ecology
Biology 3370
Spring 2010
Dr. Dirnberger
338 Science Bldg.
e-mail:
423-6546 (office), 499-3231 (lab)
"Ecology is an infant just learning to talk, and, like other infants, is engrossed with its own coinage of big words. Its working days lie in the future. Ecology is destined to become the lore of Round River, a belated attempt to convert our collective knowledge of biotic materials into a collective wisdom of biotic navigation."
-Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
"And if we seem a small factor in a huge pattern, nevertheless it is of relative importance. We take a tiny colony of soft corals from a rock in a little water world. Fifty miles away the Japanese shrimp boats are dredging with overlapping scoops, bringing up tons of shrimps, rapidly destroying the species so that it may never come back....That isn't very important in the world. And six thousand miles away the great bombs are falling on London and the stars are not moved thereby. None of it is important or all of it is."
-John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts, 1941, The Sea of Cortez
Lecture
OBJECTIVES
This course will develop a comprehensive and integrated understanding of relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecological systems are highly complex, due to considerable variability in physical parameters and to a tremendous number of possible interactions among many species that each has different evolutionary pressures and histories. Because each ecological system is unique, a major challenge in ecology has been to understand whether the results of one study or a set of studies can be generalized across ecological systems. Such understanding is critical in light of rapid changes in the global systems and in biodiversity induced by a rapidly growing human population.
EXAM DATES and READINGS
Date / Textbook and additional readingsExam I / 4 February / Chapters 1, 4, 5, 10, 11 (to p. 229)
"All Things Small and Great"
Exam II / 18 March / Chapters 11 (from p. 229), 12, 7
“The Tragedy of the Commons”
Exam III / 20 April / Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, 20
Comprehensive
Final Exam /
Tuesday,
4 May 9:30 am
/ Chapters 18, 19, 22, 23"It's a Jungle in There"
Lab
We must tackle and grasp the larger, encompassing themes of our universe, but we make our best approach through small curiosities that rivet our attention--all those pretty pebbles on the shoreline of knowledge. For the ocean of truth washes over the pebbles with every wave, and they rattle and click with the most wondrous din.”
-Stephen J. Gould
OBJECTIVES
Populations, communities, and ecosystems cannot be thought of as “super organisms” and, as a result, approaches to understanding ecological systems differ from approaches used in other disciplines of biology. Ecological processes are highly variable over time and space, and boundaries are not clearly defined by membranes and tissues. Each ecological system is unique and processes occurring in a given system are typically large in scale and hard to measure directly. Meaningful patterns are often obscure and difficult to discriminate from randomness. Laboratory exercises will introduce students to methods of sampling and measuring ecological processes to test specific hypotheses. Important skills are to be able to understand and implement methods for estimating ecological parameters and processes, and to be able to adapt these methodologies to each unique study system.
Students should be able to:
· Develop experimental designs to test hypotheses on patterns and relationships observed in ecological systems.
· Construct an overall mental framework of the study area behind the science building that demonstrates an understanding of the interaction of its various ecologic components, the variability of these components, and the methodolgies and analyses that are used to measure and understand these phenomena.
· Recognize the challenges in studying ecological systems and demonstrate the ability to adapt “standard” methodolgies to each unique field situation.
Lab for Ecology
Generally, labs will be field trips. Dress appropriately for fieldwork. Be sure to bring your lab handouts and a calculator to lab. Come to lab even if the weather is bad; an alternative exercise will be performed.
Week of / Lab Activity / Assignments Due24 Jan / NO LAB
January 11 / NO LAB
January 18 / NO LAB
January 25 / Introduction to Studying Ecology1 / Part 1 of Introduction Lab (group) due in lab.
February 1 / Abiotic Factors Part 1: Sampling soil invertebrates1 / Part 2 of Introduction Lab (individual) due.
February 8 / Abiotic Factors Part 2: Identifying soil invertebrates
February 15 / Sampling Sessile Organisms / Sessile Organisms Lab (group) due in lab.
February 22 / Demography (Part 1) / Soil Invert Lab report (individual) due.
Part 1 of Demography Lab due (group) in lab.
March 1 / Demography (Part 2) 1
March 8 / NO LAB / Part 2 of Demography Lab report (individual) due.
March 15 / Sampling Mobile Organisms: Mark and recapture1
March 25 / Sampling Mobile Organisms: Mark and recapture1 / Mark Recapture Lab (group) due in lab
March 29 / Factors affecting Pine Distribution (Part I) / Bring a copy of your literature summary to lab. Literature summaries for Lab due at beginning of lab
Group summaries due at end of lab.
April 5 / Factors affecting Pine Distribution (Part II) 1
April 12 / Pine Distribution (Part III) 1
April 19 / Pine Distribution (Part IV) 1
April 26 / Pine Distribution (Part V) 1 - Group presentations / Pine Distribution Lab report (individual) and presentations (group) due in class
1 Field lab; dress appropriately
2 Lab reports are due on the day of the week for which you are enrolled (with the exception of the final lab which is due on in class on the same date for all lab sections).
