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Biology 2200 Fall 2009 Biology 2200 PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY Fall 2009 Course Outline This course examines the relationships between organisms and their environments from a number of perspectives. We first examine the relationships between organisms and their physical environment. Next we deal with how organisms adapt to varying environments from the perspective of evolutionary ecology. We then present the principles of population ecology, population regulation and the interactions between populations within communities, and examine how these principles are used in conservation, pest control and other areas of environmental management. Finally, we examine energy flow, trophic structure, and the cycling of matter within ecosystems and then relate these concepts to the issue of economic development and its impact on global ecological processes. Lecture: Tuesday/Thursday, 9:25 to 10:40 am, Room C610 Lecturers: Dr. T.Andrew.Hurly WE1004, 329-2320, email: [email protected] Office Hours: by appointment Dr. Joseph B. Rasmussen WE1050, 382-7182, email: [email protected] Office Hours: by appointment Website: The url for Biology 2200 is: http://classes.uleth.ca/200903/biol2200a/ Lecture Power Points will be posted on the Bio 2200 web page. Text: R.E. Ricklefs, The Economy of Nature 5th Edition. Freeman Lecture Lecture Power Points will be posted on the Bio 2200 web page. General info: General announcements will be made in class or will be sent by email to the class list. If you do not use the U of L assigned email address, arrange for email sent to the @uleth.ca address to be forwarded to the address you do use. You can arrange to forward mail by going to: http://www.uleth.ca/it/desktop/account.htm - 1 - Biology 2200 Fall 2009 Laboratory: Lab coordinator: Michael Robinson, Office E784, ph. 329-2321, Email: [email protected] See lab manual for lab times and lab instructors. Lab Manual: Available on Blackboard (WebCT) Grade Composition: Lecture 60%, Lab 40% LECTURE exams will be administered through WEBCT Lecture Exam #1 Week of Oct.12 20% Lecture Exam #2 Week of Nov.9 20% Lecture Exam #3 Final Exam Wk 20% 60% Lectures 1-8 Lectures 9-16 Lectures 17-26 LABORATORY: 40%, See lab manual for detailed mark breakdown LECTURE OUTLINE: Biology 2200. Principles of Ecology Introduction—Rasmussen and Hurly Lecture 1, Thurs Sept 10: The concept of order in Nature—Ch.1 What is ecology about? The system concept and connectedness The interplay between the physical and the living world The tension between dynamic processes and natural order: Biological diversity, Evolution, and the changing world How humans are changing the world: The Organism and the Physical Environment--Rasmussen Lecture 2, Tues. Sept 15: Life and the Physical Environment, Ch 2 How organisms interact with the physical world All organisms contain water and water contains dissolved nutrients Light is the primary source of energy for life Lecture 3, Thurs. Sept 17: Adapting to a Changing Environment Ch 3,4 How plants and animals respond to variation in the physical environment, Homeostasis and Adaptation How organisms control their energy balance—thermodynamic laws Lecture 4, Tues. Sept 22 Biomes and the Physical Environment (Ch.4,5) Global patterns in temperature and precipitation Seasonal cycles and their importance for organisms Climate and the Biome concept Evolutionary Ecology-Hurly Lecture 5 Thurs. Sept 24, Evolution and adaptation/Behavioral ecology, Ch 9 Adaptations to life in varying environments Adaptations permit organisms to maximize their fitness - 2 - Biology 2200 Fall 2009 Optimality modeling, costs vs. benefits Modeling foraging using the optimality approach Optimal patch use model, and the marginal value theorem Foraging under the risk of predation Lecture 6 Tues Sept 29, Life-history evolution, Ch 10 David Lack and the theory of clutch size in birds Williams and the trade-off between present reproduction and future survival Resources can be allocated to reproduction or to growth and future survival The effect of the survivorship curve The age at first reproduction increases with life-span Optimal reproductive effort varies inversely with adult survival In an unpredictable environment you hedge or bets Why does senescence evolve? Lecture 7 Thurs Oct 1, Sex and Mating systems, Ch 11 The evolution of sex and sex ratios How social insects control their sex ratios in response to mate competition The evolution of mating systems The importance of parental care The ESS model of parental investment Lekking behaviour in birds Sexual selection and the evolution of elaborate courtship behaviour Mating systems in plants Lecture 8 Tues Oct 6: The evolution of social behaviour, Ch 12. The costs and benefits of group living Dominance hierarchies and territoriality How can altruistic behaviour evolve? Group selection, kin selection and reciprocal altruism Maynard-Smith and game theory in ecology—the hawk/dove game Parent offspring conflict and optimization of parental investment Hamilton and The problem of social insects: Raising your siblings vs. having your own offspring Population Ecology—Hurly Lecture 9-10, Thurs. Oct 8,Tues,Oct 13: Structure and Growth of Populations, Ch 13 Populations in space and time Distribution and abundance? Movement of individuals among populations: the metapopulation Genetic variability within populations Exponential and geometric population growth Per capita rate of birth and death Age structured population growth; the life table Lecture 11. Thurs Oct 15, Population Regulation, Ch 14 Pearl, and the logistic equation, density dependent regulation Modeling the human population Evidence for density dependent regulation in animal populations - 3 - Biology 2200 Fall 2009 Density dependence in plants Andrewartha and Birch and density independent factors Lecture 12 Tues. Oct 20: Population fluctuation in space and time Ch 15 Charles Elton and the Lynx-hare cycle Cycles versus eratic population fluctuation Population cycles in the discrete time logistic equation Metapopulation modeling Interacting local populations, the balance between extinction and recolonization The Levins model, and the concept of patch occupancy Application of metapopulation concepts to Landscape ecology and conservation Population Interactions--Rasmussen Lecture 13 Thurs. Oct 22: Predator-Prey Interactions Ch. 17-18 Predators have adaptations for exploiting prey Prey have adaptations for defense Parasite adaptations and parasite-host