Download Supplemental File S1. Pathway Maps-Ecosystem

Brian Darby and Brett Goodwin, University of North Dakota
Using pathway maps to link concepts, peer review, primary literature searches, and data
assessment in large enrollment classes: an example from teaching ecosystem ecology
Study Guide for Ecosystem Ecology
Key readings*:
 Nature Scitables: Energy Economics in Ecosystems (Bemen 2010),
 Nature Scitables: Secondary Production (Benke 2010)
 Nature Scitables: Food Web: Concept and Application (Hui 2012)
 Nature Scitables: The Nitrogen Cycle: Processes, Players, and Human Impact (Bernard 2010)
Learning Goals; you should be able to:
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Describe the main environmental factors that influence primary production (Bemen 2010).
Describe a food web (Hui 2012) and how carbon and nitrogen move from one trophic level to
the next
Explain how temperature, moisture, and chemical composition affect decomposition
Terms to know (some are used in the readings, others you may need to look up):
Primary production
Net vs. gross primary production
Water holding capacity
nitrogen mineralization
organic vs. inorganic nutrients (C, N, P)
labile vs. resistant
assimilation
mineralization
decomposition
actual evapotranspiration
mean annual temperature
C:N
lignin
In class: Create a pathway map of ecosystem processes and find data to support or refute questionable
links.