280224 VU PF4 Biogeochemical element cycles (PI) (2016S)

Successful participants are able to identify and discuss the key processes, biotic and abiotic controls and driving forces that govern element cycles (e.g., C, N, S, and P cycles) on land, in inland waters, in the ocean, in the atmosphere, and, over longer timescales, in the lithosphere. They are able to summarize and compile how these cycles have evolved over time, how they might change in the future and how they co-evolved with life and climate. Based on a discussion and analysis of the interaction between individual biogeochemical cycles, successful participant are able to recognize the anthropogenic perturbation of global cycles and assess the likely responses of land, inland waters and marine ecosystems to global changes.