Zoo 204.B - Fundamentals of Ecology
Course Syllabus – Spring 2004
Thomas O. Crist, Department of Zoology
Pearson 172, ext. 9-6187, cristto@muohio.edu
Meeting Time and Place: TR 8:00-9:15, Pearson 116
Required Textbook: Ecology: Concepts and Applications, 2nd ed. Manuel C. Molles, McGraw-Hill.
The objective of the course is to understand basic ecological principles and their applications to problems in resource management and conservation. Ecology is a broad discipline that has specialized practitioners, including those who study species conservation, forest management, or nutrient cycling in lakes, to name a few. Ecologists study a variety of scientific problems that are important to the biodiversity of organisms, the environment, and to human society. Contemporary ecology is a synthetic science drawing on biology, chemistry, geology, math, and statistics. Therefore, you will be challenged to learn and integrate material from the various disciplines necessary to the understanding of ecological processes.
The course involves attending lecture, reading the textbook, and writing two group reports on in-class computer exercises. There will be some overlap between the textbook readings and lecture content. Some topics will be covered in greater depth in lecture than in the book, whereas other topics will be left largely to readings. Exams will emphasize material covered in class, so it is in your best interest to attend class. Lecture outlines from in-class PowerPoint presentations are available online at http://zoology.muohio.edu/crist where you can follow a link to Zoo 204 course notes. The online notes are outlines only, and do not contain all of the material covered in class.
You will be evaluated primarily by your performance on three examinations–two mid-term exams and a final. All exams will be multiple-choice format, and questions will test on ecological principles, examples provided in class, and graph interpretation. Each exam will focus on material covered since the previous exam, and about 25% of the final exam will be comprehensive. The remaining portion of your grade will be based on two group-written reports on computer simulation exercises. The course grade will be determined equally among two mid-term exams (25% each), two written reports (25%) and a final exam (25%). Class participation is strongly encouraged and will affect grading decisions in borderline cases.
Assignment of a letter grade will be as follows: 97-100=A+, 93-96=A, 90-92=A-, 87-89=B+, 83-86=B, 80-82=B-, 77-79=C+, 73-77=C, 70-72=C-, 67-69=D+, 63-67=D, 60-62=D-, <60=F. Grading is not based on a curve; there is no pre-determined number of A's, B's, C's, etc.
This
course is an option for Level II of the Animal Diversity thematic
sequence. Zoo 204 provides the
principles for understanding how animals interact with their environments, and
how these interactions produce the patterns of biodiversity that we observe at
local and global scales. Specifically, this course meets the goals of the Miami
plan in the following ways. (1)
Thinking critically – Students will be expected to evaluate a variety of mechanisms
for explaining the occurrence or absence of species from all subdisciplines of
ecology, from physiological to ecosystem ecology. Specific ecological processes that influence diversity at the
population and community levels will be explored in more detail using computer
simulation exercises followed by a written synthesis of relevant primary
scientific literature. (2)
Understanding contexts – Ecological principles are relevant to the conservation
of animal diversity and the management of natural resources in environments
that are highly influenced by human activities. In this course, we will consider several examples in which
scientific principles can be used to guide environmental decision-making in
different socioeconomic and cultural contexts.
(3) Engaging with other learners – Students will work with classmates in
small groups to complete modeling assignments in similar manner that a group of
scientists, managers, or consultants might address a problem in the management
of species diversity. (4) Reflecting
and acting – Even nonscientists now realize that worldwide loss of biodiversity
represents an environmental, political, and moral crisis for humans. Students will be asked to reflect on the
place of humans in the environment and to consider how ecological principles
can help solve environmental problems.
By mastering the principles of ecology, it is hoped that students will
gain a fundamental understanding of the nature of environmental problems and
that they will be able to use these principles as global citizens to understand
future political, cultural, and social issues.
Written Reports on Computer
Exercises (Due Dates: March 25 and April 27)
You will
work in groups of 3-4 people for the in-class computer exercises, and later
submit a written report together as a group.
You may think of your group as an environmental consulting firm or a
panel of scientists hired to answer a particular ecological problem. The first exercise is on population
viability, which is widely used in assessing extinction risk of species under
different environmental conditions. The
second exercise deals with the processes that give rise to the species-area
relationship, which is perhaps the most widely applicable pattern in community
ecology. In class, you will decide as a
group the specific problem that you will address, and conduct preliminary
computer simulations. After consulting
the scientific literature, you will likely need to conduct additional
simulations outside of class. Then, as
a group, write a 4-5 page paper on each exercise (including tables and
graphs). The paper should contain: (1)
a short introduction outlining the general topic and objectives; (2) the
specific methods used to conduct the simulations and the analysis of computer
output; (3) a description of the results along with tables and figures
summarizing the data; and (4) a discussion that provides interpretation of the
results including references to the appropriate literature where relevant. Do not place all of the graphs you produced
in the paper; choose only the most important findings to show in a figure. The results from multiple computer
simulations can be summarized in a table.
Your discussion might also include specific management recommendations
based on your scientific findings.
Check for spelling and grammatical errors. You will be graded on your
writing, your interpretation of the data, appropriate use of published
literature, and your synthesis of the results.
