Download ECOLOGY AND POPULATION BIOLOGY (BIOL 314) What is this

ECOLOGY AND
POPULATION BIOLOGY (BIOL 314)
Instructor:
Matt Forister (office: FA 257)
[email protected]; 784 – 6770
Lecture:
Office hours:
MWF 11:00-11:50am, AB 102
Immediately following lectures, and by appointment
Texts:
1) Ecology 3 edition (Cain, Bowman, and Hacker; Sinauer)
2) Other readings will be made available on the course website
Website:
Prerequisites:
https://sites.google.com/site/unreco314/
BIOL 190; BIOL 191; MATH 127 R or higher.
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What is this class?
This class will cover ecological principles, with a focus on population dynamics and
interactions between species. We will emphasize a knowledge of natural history and
biological diversity, as well as an appreciation of the technological, statistical and
mathematical aspects of research in ecology.
The outcomes for this course include:
1) You will be able to “explain how science relates to a problem of societal concern,”
specifically global change and impacts on natural systems and human societies.
2) You will understand modern ecological theory, and be able to distinguish key concepts
for bodies of thought including: population biology, niche theory, metapopulation biology,
island biogeography, and others.
3) You will be able to apply critical thinking when answering questions that relate
ecological theory to living systems of plants and animals.
4) You will be able to solve mathematical problems in ecological theory using graphical
and qualitative approaches.
5) You will gain experience reading and interpreting scientific literature.
Outcomes specific to University Core Objectives:
This course satisfies Core Objective 9 (Technology, Science and Society) through both
general and specific course content and activities. All of Ecology is relevant to society
because we (as a species) are dependent upon the living ecosystems of our planet. For
example, the production of clean water and air at global and regional scales is influenced
by ecological interactions among plants, herbivores and predators. Locally, wild fires are
an important issue in Nevada that is affected by ecological processes and the ability of
natural plant communities to rebound following disturbance and invasion by exotic
species. We will discuss these and many more connections between ecological systems
and society, as well as specific stressors on natural systems including global climate
change and anthropogenic change in general.
We will also discuss the role of technology in ecological knowledge. Ecology has always
been a highly synthetic discipline, drawing from tools in different fields that range from
geochemistry to genetics. Throughout the semester, we will cover recent developments in
these fields that have provided a wealth of new information that ecologists are only now
learning how to process and interpret (involving, for example, whole genome sequences
from populations of wild plants and animals). The role of technology in acquiring
ecological knowledge has been particularly important in the area of global climate change.
We will discuss how our understanding of a changing climate has itself changed with
technological improvements in many areas including remote sensing of abiotic and biotic
parameters relevant to global change.
Readings from the primary literature relevant to global change and technology will be used
to develop skills in articulate reasoning, as well as critical writing skills (the final exam will
include an essay component on technology, science and society). Readings will occur
throughout the semester, and the ecological and societal effects of global change will be
addressed both throughout the semester and in a capstone final lecture.
Your grade for this course will be based on the following:
-- Quizes (35%), Exams (25%, 25%), In-class work (15%)
-- Grading scale: A (100–93), A- (92–90), B+ (89–87), B (86–83), B- (82–80), C+ (79–77),
C (76–73), C- (72–70), D+ (69–67), D (66–63), D- (62–60), F (below 60)
Quizzes and exams:
These will consist of multiple-choice, short-answer and “complete the graph” questions,
and will be based on study guides that will be available online, as well as readings from
the primary literature that will be posted (see course website above).
Participation:
Although this is a large class, participation is essential to the learning process. It is also
essential to your (and my) enjoyment of the semester. You should be prepared in class to
ask questions and to answer questions posed by other students.
Late work: All work is completed in class. There are no make-ups for exams or quizzes
or in-class assignments.
How can you do well in this course?
There are three key components to success in this course:
(1) Read, read, read. The assigned readings for this course will take you quite a bit of
time to get through. You need to become an efficient and disciplined reader; we will
discuss this on the first day. Reading is essential for quizzes and exams.
(2) Do not miss class. In lectures, we will both add material not in the book, and we will
cover material in the book from a different perspective. Lecture slides will not be posted
online (don’t beg, this is not negotiable).
(3) Ask questions during class. Asking questions keeps you awake, and it makes your
brain work. If you keep your brain working during class, you will not have to spend as
much time studying at home. Set yourself the task of coming up with one question during
each class meeting.
Online resources:
(1) I maintain a webpage which will have an up-to-date course calendar (see address
above, and final pages of this document). Study guides will be posted in advance of each
lecture, and you will also need to visit the website to download readings.