What will be required to turn in for each lab will vary depending on the study unit. Some labs will require formal lab reports, others require completion of question sets. Each lab handout will instruct you on what needs to be turned in.
OFFICIAL STUFF FOR BOTH LECTURE AND LAB:
PREREQUISITES
Biology 2108
Required book:
The Economy of Nature - Robert E. Ricklefs
No manual for lab (you should download handouts from our lab web before coming to lab)
class web page:
http://science.kennesaw.edu/~jdirnber/ecology
This will link you to lecture and lab outlines and to other resources. While these outlines are detailed, they are not complete lecture notes (i.e. this is not an online course). The Lab Web page can also be accessed from this page by clicking on 'lab' in the top left hand corner. This will link you to the lab exercises and to class-generated data sets that you will need to complete your lab reports, and to other resources.
GRadE:
Lecture points:
Exam I 100
Exam II 100
Exam III 100
Final 100
Lab Points:
INTRODUCTORY LAB EXERCISE (Part 1) 5
INTRODUCTORY LAB EXERCISE (Part 2) 15
ABIOTIC /SOIL INVERTEBRATE LAB REPORT 25
MARK AND RECAPTURE 10
DEMOGRAPHY LAB EXERCISE 10
DEMOGRAPHY LAB REPORT 25
SAMPLING SESSILE ORGANISMS LAB EXERCISE 10
PINE LITERATURE SUMMARY (individual) 10
PINE LITERATURE SUMMARY (group) 10
Factors Influencing Pines LAB REPORT 40
Factors Influencing Pines GROUP PRESENTATOIN 10
Participation / group work points 10
TOTAL POINTS 580 pts
A > 90% pts. ; B > 80% pts ; C > 70% pts; D > 60% pts
Office hours:
Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-3:30 pm, Wednesday 1-2 pm, Friday 1-3 pm
If you cannot make it during these times, I will be glad to make an appointment with you. If you are having any problems with the material, please come by and see me. Don't put it off until it is too late.
POLICIES
· Safety must be a primary concern when in lab and in the field. You must review the Laboratory Safety Guidelines at: http://science.kennesaw.edu/biophys/LabSafetyGuideNoPic.doc
· Attendance: You must show up for field trips on time or you may get left behind! Attendance on trips is important because some exam questions will be based on observed systems. An understanding of processes within a study system is certainly enhanced by first-hand observation of that system. You may only make-up missed lab work for excused absence, and the nature of this work may vary from what was required during the actual lab missed.
· Late lab reports will result in a 5% reduction per class period on that lab report. The penalty is initiated at the beginning of each class/lab period (i.e. if the lab is not turned in at the start of class on the day it is due, 5% is taken off).
· Keep all of your returned, graded work (exams and lab reports). You must have these materials if you decide to contest your final course grade.
· Do not turn assignments in by e-mail or other electronic formats. Hard copies only.
· To find out about school closings due to inclement weather, check the KSU website: http://www.kennesaw.edu and click on “Campus Advisories”.
Accommodations
Any student with a documented disability or medical condition needing academic accommodations of class-related activities or schedules must contact the instructor immediately. Written verification from the KSU disAbled Student Support Services is required. No requirements exist that accommodations be made prior to completion of this approved University documentation. All discussions will remain confidential.
ACADEMIC WITHDRAWAL POLICY
Students may withdraw from one or more courses anytime before the last three weeks of the semester. However, as of Fall 2004, students will be allowed a maximum of eight total withdrawals if the enter KSU as a freshman. Transfer students will be allowed one withdrawal per fifteen credit hours attempted, for a maximum of eight. To withdraw, the student should complete an official withdrawal form in the Office of the Registrar. Students who officially withdraw from courses on or before the last day to withdraw without academic penalty will receive a “W”. Students who officially withdraw after the last day to withdraw without academic penalty (and before the last three weeks of the semester) will receive a “WF”, which will be counted as an “F” in calculation of their grade point average. The only exceptions to these withdrawal regulations will be for instances involving unusual circumstances, which are fully documented. Students may appeal to the academic standing committee for consideration of unusual circumstances.
LAST DATE TO WITHDRAW WITHOUT ACADEMIC PENALTY:
5 March 2010
Academic Integrity
Every KSU student is responsible for upholding the provisions of the Student code of Conduct, as published in the Undergraduate and Graduate catalogs. Section II of the Student Code of Conduct addresses the University’s policy on academic honesty, including provisions regarding plagiarism and cheating, unauthorized access to University materials, misrepresentation/falsification of University records or academic malicious/intentional misuses of computer facilities and/or services, and misuse of student identification cards. Incidents of alleged academic misconduct will be handled through the established procedures of the University Judiciary Program, which includes either an “Informal” resolution by a faculty member, resulting in a grade adjustment, or a formal hearing procedure, which may subject a student to the Code of Conduct’s minimum one semester suspension requirement.