What you will get

You will leam about habitat characteristics of aquatic environments, including the
chemical and physical challenges that are faced by aquatic vascular plants, and the ways
in which aquatic plants have adapted to cope with these challenges.
You will leam about the structural, physiological, and reproductive adaptations of aquatic vascular
plants, and the various life-form groups, including submerged, emergent, floating-
leaved, and free-floating aquatic plants. You will gain understanding about how
hydroperiod, salinity, and structural and spatial variation in habitats influence
community composition.
We will discuss how aquatic plants change their environment,
and the implications for habitat management. You will leam to identiff key taxa in
aquatic plant communities of various freshwater, estuarine, and saltwater habitats.

Major topics

Variability of aquatic environments; Light transmission, dissolved gases and nutrients,
water chemistry, substrate, temperature, and turbulence; General adaptations of aquatic
plants to aquatic habitats; Sexual and vegetative reproduction in aquatic plants;