BIOL 4120                                                                                     Spring 2008

Principles of Ecology

 

Syllabus

 

Dafeng Hui

 

Office: Harned Hall 320

Phone: 963- 5777

Email: dhui@tnstate.edu

Web: http://faculty.tnstate.edu/dhui

 

 

Office hours: MWF 11:20 am - 2:20 pm; T Th 1:00-2:30 pm

 

Prerequisites:    BIO 111 & BIO 112 (Intro to Biology I and II),

BIO 212 (Genetics), BIO 211 (Cell Biology)

 

Textbook: Elements of Ecology, 6th ed., Smith, T. H. and Smith, R. L. 2006; Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, Inc. ISBN: 0-8053-4830-1
 

 

Class Times/Places:

 

Days

Times

Place

Lecture

MWF

10:20 - 11:15 AM

202 Harned Hall

Lab

T

1:00-4:00 PM

212 Harned Hall

Lab

Th

1:00-4:00 PM

212 Harned Hall

 

 

Schedule of Lectures and Reading:

Schedule of Laboratories:

Seminar

 

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Course Description:

 

Credit Hours:  4 credit hours

 

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.

 

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 three 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 the website from Dr. Ganter (http://www.tnstate.edu/ganter/EcologyPage.html). Not all of the information in the text can be presented in lecture but 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.

 

Assignments (including laboratory exercises and the optional paper) should be turned in through email.

 

Laboratory Attendance:  Attendance is required at both lecture and laboratory.  If you miss a laboratory and do not have a doctor's or other approved excuse (approved at the discretion of the laboratory instructor), the assignment for that laboratory will receive a grade of 0.  Since there are fewer than ten assignments, a 0 is a very significant penalty and should be avoided.  Attendance during laboratory periods where presentations are given is also mandatory and penalties will accompany unexcused absences.

 

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

 

In addition to examinations, the final and homework, there will be a presentation on a subject chosen by the student and approved by the instructor. 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.

 

This is also an optional written assignment. It must be turned in by the end of the 11th week of the semester (see schedule below). This paper will be no more than two typed, single-spaced pages long but must be a well-organized essay that explains the science behind a current environmental or ecological issue. The grade on the paper will be substituted for an examination grade (exclusive of the final examination)..

 

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. Up to 10% of a lab grade will be optionally (at the discretion of the lab instructor) may be determined on the day on which the laboratory assignment is due. The method will be a short quiz (just a few questions) on the calculations done in that laboratory exercise. The questions will focus on interpreting the methodology to ensure that you understand and can correctly interpret the calculations done.

 

All dates for both homework and lecture examinations are subject to change 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.

 

Accommodating those with disabilities:

The Biology Department, in conjunction with the Office of Disabled Student Services, makes reasonable accommodation for qualified students with medically documented disabilities. If you need an accommodation, please contact Dan Steely of TSU's Disabled Student Services Office at 963-7400 (phone) or 963-5051 (fax), preferably in the first week of class.

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Schedule of Lectures and Reading:

Week

Dates

Days

Topics

Lecture Slides

Reading

Dr. Ganter’s Note

1

1/14

MWF

Ecology as a Science

The Ecology-Evolution Interface

The Physical Environment

Lecture 1

Lecture 2

Lecture 3

Chapters 1, 2 & 3

Note 1

Note 2

Note 3

2

1/21

WF

The Physical Environment

The Aquatic Environment

Lecture 3

Lecture 4

Chapters 3 & 4

Note 4

3

1/28

MWF

The Terrestrial Environment

Plant Adaptations

Lecture 5

Lecture 6

Chapters 5 & 6

Note 5

Note 6

4

2/4

MWF

Animal Adaptations

Life History

Lecture 7

Lecture 8

Chapters 7 & 8

Note 7

Note 8

5

2/11

MWF

Population Characteristics

Population Growth

Lecture 9

Lecture 10

Chapters 9 & 10

Note 9

Note 10

6

2/18

MWF

Population Regulation

Metapopulations

Lecture 11

 

