a science. Prerequisite: WFSC 315.
609. Wildlife Research Methods. (3-0). Credit 3.
Research methods applied to wildlife management and related subjects. Review of the scientific method; research proposals and data analysis.
610. Evolutionary Ecology. (3-0). Credit 3.
Survey the development of paradigms in evolutionary ecology; incorporates phylogenies into comparative analysis and macroecology; evaluates the roles of historical and local processes in determining species diversity. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
611. Estuarine Ecology. (3-3). Credit 4.
Principles governing the relationships of estuarine organisms to their environment; productivity, adaptations to environment, community structure and factors affecting the distribution and abundance of biota. Prerequisite: Invertebrate zoology and ichthyology or approval of instructor.
612. Conservation Biology. (3-0). Credit 3.
Examine the development of major areas in conservation-oriented research that include patterns of biodiversity, extinction, conservation genetics, conservation of populations, communities and landscapes, and ecological sustainability. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
615. Mariculture. (3-3). Credit 4.
Environmental, physiological, behavioral, legal and economic factors which determine the success of efforts to cultivate saltwater species having economic importance; practices employed in various parts of the world to produce fishes, molluscs and crustaceans. Prerequisites: Ichthyology and invertebrate zoology or approval of instructor.
616. Physiological Ecology of Vertebrates. (3-4). Credit 4.
Effects of temperature, oxygen and other environmental factors on the distribution and abundance of animals; comparative behavioral and physiological adjustments to environment as an evolutionary response; students will be expected to develop and execute a research project in an appropriate subject area. Prerequisite: ZOOL 388 or WFSC 417 or approval of instructor.
620. Vertebrate Ethology. (3-2). Credit 4.
Mechanisms and control of vertebrate behavior in an ecological context, as shaped by natural selection; classical and current theories regarding the genetic basis, development, specialized sensory systems and organization of responses in changing environment; laboratory emphasizes observational skills and quantitative analysis of behavior occurring in natural settings.*
621. Aquatic Ecology. (3-0). Credit 3.
Aquatic ecosystems from a system-level perspective; contemporary models of ecosystem structure and function; introduction to nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory, aquatic ecosystem behavior and predictability as a functional food-chain length.
622. Behavioral Ecology. (3-0). Credit 3.
Integration of animal behavior with ecological and evolutionary principles; includes mating, predation, foraging ecology, social behavior, game theory and behavioral genetics; emphasis on quantification of behavior and strategy modeling. Prerequisites: Undergraduate ecology course; graduate classification.
624. Dynamics of Populations. (3-2). Credit 4.
Principles, models and methods for analysis of population dynamics; analysis of contemporary research emphasizing theory and its uses in evaluation and management of animal populations. Laboratory emphasizes mathematical, statistical and computer modeling of population phenomena. Cross-listed with ENTO 624.
628. Wetland Ecology. (3-0). Credit 3.
Wetlands as ecological systems that are prime habitats for wildlife and fish; geomorphology, hydrology, limnology, plant and animal communities, and human use and management. Prerequisite: WFSC 403 or RLEM 316 or equivalent.*
629. Lower Foodweb Dynamics of Aquatic Ecosystems. (2-3). Credit 3.
Dynamics of the lower foodweb in estuaries, rivers and lakes, detailing the role and interactions between biota and how they are influenced by abiotic processes; effect of man’s activities on natural succession patterns and ecosystem productivity, elucidating the potential for new management practices. Prerequisite: Graduate classification. Cross-listed with OCNG 629.*
640. Human Dimensions of Wildlife and Fisheries Management. (3-0). Credit 3.
Theory and applications for considering human dimensions in an integrated approach to wildlife and fisheries management; a social science perspective with emphasis to diversity of human values, role of constituency groups, wildlife and fisheries policy development, conflict management, management decision-making, research methods and management case studies.
647. Nutritional Biochemistry of Fishes. (3-0). Credit 3.
Principles of nutritional biochemistry including nutrient metabolism and biochemical energetics with special emphasis on finfish and shell fish. Prerequisite: BICH 410 or equivalent. Cross-listed with NUTR 647.
650. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. (3-0). Credit 3.
Microbes in natural environments, including both water and sediment habitats in marine, fresh and ground water systems; process studies of microbial foodwebs and biogeochemical cycling; current methods and research directions. Prerequisites: WFSC 414 and OCNG 620 or approval of instructor. Cross-listed with OCNG 650.
681. Seminar. Credit 1 each semester.
Important current developments in wildlife or fisheries fields with special reference to literature. Students may register up to but no more than two sections of this course in the same semester.
684. Professional Internship. Credit 1 to 16 each semester.
On-the-job training in fields of wildlife and fisheries sciences. Prerequisite: Graduate classification in wildlife and fisheries sciences.
685. Directed Studies. Credit 2 to 6 each semester.
Individual study and research on selected problem approved by instructor and graduate advisor. Credit adjusted in accordance with requirements of each individual case. Prerequisite: Approved proposal.
689. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4.
Special topics in wildlife ecology, fisheries ecology, vertebrate systematics, evolutionary biology of vertebrates and conservation education. May be repeated for credit.*
690. Theory of Research. (2-0). Credit 2.
Theory, design, analysis and communication of research in wildlife and fisheries sciences. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
691. Research. Credit 1 or more each semester.
Original research on selected wildlife and/or fisheries problem to be used in thesis or dissertation.
*Field trips required for which departmental fees may be assessed to cover costs.