Wildlife Biology Minor
Alabama A&M University
21 credit hours
Students may select any combination of courses that equal 21 credits to
qualify for the minor. However, the selection must include NRE 286, 386,
and 387 (NRE 488 may be substituted for one of these).
REQUIRED COURSES
Prefix
1
2
3
3b
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
NRE
NRE
NRE
NRE
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
BIO
NRE
NRE
NRE
Number
Course Title
286
386
387
488/588
201/201L
202/202L
205/205L
311/311L
321/321L
322/322L
340/340L
402/402L
403/403L
411/411L
481
475
489
490
Wildlife Biology & Identification (new) - 3 credits
Principles of Wildlife Management (current) - 3 credits
Wildlife-Forestry Relationships (current) - 3 credits
Wildlife Techniques (current) - 3 credits
Invertebrate Zoology & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy & Lab (current) 4 credits
Ecology & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Genetics & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Introduction to Parasitology & Lab (current) - 4 credits
General Entomology & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Developmental Biology & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Limnology & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Ichthyology & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Cell Biology & Lab (current) – 4 credits
Research in Biology (current) - credits arranged
Principles of Wetlands (current) – 3 credits
Forest Ecological Management ( current ) – 3 credits
Special Problems in Plant & Soil Science (current) 1-3 credit
Tuition assistance is available to those minority students that take
coursework to complete the Wildlife Biology Minor or the proposed
Fisheries Minor (18 credits).
1
Course Descriptions:
NRE 286 (Wildlife Biology and Identification) - Identification, distribution, life history,
and behavior of North American amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals. Emphasis
on ecological and zoological aspects of special relevance to management. A laboratory and
field course in species identification, life histories of selected wild animals, and wildlife
biology and behavior.
NRE 386 (Principles of Wildlife Management) – An introduction to the life history
requirements, behavioral adaptations, habitat selection, population dynamics, community
relationships, and management strategies for terrestrial vertebrates in North America.
History of wildlife management, current wildlife policies, and survey of wildlife field
techniques are also included.
NRE 387 (Wildlife-Forestry Relationships) - An in-depth course on the relationships
between forest habitat conditions and the abundance, diversity, and physiological
condition of wildlife. Examination of wildlife effects on forest regeneration and
management practices with consideration of vertebrate pest control strategies. Discussion
of wildlife-habitat relationships models, habitat suitability models, and assessment of
beneficial and detrimental impacts of forest management on wildlife conservation.
NRE 488/588 (Wildlife Techniques) - Field and lab procedures for determining sex and
age, capture and marking, physiological indices, harvest surveys, population estimation
procedures, and habitat evaluation. Includes mapping with geographic information
systems, orienteering and field safety. Wildlife techniques is designed to introduce you to
a broad range of methods and equipment used by wildlife professionals to gather
information on wild animals and their habitat. In addition, this course will emphasize the
characteristics of a particular technique that might make it superior to others in practical
situations.
Integration with the Forest Science Major:
NRE 286, NRE 386, and NRE 387will be allowed to fulfill requirements of the Forest
Science major as “restricted forestry electives” (9 credits) while simultaneously fulfilling
the requirements for the Wildlife Biology Minor. Eleven hours of advisor approved
electives required by the Forest Science Major can also be used to complete the 12 hours
needed in the biology lab portion of the Wildlife Biology minor. Thus Forest Science
majors with a Wildlife Biology Minor would need to complete all required Forest Science
courses, use their 9 restricted forestry elective hours to satisfy 9 wildlife hours in the
Wildlife Biology minor, use their 11 advisor approved electives to complete 12 of the
remaining biology lab courses in the Wildlife Biology minor, and take 4 additional hours
above the 128 hours required by the major to complete the 4 hours required by the
Wildlife Biology Minor (a minimum total of 132 hours to receive the Forest Science
Major with the Wildlife Biology Minor).
2
Integration with the Biology Major:
Biology majors in the Zoology track (Option 2) can count their 12 hours of Biology
electives toward their Biology major while simultaneously meeting the 12 hours required
by the Wildlife Biology minor (provided they take Parasitology, Entomology as their
track biology electives and one of the 4-hour Biology lab courses listed in the Wildlife
Biology minor curriculum for their free elective class). Biology Majors in the
Ecotoxicology track (Track 5) would also be allowed to simultaneously count their 12
Biology elective hours as meeting the 12-hour requirement for these biology lab courses
in the Wildlife Biology minor. In their track, they would need to take Ecology and
Limnology as their track electives in Biology and one of the other 4-hour biology lab
courses listed in the Wildlife Biology minor curriculum as their free biology elective.
Other Biology major tracks (Options 1,3,4) do not include the biology lab courses
required by the Wildlife Biology minor to simultaneously count them toward both
curricula. Biology majors in tracks 2 and 5 with a minor in Wildlife Biology would then
need to take an additional 9 hours of wildlife courses above their 126-hour Biology major
(minimum total of 135 hours) to complete both curriculum.
Contact Information:
For further information on the wildlife program at AAMU, please contact Dr.
William (Wes) Stone at the Forestry, Ecology and Wildlife Program, Natural Resources
and Environmental Sciences Dept, P.O. Box 1927, Alabama A&M University, Normal,
AL 35762 or call his office at (256) 372-4248 or contact him by e-mail at:
william.stone@aamu.edu ☺.
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