Download Fundamentals of Ecology - University of West Florida

Fundamentals of Ecology
The University of West Florida
Instructor: Dr. Karen Pritchard
Office: Bld 58 Rm 61
Phone: 474-2753
Office Hours: TBA
Email: [email protected]
Textbook: Miller, G.T. Essentials of Ecology.
4th Ed.
-------------------------------------------------
Approximately 16.4 to 20.4 million hectares of tropical forest are being destroyed each year. Only 50% of
the mature tropical forests remain!
Course Overview
Ecology is a broad subject dealing with the distribution of living organisms in time and
space, and the interaction of organisms with other living things and their physical environment.
This ecology course is intended for non-biology majors who have an interest in nature and their
interaction with it. Although it is not a requirement of this course that you took biology or
chemistry in high school, it will benefit you greatly if you have some experience with both those
subjects.
This course will give you a general overview of ecological principles and how those
principles influence the world around us. The viewpoint of the text, Essentials of Ecology, is
anthropocentric (human-centered) for the most part. That is discouraged in advanced ecology
courses, as study of ecology pertains mostly to organisms other than humans. The author's
perspective will serve you well, however, because the objectives of this course are both you
learning the basics of ecological theory and application, but also for you to think in an ecological
context about interactions you have with nature or your physical environment on a daily basis.
We will follow closely the outline of the book throughout the course. There may be a
few deviations, but for the most part the book will define the path of the class. We will cover one
chapter per week beginning in week 2 of the course. The text itself is divided into three sections:
humans and sustainability; environmental and ecological scientific principles and concepts; and,
sustaining biodiversity. You will notice, however, that the bulk of the course material occurs in the
middle section with the first and last sections, respectively, serving as an introduction to the
environmental and ecological problems/science and a summary of the importance of preserving
ecosystems and biodiversity.
The single most effective advertising campaign in U.S. history involved Smokey the
Bear and the slogan, “Only you can prevent forest fires” in 1947! It has since helped
prevent hundreds of thousands of forest trees.
Course Participation
An inherent problem with distance learning courses is students and their instructor do not
have the type of face to face contact that occurs in typical lecture courses. Thus, students may
have a tendency to procrastinate, putting off coursework until the end of the semester. Weekly
assignments, discussions, and quizzes have been designed in this course to keep you engaged
throughout the semester. You will be expected to interact with your classmates and Dr. Pritchard
via weekly threaded discussion sessions on topics related to a given week's subject matter.
Weekly quizzes will test your knowledge of material covered in a given week and three exams will
test your overall knowledge of the subject material.
It may surprise you that among all nations the U.S. does NOT set aside the greatest percent of land mass.
Venezuela protects the most at 22.2%, Botswana protects 17.4%, the Czech and Slovakia republics protect
15.4% while the U.S. is at 10.5%.
Course Evaluation
Your grade in this course will be determined by four things: homework assignments,
discussion participation, weekly quizzes and exams. Starting in week 2, we will cover a new
chapter each week. Weekly assignments will be posted under chapter headings on the course
website. You will be expected to read Dr. Pritchard's introductory narratives that introduce each
chapter. You then will read that week's chapter, participate in the threaded discussion during
each week, and take weekly timed quizzes to test your knowledge of the material covered.
Every fifth week you will have an exam covering material from the previous four weeks.
Course material will be activated on the eLearning website weekly. This will include a
Chapter Overview that will layout reading, homework, and discussion assignments.
Weekly threaded discussion topics will be derived from critical thinking questions posted
in the discussion section of the e-learning website. Review the discussion material and join the
discussion each week. You may ask or answer questions on any other course-related topic
during weekly threaded discussions, but the critical thinking questions are designed for you to
consider practical applications of the material you learn in each chapter. Participation in threaded
discussions is mandatory and will constitute 10% of your final course grade. Homework
assignments for each will account for another 10% of your final course grade
Weekly quizzes will be derived from content presented in a given chapter. A quiz will
consist of 15 multiple choice, true/false, or matching questions and you will be allowed 20
minutes to complete it. Quizzes will be open book but given the time restraints it will benefit you
to know the chapter material prior to beginning a quiz. Quizzes will be posted on the eLearning
site along with other chapter material. You may take a quiz anytime after it is activated and prior
to when it is due; see course calendar for due dates. DO NOT open a quiz file prior to when you
plan to take it because the eLearning software will allow you access to a quiz only once. Of the
11 quizzes, you will be permitted to drop the lowest grade. The average of the other 10 quizzes
will constitute 30% of your course grade.
The remaining 50% of your course grade will come from exams; see course
calendar for exam due dates. There will be three exams given during the semester. You will be
allowed to drop the lowest score among the three. Exams will follow the format of quizzes for the
most part but will have three short answer questions in addition to 30 multiple choice, true/false,
or matching questions. You will have 75 minutes to complete each exam. Exams will be open
note/open book but you should not plan on being able to skim through the book to find correct
answers without having learned the material. Like quizzes, timed exams will only allow you
to access them a single time.
