Syllabus

Spring, 2002

Class Times/Places:

Office Hours:

I will be on campus most weekdays. You are welcome to call or come and find me in my office or lab (Harned Hall 304) at any time. Although there is always a chance that I may have something under way which can not be interrupted, I can usually stop and help. Additional means of contacting me are the phone (number above) and email (just click on the "eMail Me" buttons on any of my web pages).

Course Description:

Credit Hours: This course is designed for three hours per week (3 credit hours) of lecture and three hours per week (1 credit hour) of laboratory. The credit hours are listed in the University catalog as 4 for the lecture and 0 for the lab and only the lecture receives an ABCDF letter grade (the lab gets either an "s" or "u"). For this reason, 25% of the letter grade comes from your performance in lab (see below under Grading)

Prerequisites: BIO 111 & BIO 112 (Intro to Biology I and II), BIO 212 (Genetics), BIO 211 (Cell Biology) In addition -- courses in botany, evolution, invertebrate and vertebrate zoology and an elementary statistics course would be very helpful to anyone taking this course.

Catalog Description. Fundamental ecological principles with special reference to levels of organization, population and community properties, structural adaptation, functional adjustments, and other factors affecting the distribution of organisms.

Course Objectives:

This course is designed to present an introduction to current theories and practices in ecology. Students are introduced 1) to the various questions (in a broad sense) asked by ecologists, 2) to the ideas (theories, models) from which hypotheses are suggested to answer the questions, and 3) to the ways in which ecologists go about gathering data to refute or support the proposed hypotheses. Specific ecological studies are used to illustrate some of what has been learned about the natural world through the study of ecology. Thus, the course emphasizes the conceptual models by through which we attempt to understand complex biological systems, the facts upon which those models are based, and the processes through which we learn these facts.

The course follows the organizational plan of the textbook. Because ecology is inextricably linked to evolution, we start with an examination of evolutionary ideas and concentrate on those with specific application to topics covered elsewhere in the course. -- What is evolution? What are the ties between ecology and the genetic variation necessary for evolution? What is natural selection? How does the formation of new species depend on the environment? Why do species go extinct?

In a similar fashion, we also explore the links between behavior and ecology through study of behaviors that have ecological consequences. -- What consequences arise from the fact that group and individual success may be separate phenomena? Why is group living a response to the environment? What types of behaviors have direct links to ecological success? What sorts of reproductive strategies exist?

After exploring the ties between evolution and ecology, we proceed to topics specifically linked to the science of population ecology. -- How do we model population growth? What are the consequences of age structure on population growth? How do non-living environmental factors affect organisms' abilities to survive, grow, and reproduce? What are the consequences of interactions between organisms on their abilities to survive, grow, and reproduce?

Since ecologists tend to view biological systems in a hierarchical fashion, we take a hierarchical approach also. Once we explore interactions at the level of populations, we next look at how organisms are organized into communities composed of many species and how those communities interact with the non-living environment to form ecosystems. -- How do we define communities? What sorts of communities can be found in different parts of the world (terrestrial and aquatic)? How do we characterize such complex assemblages as communities? What ecological properties do all communities share? What are ecosystems? Do ecosystems have characteristic structures? What properties do all ecosystems share?

Evaluation:

This course is intended for the collegiate senior year. Thus, you have had extensive experience in taking and successfully completing college courses. With this assumption, material is presented in two ways, with considerable overlap. The primary source for you is the TEXTBOOK. Your second source of information is lecture, which is supplemented with material on this website (http://www.tnstate.edu/ganter). Not all of the information in the text can be presented in lecture, yet you are responsible for all of the information in the text and anything added in lecture. The lectures are intended to give an overview of the material and cover material from the book that bears repetition and close reading: complex ideas and mathematical formalizations of ecological ideas and hypotheses. Since you are responsible for all of the material, time will be given in each lecture for questions stemming from your reading. If you do not read the material prior to class, you will miss the opportunity to ask questions in open forum and must contact me outside of lecture. This can be done in person (note office hours above), over the phone (keep calling -- don't just leave a message as I have limited time for returning phone calls and may not get to it), or through email (leave 24 hours or more for a response). Assignments must be turned in through email. Additional material may be covered in lecture and additional reading materials may be assigned then. The author of the textbook maintains a website with supplementary information for all chapters (with quiz materials -see the ecology course syllabus page for a link to the site) and your instructor has also contributed supplementary material (accessible through the ecology course syllabus page on this website). To reiterate, the student is responsible for material in the assigned readings and supplemental materials from the websites as well as material presented in lecture.

Grading: There will be four period-long examinations during laboratory classes on the days noted in the laboratory schedule. Examinations will cover only the material covered since the previous examination and will be in objective/essay/problem format. However, the final will be comprehensive and will stress terminology.

In addition to examinations, the final and homework, there will be a term paper and/or presentation on a subject chosen by the student and approved by the instructor. The choice of a paper or presentation must be approved or the paper / presentation will not be accepted. The paper / presentation is described in its own webpage. Presentations will be given at the end of the semester during laboratory meetings. It is advisable to use Microsoft Powerpoint or another presentation authoring program.

Laboratory assignments will be described during the laboratory periods and are due on the dates listed in the laboratory schedule. There is a penalty of three points for each day that a lab is past due.

All dates for both homework and lecture examinations are subject to change by me but this will be announced in class. The overall grade for the course will be based on the standard TSU point-to-grade scale. The distribution of points is:

Exams:	50%
Laboratory:	25%
Final:	10%
Presentation/paper:	15%

Policy on plagiarism and cheating: Cheating on exams or plagiarizing on a paper will result in a 0 grade for that exam or paper. The Department Chair and Dean will be informed of the occurrence. To plagiarize is 1. to appropriate and pass off as one's own (the writings, ideas, etc., of another). 2. To appropriate and use passages, ideas, etc. from another's text or product. (Funk and Wagnells Standard Dictionary of the English Language, 1965). All papers will be kept by the instructor.

Schedule of Lectures and Assignments:

Final Examination is comprehensive

Schedule of Laboratories:

There will be no final examination for the laboratory portion of the course

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Last updated on August 21, 2001