Chapters 11 & 12

Note 11

Note 12

7

2/25

MWF

Interspecific Competition

Lecture 12

Chapter 13

Note 13

 

3/3

 

Spring Break

 

 

 

8

3/10

MWF

Predation and Herbivory

 

Lecture 13

Chapter 14, papers  (Sam McNaughton)

Note 14

9

3/17

MWF

Mutualism and Parasitism

Lecture 14

Chapter 15

Note 15

10

3/24

MWF

Community Ecology

Lecture 15

Lecture 16

Lecture 17

Chapters 16 &17

Chapter 18

Note 16

Note 17

11

3/31

MWF

Ecosystems Ecology

 

Lecture 18

Lecture 19

 

Chapters 20, 21 & 22

 

Note 18

Note 19

12

4/7

MWF

Ecosystem Ecology

Global Change Ecology

Lecture 20

Lecture 21

Chapters 22

Chapter 29

Note 20

 

13

4/14

MWF

Biogeographical Ecology Landscape Ecology

Diversity Patterns

Lecture 22

 

Chapter 23

Chapters 26&28

Chapters 25

Note 21

 

14

4/21

MW

Human Ecology

Exam 4 (Wed)

Lecture 22

 

 

 

 15

4/28

 

Final Exam (10:20 AM)

 

 

 

Final Examination is comprehensive.

 

 

Schedule of Laboratories:

 

http://www.tnstate.edu/ganter/EcologyPage.html

Teaching Assistant:

Christopher Beals

Email: christopherbeals@yahoo.com

 

Week

Dates  

Topics 

Link to Lab Webpage and Readings

Lab Assignment Due Dates 

 

Sec. 01

Sec. 02

 

 

 

1

1/15

1/17

No lab

 

 

2

1/22

1/24

Spreadsheets

Intro to Spreadsheet

 

3

1/29

1/31

Spreadsheet Graphics

Spreadsheet Graphics

data

Spreadsheet 1 Assignment due 

4

2/5

2/7

Lecture Exam 1

Terms1 and sample

Presentation Topic Choice Due 

5

2/12

2/14

Scientific method***

Population Size

Sample lab report from Dr. Wallace

Spreadsheet Graphics due

6

2/19

2/21

Demography  

Demography lab 

Data

Other DATA link  link2

Population Size Estimation due

7

2/26

2/28

 Lecture Exam 2

Terms2 

 

 

3/4

3/6

Spring break

 

 

8

3/11

3/13

Library Resources and Presentation Research**

Literature Review

Presentation and paper and

Optional Written Assignment Instruction

 Demography due 

9

3/18

3/20

Water quality

Water quality

Test kit instruction,  click below for 

DO, Chlorine, Ammonia-N, Nitrate-N, Phosphate

  

10

3/25

3/27

Forest Ecosystem - Spatial Patterns

Spatial Pattern

Slides

Data from past years

 Water quality Lab due

11

4/1

4/3

Lecture Exam 3

Terms3

Optional Written Assignment due

12

4/8

4/10

Presentations

Presentation and paper

 

13

4/15

4/17

Presentations 

Term4

 Spatial Patterns Lab due

14

4/22

4/24

Presentations 

Lecture Exam4

 

 

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

 

 

Disclaimer and acknowledgement: The instructor reserves the right to change the occurrence, timing and content of lectures, laboratory exercises, and examinations. The policy and current schedule are mostly followed / provided by Dr. Ganter at Tennessee State University. The slides posted here are for students use for the course of Principles of Ecology. Some of these slides are modified from the slides downloaded from websites. I would like to thank these professors, especially Dr. Ganter at TSU, Dr. Ralph Kirby at National Yang-Ming University, Dr. Robert St. Clair at University of Alberta, Dr. Grant Gentry at Tulane University, and Dr. Yan Dong at State University of New York at Oswego. Some lab slides are adopted from Dr. Solomon Dobrowski from UC Davis, Kelly from UK. Figures and tables used in the lecture slides are mostly provided by the Media Manager for the exclusive use by adopters of Elements of Ecology by Smith and Smith, 6th Edition.

 

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