John Muir (1838-1914) is considered the father of conservation in the US. He was an ardent naturalist
and was the founding president of the Sierra Club, which remains one of the most popular and
powerful environmentalist organizations in the US.
Course Goals and Student Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course you should be able to:
1. Describe human impact on nature.
2. Explain the underlying biological and chemical principles of ecology.
3. Define how energy and matter flow and cycle in our environment.
4. Use charts, figures, narrative descriptions and other appropriate technical writing and oral
communication tools when exploring and discussing ecological related information.
5. Recognize the source and derivation of ecological terminology.
6. Employ scientific processes when addressing everyday problems.
7. Place a greater emphasis on the processes used to conduct scientific investigations and the
results of these investigations.
8. Read and understand newspaper and television reports on current ecological research and
development and recognize the social/ethical issues associated with these advances in ecology.
9. Willingly contribute your ideas and understandings of ecology to current issues.
10. Justify personal decisions based upon information and ethics which are consistent with what
is known from ecology.
“Nothing about life makes sense unless it is in the light of evolution.”
Theodosius Dobzhansky
Course Outline:
Learning Objectives
Chapter
1
Environmental Problems, Their causes, and
Sustainability
Students will be able to:
1) Distinguish between environmentalism and
environmental science; define Earth capital and
solar capital.
2) Draw an exponential growth curve; distinguish
between exponential growth and linear growth.
3) Distinguish among renewable resources, potentially
renewable resources, and nonrenewable
resources.
4) Describe the tragedy of the commons.
5) Distinguish between point sources and nonpoint
sources of pollution.
6) Distinguish between pollution prevention and
pollution cleanup.
7) Summarize the root causes of environmental
problems.
8) Define environmental worldview.
9) Evaluate the sustainability of human societies at this
point in time.
2
Science, Systems, Matter and Energy
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
Students will be able to:
List four typical inappropriate characterizations of
science.
Distinguish between frontier science and
consensus science; accuracy and precision;
science and technology.
Define environmental science.
Define model.
Draw a simple, generalized system.
Explain how negative feedback loops and
positive feedback loops can be coupled to
maintain stability.
Describe how the environment is a complex
system and how effects of changes in the system
are often delayed.
Define matter.
Describe the structure of the periodic table of the
elements.
Define chemical formula.
Distinguish between high-quality matter and lowquality matter.
Describe how the law of conservation of matter
governs normal physical and chemical changes.
Describe why the law of conservation of matter
and energy is necessary to govern nuclear
changes.
Define energy.
Summarize the first and second laws of energy
and give one example to illustrate each.
16) Describe the implications of the law of
conservation of matter and the second law of
energy for high-waste, matter-recycling, and lowwaste societies.
3
Ecosystems: Components, Energy Flow, and Matter
Cycling
Students will be able to:
1) Define ecology.
2) List the characteristics of life.
3) Distinguish among lithosphere,hydrosphere,
atmosphere, and ecosphere.
4) Distinguish between an open system and a
closed system.
5) Define abiotic components of an ecosystem.
6) Summarize the law of tolerance.
7) Define biotic component of an ecosystem.
8) Distinguish between food chains and food webs;
grazing food web and detrital food web.
9) Evaluate which ecosystems show the highest
average net primary productivity and which
contribute most to global net primary productivity.
10) Describe the historical development and
distinguishing features of three approaches
ecologists use to learn about ecosystems: field
research, laboratory research, and systems
analysis.
11) Define ecosystem service. List five examples of
ecosystem services.
4
Evolution and Biodiversity: Origins, Niches, and
Adaptation
Students will be able to:
1) Distinguish between prokaryotic and eukaryotic
cells.
2) Define species.
3) List major steps which have occurred in Earth's
chemical and biological evolution.
4) Compare the gradualism model and punctuated
equilibrium hypothesis.
5) Describe connections among mutations,
adaptations, differential reproduction, and
biological evolution.
6) List four limits of adaptation to change.
7) Summarize three common misconceptions about
evolution.
8) Describe biodiversity in terms of speciation and
extinction.
9) Summarize how humans have tinkered with
evolutionary processes; nature's lessons that can
be adopted as principles for more sustainable
lifestyles; and ways that humans can restore and
rehabilitate ecosystems.
5
Climate and Terrestial Biodiversity
Students will be able to:
Distinguish between weather and climate.
Describe at least five different factors which
contribute to global air-circulation patterns.
1)
2)
3)
Distinguish between a tornado and a tropical
cyclone.
4) Describe an upwelling and how it might be
affected by an El Niño-Southern Oscillation.