systems Dynamics of consumer-resource interactions Functional responses Stability in predator/prey systems Oscillations and stability Consumers can limit resource populations Lecture 14-15 Tues Oct 27, Thurs Oct 29, The theory of competition, Ch. 19 Volterra and Gause and the competitive exclusion principle Population regulation by intra vs interspecific competition Using systems of logistic equations to model competitive interactions Equilibrium in competition models and criteria for coexistence Graphical analysis of coexistence, competitive isoclines Examples of competition in nature Predator mediated coexistence Lecture 16 Tues Nov 3: Coevolution and Mutualism, Ch 20 Antagonists evolve in response to each other Coevolution between consumers and resources Evolutionary equilibrium The importance of mutualistic relationships in the natural world Trophic, defense, and dispersive mutualisms and their importance to ecosystems Community Ecology--Hurly Lecture 17-18 Thurs Nov 5,Tues Nov 10: Communities structure and development Ch. 21-22 Species abundance relationships in natural communities Species richness and diversity Species/Area relationships Food web analysis Ecological succession in communities Primary succession The community response to disturbance, secondary succession The climax as a steady state - 4 - Biology 2200 Fall 2009 Lecture 19, Thurs Nov 12 Coexistence and Biodiversity, Ch. 23 Patterns in biodiversity, the importance of latitude and productivity The island biogeography model of community diversity Why is there more diversity in the tropics? The theory of the ecological niche and the coexistence of diverse assemblages The intermediate disturbance hypothesis Lecture 20 Tues Nov 17:Biogeography Ch 24 The history of life and the geological time scale Biogeographic regions of the world Climate change and catastrophes Convergent evolutions in similar but separate environments Processes that affect biodiversity Lecture 21, Thurs Nov 19. Extinction, Conservation and Restoration of populations, Ch 25 Types and causes of extinction Factors that effect the risk of extinction Conservation ecology Population viability modelling and the recovery plan Genetics and conservation, captive breeding Restoration and the reintroduction of species, examples Ecosystem Ecology--Rasmussen Lecture 22-23, Tues. Nov 24, Thurs Nov 26 : Ecosystem Energetics Ch. 6 What is an Ecosystem and how did ecologists arrive at this concept? Tansley, Elton and Lotka and their contributions to the Ecosystem concept Lindeman and Hutchinson—the trophic-dynamic concept of the ecosystem Eugene Odum—1o & 2o secondary production Trophic links and energetic efficiencies Lecture 24, Tues. Dec 1, Element cycling in the Ecosystem, Ch 7 How living processes affect the cycling of matter Elemental cycles and how humans are changing them The cycling of nitrogen and its importance for agriculture. The water cycle The cycling of C, N, P and S and their importance to ecosystems Lecture 25, Thurs Dec 3:, Nutrient Regeneration in Ecosystems Ch. 8 Decomposition & cycling of matter in ecosystems The importance of oxygen and redox potentials, and microbial processes Nutrient regeneration and soil processes. The effect of latitude/climate on nutrient cycling Nutrient regeneration in aquatic ecosystems Lecture 26-27 Tues Dec 8, Thurs Dec. 10. Economic Development and Global Ecology Ch 26—Rasmussen - 5 - Biology 2200 Fall 2009 Ecological principles and environmental policy Human activities threaten ecological processes Overexploitation of the world’s renewable and non-renewable resources Toxic substances and bioaccumulation Introductions of exotic species Odum and the concept of ecological economics and ecosystem services The human population and the biosphere. Course Goals The following are some basic goals that each student should accomplish: 1 Develop a basic understanding of: - Ecological systems: the biosphere is a nested hierarchy of systems each containing subsystems The organism as the fundamental unit in ecological systems; organisms constantly evolve in response to a changing physical and biological environment Ecosystem function as the result of organisms interacting with each other and with the physical and chemical environment Life histories and mating systems as evolutionary adaptations Populations of organisms and how they are regulated by feedback processes arising from biological interactions Ecological systems as different from physical or engineered systems because their components are constantly evolving and adapting to their ecological role. Evolution as the source of biological diversity Biological diversity as a source of increasing ecosystem complexity Structure and function as inter-related aspects of ecological systems The reciprocal relationships between pattern and process; patterns in nature reflect underlying processes, and processes in turn generate patterns. Environmental issues as the outcome of human ecological success; humans have become so successful at resource exploitation and substitution, and adapting to a changing environment, that we may be threatening our own survival. Grading Exams and assignments provide a way for instructors to assess the degree to which each student has accomplished the course goals. The goal of education is learning, not the attainment of certain grades. Exams and assignments are means by which you can demonstrate to instructors that you have learned the course material and understand the - 6 - Biology 2200 Fall 2009 principles of ecology. Marks are a way to represent this degree of learning on a standard scale. Letter grade conversions (approximate) Percent Letter 91-100 A+ 86-90 A Excellent 80-85 A77-79 B+ 74-76 B Good 70-73 B67-69 C+ 64-66 C Satisfactory 60-63 C55-59 D+ Poor 50-54 D Minimal Pass 49 or less F Failure Student Conduct Unless otherwise indicated, all assignments and exams in this course must be original work completed by individual students. Academic offences (plagiarism and cheating) or non-academic offences committed by students in the context of this course will be dealt with according to the policy of the University of Lethbridge as indicated in the 2009/10 Calendar. Missed Exam and Assignment Policy Missed exams and assignments earn a grade of zero. Students who miss exams or assignments will be allowed to perform make-up work only if they provide documented evidence of an acceptable excuse (e.g. note from physician). Do not make travel arrangements that conflict with exams, assignments or the final exam schedule! - 7 -