You must cite at least three peer-reviewed journal articles, review,
or book monographs in your report. Most
journals are now available electronically by accessing the library web page (http://www.lib.muohio.edu). See the end of the syllabus for a
partial list of peer-reviewed journals that publish ecological research. To find a particular journal, use the online
catalog Sherlock. If the journal is
available electronically, Sherlock will provide a link to the journal. To do key-word searches for a particular
topic (e.g. Population Viability of Butterflies), I suggest that you use the
Science Citation Index (also known as the Web of Science) or Biological
Abstracts. Note that internet web
sites have not been subjected to scientific peer review and will not count
toward the requirement to use three peer-reviewed articles. Use an author-date format for in-text
citations (e.g. Smith 1995 for a single author, Smith and Clark 1995 for
two authors, or Smith et al. 1995 for multiple authors), and give a complete
list of references at the end of the paper. Refer to the articles in the body of the text by authors’ last
names and year only; do not give the full names of the authors or the titles of
the articles. This information belongs
in the list of references at the end of the paper. All members of your group will receive the same grade on each of
the two exercises. You may choose your
peer group to work with on each of the two computer exercises, but you must
change group membership so that no more than one other person works with you on
both exercises.
|
Week |
Day |
Date |
Lecture Topics |
Text Reading |
|
1 |
T |
13 Jan |
Introduction & The Scope of Ecology |
Chapter 1 |
|
|
R |
15 Jan |
Levels of Organization and Scaling |
|
|
2 |
T |
20 Jan |
Physical Factors: Temperature and Moisture |
Chapters 4 and 5 |
|
|
R |
22 Jan |
Light and Energy Exchange |
Chapter 6 |
|
3 |
T |
27 Jan |
Soils and Effects of Fire |
Chapter 2 |
|
|
R |
29 Jan |
Global Climate and Biome Distributions |
|
|
4 |
T |
3 Feb |
Aquatic Environments |
Chapter 3 |
|
|
R |
5 Feb |
Biodiversity and Genetic Variation |
Chapter 8 |
|
5 |
T |
10 Feb |
Natural Selection, Speciation and Extinction |
|
|
|
R |
12 Feb |
Exam I |
|
|
6 |
T |
17 Feb |
M/T Exchange Day – No Class |
|
|
|
R |
19 Feb |
Introduction to Populations |
Chapter 9 |
|
7 |
T |
24 Feb |
Life Tables and Life History |
Chapter 10 |
|
|
R |
26 Feb |
Population Growth and Regulation |
Chapter 11 |
|
8 |
T |
2 Mar |
Computer Exercise on Population Viability |
|
|
|
R |
4 Mar |
Human Population Growth and Harvesting |
|
|
9 |
T |
9 Mar |
Population Interactions: Competition |
Chapter 13 |
|
|
R |
11 Mar |
Population Interactions: Mutualism |
Chapter 15 |
|
10 |
T |
16 Mar |
Spring Break |
|
|
|
R |
18 Mar |
Spring Break |
|
|
11 |
T |
23 Mar |
Population Interactions: Predation |
Chapter 14 |
|
|
R |
25 Mar |
Population Interactions: Herbivory and Parasitism* |
|
|
12 |
T |
30 Mar |
Exam II |
|
|
|
R |
1 Apr |
Community Concepts and Species Diversity |
Chapters 16, 22 |
|
13 |
T |
6 Apr |
Communities: Disturbance and Succession |
Chapter 20 |
|
|
R |
8 Apr |
Computer Exercise on Species Diversity |
|
|
14 |
T |
13 Apr |
Ecosystem Concepts and Food Webs |
Chapter 17 |
|
|
R |
15 Apr |
Ecosystems: Energy Flow and Productivity |
Chapter 18 |
|
15 |
T |
20 Apr |
Ecosystems: Nutrient Cycling |
Chapter 19 |
|
|
R |
22 Apr |
Landscape Ecology |
Chapter 21 |
|
16 |
T |
27 Apr |
Global Ecology ** |
Chapter 23 |
|
|
R |
29 Apr |
Concluding Remarks and Review |
|
* Group Report on Population
Viability Exercise Due Thursday, March 25
** Group Report on Species
Diversity Exercise Due Tuesday, April 27
A partial list of peer-reviewed journals that publish ecological research. Many of these journals are available electronically (check http://www.lib.muohio.edu). High-profile scientific journals such as Science, Nature, and BioScience also periodically publish articles on ecological research.
Advances in Ecological Research
American Naturalist
American Midland Naturalist
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics
Australian Journal of Ecology
Biodiversity and Conservation
Biological Conservation
Biotropica
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Canadian Journal of Zoology
Conservation Biology
Conservation Ecology
Copeia
Ecography
Ecology
Ecology Letters
Ecological Applications
Ecological Entomology
Ecological Monographs
Ecosystems
Environmental Entomology
Environmental Management
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Forest Ecology and Management
Freshwater Biology
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Functional Ecology
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Journal of Animal Ecology
Journal of Applied Ecology
Journal of Arachnology
Journal of Arid Environments
Journal of Avian Ecology
Journal of Biogeography
Journal of Ecology
Journal of Great Lakes Research
Journal of Herpetology
Journal of Mammalogy
Journal of the North American Benthological Society
Journal of Range Management
Journal of Tropical Ecology
Journal of Vegetation Science
Journal of Wildlife Management
Landscape Ecology
Limnology and Oceanography
Oecologia
Oikos
Restoration Ecology
Restoration and Management Notes
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
The Condor
The Auk
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Wildlife Monographs
Wildlife Research