Download BESC 416 WILDLIFE POPULATION BIOLOGY Course Syllabus Instructor: Dr. Dean Ransom, Jr.

BESC 416
WILDLIFE POPULATION BIOLOGY
Course Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Dean Ransom, Jr.
Office: STM 212 Office Hours 8-11AM MWF; 2-5 PM MW
Phone: 903-886-5938
E-Mail: [email protected]
Course Description:
Students will be introduced to the general concepts of animal ecology which
emerge at various levels of organization-ecosystem, community, population, and
individual and how this information is used to manage wildlife populations. Upon
completion of this course students shall understand:
1. The structure of ecosystems, communities; structure and dynamics of
wildlife populations, competition, predation, dispersal, and population
stability; life history characteristics.
2. The analysis and interpretation of results documenting population level
behavior in the scientific literature.
Textbook:Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management. 3rd edition. J. M.
Fryxell, A.R.E. Sinclair, and G. Caughley. Blackwell publishing.
Attendance:
Lecture attendance is imperative for a successful completion of this course. If you
must be absent, contact me before the scheduled lecture, assignment, or exam.
If you do not have university excuse, you will receive a zero for work given that
day.
Grading:
3 Lecture exams @100 pts.
5 Assignments @50 pts.
Total 550 pts. Letter grade based on the traditional breakdown of points earned
divided by points possible x 100%.
90-100%=A; 80-89%=B; 70-79%=C; etc.
Obligatory statements:
All students enrolled at the University shall follow the tenets of common decency
and acceptable behavior conducive to a positive learning environment (see
Student’s Guide Handbook, Policies and Procedures, Conduct).
Plagiarism is a criminal activity. You must cite all sources of information. Copying
of material, whether parts of sentences, whole sentences, paragraphs or entire
articles will result in a grade of zero for your assignment and can result in further
disciplinary action. Note that this is true throughout the University and we do
have plagiarism detecting software in place. Further information for avoiding this
activity will be provided with your written assignments.
Students with disabilities: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is federal
anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for
persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all
students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for
reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you have a disability requiring
an accommodation, please contact: Office of Student Disability Resources and
Services, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Gee Library, Room 132, (903)-8865150,or (903)-886-5835, FAX (903)-468-8148, [email protected].
*The instructor reserves the right to change, alter, modify, bend, staple, fold, or
mutilate this syllabus as needed; such changes will be announced in class before
changes are made.
Schedule
Wk
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Lecture
Introduction, biomes, animals as individuals 2nd edition notes.
Food and Feeding Chapter1
Home range and habitat use Chapter 2; Dispersal, Dispersion and
distribution Chapter 3
Dispersal, Dispersion, and Distribution (cont.); Population Growth and
Regulation, Chapter 4. EXAM 1 –up to but not Popn Growth.
Population growth and regulation (cont.); Competition and facilitation
between species Chapter 5.
Competition and facilitation between species (cont.); Predation Chapter
6
Predation (cont); Parasites and Pathogens Chapter 7
Parasites and pathogens (cont); Consumer resource dynamics Chapter 8
Exam II-up to but not Consumer resource dynamics.
Consumer resource dynamics (cont).; Ecology of Behavior Chapter 9
Ecology of behavior (cont.); Habitat loss and Meta-populations Chapter
21.
Counting animals/age-stage structure Chapter 12-13
Wildlife harvesting Chapter 14; Population Viability Analysis Chapter 15.
EXAM III- Whatever’s left.