5) Define greenhouse effect.
6) Describe the general effects of the following
microclimates: windward and leeward sides of a
mountain, forests, cities.
7) Describe how climate affects the distribution of
plant life on Earth.
8) Compare the climate and adaptations of plants
and animals in deserts, grasslands, and forests.
9) Compare the biodiversity and stratification in the
three major kinds of forests.
10) Describe how a mountain ecosystem is like an
"island of biodiversity."
6
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7
Aquatic Biodiversity
Students will be able to:
Summarize the distribution of light, salt, and
temperature in different aquatic life zones.
Evaluate the significance of the ecological
contributions of the oceans.
Describe the characteristics and ecological
significance of coral reefs.
Distinguish between coastal and inland wetlands.
List and compare the four zones of a lake.
Define watershed.
Community Ecology
Students will be able to:
1) Define ecological niche.
2) Distinguish between a specialist and a generalist.
3) Distinguish among the following roles played by
species and give one example of each: native
species, nonnative species, indicator species,
keystone species.
4) Distinguish among the following species
interactions and give one example of each:
interspecific competition, predation, and
symbiosis.
5) List two strategies that predators use to capture
their prey.
6) Distinguish among three forms of symbiotic
relationships and give one example of each:
parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism.
7) Define succession.
8) Summarize contributions of disturbances (such
as fire) to their understanding of succession.
9) Distinguish among the following types of stability
and give an example of an ecosystem which
exemplifies each: inertia, constancy, resilience.
10) Summarize the theory of island biogeography.
8
1)
2)
3)
4)
Population Ecology
Students will be able to:
List and define four variables which collectively
determine population dynamics.
Define zero population growth. Define biotic
potential.
Define carrying capacity.
Distinguish between density-dependent and
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
density-independent checks on population growth,
and list three examples of each.
List three types of population curves found in
nature, and identify one organism which
exemplifies each.
Distinguish between r-strategists and Kstrategists, and give two examples of each.
Distinguish conservation biology from wildlife
management.
List seven ways humans have modified natural
ecosystems.
Describe the new discipline restoration ecology.
9
Applying Population Ecology: The Human Population
Students will be able to:
1) Define population demography and the factors
affecting human population demography and size.
2) Describe age-structure diagrams and the
difference(s) between age-structure diagrams
typical of developed countries versus developing
countries.
3) Describe the catastrophic effects of HIV/AIDS to
developing nations in Africa, Southeast Asia, and
the Caribbean.
4) Describe the effect of human population size on
global environmental health.
5) Describe the Rule of 70 as it pertains to doubling
time of global human population.
6) Describe factors affecting human population
growth and define the demographic transition
hypothesis.
7) Describe human population growth over the last
several hundred years and provide details of
potential solutions to exponential human
population growth.
10
Sustaining Biodiversity I
Students will be abe to:
Describe human impacts on biodiversity and the
importance of preserving biodiversity.
Define conservation biology and appreciate the
importance of hot spots of biodiversity.
Understand the purposes for and uses of public
lands in the US.
Describe predominant forest management
ideologies and the harmful effects of deforestation
to terrestrial ecosystems.
Define the role(s) of national parks and nature
reserves in protecting representative ecosystems
and preserving biodiversity.
Describe ecological restoration and the five
principles required for successful ecological
restoration.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
11 & 12
1)
2)
Sustaining Biodiversity II
Students will be able to:
Define species extinction and describe the three
spatial scales over which extinction can occur.
Distinguish between threatened versus
endangered in defining extinction risk.
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
Describe the role of human activities on the rate
of extinction.
Contrast habitat loss and degradation with habitat
fragmentation.
Describe extinction risk due to nonnative species
and the best methods to control invasive species.
Describe the role of poaching in driving extinction
rates in terrestrial biodiversity hot spots.
Describe the major threats to threatened and
endangered species around the globe
Define CITES and describe other legal
approaches to species protection.
Describe the role of the Endangered Species Act
in preserving biodiversity in the US.
Describe the role of terrestrial wildlife sanctuaries
in protecting sensitive species and habitats.
Describe patterns of major marine biodiversity
and recommended approaches to preserving
marine biodiversity.
Describe human impacts on marine biodiversity.
Define the EEZ and its importance in protecting
the marine environment.
Describe the overfishing threat to global fish
populations and potential solutions to it.
Describe the major threats to wetland, marsh,
and freshwater habitats, as well as the importance
of these habitat types and main mechanisms used
to protect them.
Course Grading:
Grade determination:
Exams
50%
Quizzes
Homework
Discussion
30%
10%
10%
Final Grade Scale:
A
93-100%
A-
91-93%
B+
87-89%
B
83-86%
B-
80-82%
C+
77-79%
C
73-76%
C-
70-72%
D
60-69%
F
< 60%