BISC 3162 Syllabus

Plant-Animal Interactions Laboratory

George Washington University – Fall 2012

F 800 – 12:005 p.m., Bell 204

Instructor: Dr. John Lill

Phone: (202) 994-6989

E-mail:

Office: Lisner 415

Course materials: Handouts describing the objectives and methods for each project will be provided the week of each experiment. Background reading related to each project will consist of 2-3 scientific papers from the primary literature. These papers will also be useful in preparing lab reports. All readings will be made available on BlackBoard.

Grading: Grades for the laboratory are independent from the lecture course and will be based on the laboratory write-ups. Three of the six total projects must be written up as formal scientific papers (e.g., Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections), while the other half will require you to turn in a worksheet answering specific questions. Attendance and participation in all laboratory exercises is mandatory (field trips cannot be made up). Each worksheet is worth 25 points and each lab report is worth 100 points for a total of 375 possible points. For the first lab report, there will be an opportunity to re-write.

Tentative Schedule (weather permitting –subject to change)

August 31stField trip to US National Arboretum. Conduct Enemy-Release Experiment on two oak species (PROJECT 1).

September 15.Field trip to RockCreekPark. Collect slug caterpillars to rear for parasitism (EFS Hypothesis). (PROJECT 2).

September 22.Lab Day. Process data from PROJECT 1 and 2; measure leaf herbivory from PROJECT 1. Begin performance experiment with Euclea delphinii larvae (PROJECT 3)

September 29.Field trip to either USNA or National Zoo Butterfly House. Conduct pollinator choice experiment. (PROJECT 4).

October 6.Lab Day. Collect final data on PROJECTS 2 and 3. Process data from pollinator choice experiment.PROJECT 1 Lab Report due.

October 13.Field trip to USNA. Nature Walk.PROJECT 2 Worksheet Due

October 20. Lab day. Plant Brassica rapa seeds for Project6.

October 27.Field trip to Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge. Collect acorns for seed predation experiment (PROJECT 5). PROJECT3 Worksheet due.

November 3.Lab day. Conduct tolerance experiment with Brassica rapa. (PROJECT 6). PROJECT 3 Lab Report due.

November 10.Lab day. Process acorns from PROJECT 6. PROJECT 4Worksheetdue.

November 17Lab day. Collect data from Project 6, perform herbivore choice tests. Project 5 Lab Report due.

November 24. No lab. Thanksgiving break.

December 1. Wrap-up and final discussion. Project 6 Lab Report due.

Assigned Readings

  1. Zar, J. 1999. Biostatistical Analysis. Chapter 1-3. Prentice Hall.
  2. Pechenick, J. A. 2004. Writing laboratory and other research reports. Chapter 8 in: A Short Guide to Writing about Biology. Pearson Education. Pp. 143-211.
  3. Bernays, E.A., and R. F. Chapman. 1994. Chapter 1 of Host-Plant Selection by Phytophagous Insects. Chapman and Hall. 14 pp.
  4. Fritz, R. S., and P. W. Price. 1988. Genetic variation among plants and insect community structure: willows and sawflies. Ecology 69: 845-856.
  5. Nakamura, M. and T. Ohgushi. 2003. Positive and negative effects of leaf shelters on herbivorous insects: linking multiple herbivore species on a willow. Oecologia 136: 445-449.
  6. Lill, J. T., and R J. Marquis. 2003. Ecosystem engineering by caterpillars increases insect herbivore diversity on white oak. Ecology 84: 682-690.
  7. Lill, J. T., R. J. Marquis, and R. E. Ricklefs. 2002. Host plants influence parasitism of forest caterpillars. Nature 417: 170-173.
  8. Singer, M. Ecology paper (in press).
  9. Endress, P. K. 1999. Symmetry in flowers: diversity and evolution. International Journal of Plant Sciences 160: S3-S23.
  10. Fishman, L. and R. Wyatt. 1999. Pollinator-mediated competition, reproductive character displacement, and the evolution of selfing in Arenaria uniflora. Evolution 53: 1723-1733.
  11. Gullan, P. J., and P. S. Cranston. 2000. Insects and Plants. Pp. 239-275 in: The Insects: and Outline of Entomology. Blackwell.
  12. Krebs, C. J. 1985. SpeciesDiversityI. Pp. 513-539 in: Ecology: the Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance. Harper and Row.
  13. Stamp, N. E., and R. T. Wilkens. 1993. On the cryptic side of life: being unapparent to enemies and the consequences for foraging and growth of caterpillars. Pp. 283-330 in: Stamp and Casey (eds.), Caterpillars, Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging. Chapman and Hall.
  14. Greene, E. 1989. A diet-induced developmental polympophism in a caterpillar. Science 243: 643-646.
  15. Marquis, R. J. 1984. Leaf herbivores decrease fitness of a tropical plant. Science 226: 537-539.
  16. Price, P. W. et al. 1980. Interactions among three trophic levels: influence of plants on interactions between insect herbivores and natural enemies. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11: 41-65.
  17. Stowe, K.A., R.J. Marquis, C.G. Hochwender, and E.L. Simms. 2000. Plant tolerance to herbivory and disease. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics31:565-595.
  18. Stowe, K. 1998. Experimental evolution of resistance in Brassica rapa: correlated response of tolerance in lines selected for glucosinolate content. Evolution 52:703-712.
  19. Siemens, D. H. ,and T. Mitchell-Olds. 1996. Glucosinolates and herbivory by specialists (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Lepidoptera: Plutellidae): consequences of concentration and induced resistance. Environmental Entomology 25:1344-1353.