why do organisms live where they do?
As a course project each student will select a taxon to research in some depth. Initially, you must
submit an abstract of your question, a few pages about what makes the question interesting, for
example not just where it lives, but perhaps concerns exist with respect to what conditions are
needed to survive, physiological limits throughout the year, resource limitations, competition and
predators, and critically for a course in biogeography, the consequences of evolution, meaning
taxon origins, divergence (if relevant) and both historical and recent shifts in its distribution.
Relate your essay to course topics. Create an initial bibliography that will expand, and in the end
create visuals, in particular maps, on biogeographic change in the taxon across time.
To submit at the end: All typed, and double spaced, with page and line numbers. 12 pt font (New
Times Roman, Arial or, sigh, Calibri). Always use Arial when labeling figures.
(1) A Title and one-page abstract (200 words max),
(2) I hate defining length. Scientist don’t need repetition. But be complete, so I expect at least 8
pages of text, and must limit you to 12 pages because you are so many.
(3) Included at minimum must be a one-page map (figure, you created or extensively modified)
to aid the reader of your explanation. More figures are often good. Don’t go crazy with details
but your map is about your topic, not just something you pulled off the web for background. Do
not expect to find a ready-made visual. Power point is one of many options to insert a graphic,
modify it and then save as a jpeg you can insert to a text box in word.
