The goal of this course is to study the biodiversity of terrestrial and aquatic systems found in the boreal forests of Minnesota and the northern transition forest in Wisconsin. Students will learn ecological research techniques and field identification methods for plants and animals, and will study the abiotic factors that impact these organisms. To achieve these goals, we will spend approximately 9 days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota, 2 days in northern Wisconsin, 1 day in Ohio, and four travel days. The travel days will include stops at ecologically important places passed along the way. Students will sample plants, study vertebrate and invertebrate animals, sample soils, and measure climate parameters. Click here to view the Boundary Waters photo album.
Course Credits and Costs This field experience will provide 5 credits in Area IV of Biology as Comparative Communities 249. The cost of the experience includes tuition, travel, meals and lodging along the way, and complete outfitting in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It does not include any medical or personal costs incurred by the student. If trip insurance is desired (it covers your payment into the trip if you cannot go), that must be arranged on your own. Insurance for medical expenses is required (Wittenberg provided insurance is supplemental to primary coverage, and alone is not adequate.) Students are required to have had a tetanus booster within the last five years of the start of the course at their own expense.
The Boundary Waters region is characterized by a vast network of waterways and bogs within a glacially-carved landscape of Precambrian bedrock covered in thin soils and boreal forests. The plants and animals of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area are representative of the boreal forest biome, and their ranges continue into southern Canada and the rest of the upper Great Lakes region.