(2) The publisher of our text, Sinauer, has a website dedicated to this book, and there are
features of this website that you might want to take advantage of. The website can be
found at: http://www.sinauer.com/ecology/.
Contact:
Rather than email or phone, I much prefer to see you in person. If at all possible, please
drop by my office at any time for issues related to class.
Academic dishonesty:
Academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism or other dishonest behavior related to grades
and performance) will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
Disability resources:
I encourage any student needing accommodations for a specific disability to please meet
with me at their earliest convenience to ensure timely and appropriate accommodations.
Policy on video recording:
Surreptitious or covert video-taping of class or unauthorized audio recording of class is
prohibited by law and by Board of Regents policy. This class may be videotaped or audio
recorded only with the written permission of the instructor. In order to accommodate
students with disabilities, some students may have been given permission to record class
lectures and discussions. Therefore, students should understand that their comments
during class may be recorded.
Schedule of topics and readings by week
(discussions of particular relevance to Core Objective 9 are shown in red text)
Week
1
Date
Jan 21,
Jan 23
Topic
Ecology
(main text)
readings
Syllabus
What is ecology?
Overview of technological and societal
impacts to be covered during the
semester: from genomes and stable
isotopes to ecosystem services and
the management of wild populations.
Ecology
1, 6
Individuals, populations &
environments
Study guides
Primary literature
readings
2
Jan. 26, Climate & the biosphere
Jan. 28, The ecological niche
Jan. 30 Climate change: how global
environmental monitoring systems
affect our understanding of a shifting
climate and how we as a society can
use new information to address facets
of global change.
Ecology guide ch. 2 and 3
2, 3
Kearney2004
Fundamental niche
3
Feb. 2,
Feb. 4,
Feb. 6
Ecology guide ch. 4 and 5
4, 5
Quiz 1
(material from week 2)
4
Feb. 9,
Ecology guide ch. 7-9
Feb. 11, Life histories
7, 8, 9
Feb. 13 Complex life cycles: how stable isotope
technologies work and how they allow
us to understand and conserve
animals like whales and monarch
butterflies that move across great
distances.
Waddington1979
Optimal foraging
5
Feb. 18, Population dynamics
Feb. 20
Ecology guide ch. 10 and 11
10, 11
Quiz 2
(material from weeks 3
& 4, i.e. study guides 45 and 7-9)
Energy & water
Optimal foraging
Interactions
6
Feb. 23, Populations, continued
Feb. 25, Population dynamics in the wild: how
Feb. 27 genomic technologies allow ecologists
to track population densities and make
informed decisions about harvest rates
in managed fisheries to protect world
food supplies.
Competition
Ecology guide ch. 12
12
DePaepe2006
life history tradeoffs
7
Mar. 2,
Mar. 4,
Mar. 6
Ecology guide ch. 13
13
Quiz 3
(material from weeks 5
& 6)
Predation (population models)
8
Mar. 9, Finish predation
Mar. 11, Midterm review
Mar. 13 Midterm on Friday
9
Mar. 23, Parasitism & herbivory
Mar. 25, Complexity in food webs: how
Mar. 27 advances in statistical techniques and
computer-aided visualization provide a
new window into tropical food webs,
facilitating our estimation and
mitigation of functional loss in the face
of deforestation and other pressures.
Ecology guide ch. 14
14
Goheen2010
mutualism
10
Mar. 30, Finish parasitism
Apr. 1,
Mutualism & commensalism
Apr. 3
Ecology guide ch. 15
15
Quiz 4
(material from week 9)
Communities & ecosystems
11
Apr. 6,
Apr. 8,
Apr. 10
Introduction to communities
Succession
Ecology guide 16 & 17
16 & 17
Crutsinger06
genetic variation &
communities
12
Apr. 13,
Apr. 15,
Apr. 17
More succession
Spatial scale, S-A relationship,
Biogeography
Unseen diversity: how environmental
genomics is revealing microbial
communities, allowing for better
societal decisions in multiple areas,
from crop management to disease
prevention in wildlife.
Ecology guide ch. 18
18
Quiz 5
(material from weeks
10 & 11)
13
Apr. 20,
Apr. 22,
Apr. 24
More biogeography,
Diversity
Ecology guide ch. 19
19
Hawlena10
physiology &
ecosystems
14
Apr. 27,
Apr. 29,
May 1
Ecosystems & global change
Ecology guide ch. 20 through Quiz 6
The “n of 1” problem: we only have one 20 - 23 23
(material from weeks
planet, so how do we know that
12 & 13)
anthropogenic influence is affecting the
natural world? A discussion of modern
statistical techniques relevant to
societal decisions about global climate
change, with particular emphasis on
quantifying and appreciating
uncertainty in decision making.