Download Field Biogeography Syllabus - Field Biogeography and Species

Field Biogeography and Species Conservation - 2008 – BIO. 230 Syllabus
We plan to study the geographic distribution of organisms and the evolutionary
and ecological processes responsible for distributions. Through field studies of plant
species, complemented by discussions of readings that describe the history of the field of
biogeography, from the early 19th century to the present, we shall explore the underlying
evolutionary and ecological processes responsible for patterns of distribution, and the
lessons this information provides for species conservation.
1. Field Biogeography will emphasize the patterns of diversity found in plants
encountered in the field. The aims of the course are to teach, through fieldwork:

the language and concepts used by professionals to describe plant morphology

the use of professional floristic works to identify vascular plants

familiarity with plants, sufficient that regionally common plant communities, genera
and species may be recognized

familiarity with the constellation of characters that define families of angiosperms

evolutionary and ecological explanations for patterns of distribution of the plants
studied in the field as well as animals discussed in the readings

patterns of biodiversity loss occurring worldwide, the reasons for these losses, and
ways of applying ecological theory to reduce species extinctions
Most of all, I hope that these experiences will nurture an interest in biological diversity
and its protection; an interest that grows with you for the rest of your life.
2. Since all class work in this course is lab/field work, you will have to be present at
every class meeting. Please consult the class schedule very carefully. For each
unexcused hour of class missed, you will lose 2% of your final course grade. That
means, that if you miss three hours of class, you can do no better than a 94 in this course.
Please notice that class-meeting times may differ from day to day, and week to week. We
shall meet for more than 20 h/wk.
3. The two main reference books used in the course will be Gleason and Cronquist
(G&C – “Manual of Vascular Plants….2nd edition”), and Walters and Keil (W&K –
“Vascular Plant Taxonomy – 5th edition”).
Browse through G&C to get an idea of how it is organized. Read “Description of
keys.”
Read the Preface, Chapter 1, and Chapter 7 in W&K.
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4. Grades will be determined as follows.

Quizzes will constitute 70% of your course grade, divided into the following
categories.
10% : Vegetative terms from Chapter 3 – W&K (M Ap. 28th)
20% : Reproductive terms from Chapter 11 – W&K (M May 5th)
30% : Keying, mostly using G&C.
10% : Recognition of angiosperm families (W May 28th), using what you have
learned and your family spreadsheet. Make a family spreadsheet as suggested on pp.
131-133 in W&K. Help each other in making spreadsheets. The spreadsheet is only a
crutch. You should work hard to recognize families without the spreadsheet, even
though you will be able to use the spreadsheet during the family quizzes. You may
help each other on this project, meaning preparing the spreadsheet. The
objective of the project is for you to become familiar with the major taxa of seed
plants, and particularly Angiosperms. Knowing families, and the characters that
distinguish them, should facilitate the identification of other seed plants that you
might find in the future. It is particularly important for you to form a mental
image of the group of characters that defines each family.
15% - We shall attempt to answer two questions, the first of which is: “what are the
patterns of variation within and among congeners?” During the term you will
gather information about the patterns of morphological and ecological diversity
within the genus Viola in Virginia, in relation to the published classification of the
genus. I would like us to try and infer what might be the reproductive isolating
mechanisms that impede interbreeding between these species and how strong or weak
these mechanisms seem to be.
The second question is: what explains the biogeography of Viola in Virginia?
You will be asked to think about the full geographic distribution of Viola species in
Virginia (i.e., their biogeography) in relation to what you have by then learned about
historical and ecological processes that explain the distributions of organisms. I will
help you understand some of the professional literature that bears on the systematics
and biogeography of Viola by helping you to interpret a paper on violet biogeography
on the Hawaiian Islands, where basic processes are easier to understand. (Systematics
is the study of biological diversity, its classification, and explanations for patterns of
diversity, such as why some species have fuzzy boundaries and others sharp
boundaries.) In your herbarium notebook (explained below) you should keep a
chronological journal as you accumulate information and ideas bearing on these
questions. Toward the end of the course, you will be asked to write a readable
account titled, “The systematics and biogeography of Viola in Virginia,” including an
attempt to construct one or more biogeographic hypotheses to explain the distribution
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of these species. This report will be in the form of a brief summary of your findings,
which will be no more than five double-spaced word-processed pages, including
references to the sources from which data were gathered. You may want to add to
these pages one or more maps. Your biogeographic hypothesis (es) may be your own,
or one(s) that others have already constructed, or some amalgam of the two.
To help you think about historical processes that might explain the biogeography
of Viola, I have prepared a several page overview of the ways that evolution is known
to occur in plants. This information will be found on the “Blackboard.” The
observations that we make, as well as the published information we gather about these
species, should also give us ideas about the past processes that might explain the
present biogeography of our Viola species.
Keep in mind that the fossil record suggests that Angiosperms evolved from a
Gymnosperm, about 130 million years ago (ma), and that at that time the continents
were very close to each other. Many modern genera trace back in the fossil record at
least 70 ma, when continental drift had separated continents at least somewhat. The
genus Viola has a worldwide distribution and is classified into about 550 species.
That might suggest that this is a very old genus, if its species have no special means
of long-distance dispersal. Over the past 60 ma, the earth’s climate has become more
differentiated across latitudes, and in North America, the western mountains arose
and created a rain-shadow to the east, where forest formerly was and the central
prairies now exist. These changes surely caused species to change their geographic
ranges. Remember too, that from 1.8 ma to 0.1 ma, ten glacial periods occurred,
repeatedly forcing the biota southward, and repeatedly lowering and raising sea level.

15% - By 9:00 a.m., Thursday May 29th, prepare and submit your herbarium
notebook containing as many pages as we have done by then; each bearing a taped,
labeled, and identified specimen in a VERY large loose-leaf notebook. This work
will be worth 15% of your course grade. Most of the plants entered into this notebook
will be examined and annotated in the field during class time.
Be neat!!!
In the upper right corner of each page give the family name. Below that, give the
species name (a binomial composed of a generic and specific epithet), or the genus if
the species could not be identified.
Tape and label the diagnostic structures that characterize the family, genus, and
species. Use tape sparingly so that your specimen will dry rather than mold.
When structures are small, make an annotated, enlarged drawing.
Organize pages into the following three sections within the notebook: Ferns,
Gymnosperms, and Angiosperms. Within each group, organize families
alphabetically.
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