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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. rd 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.