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Lectures: Mondays and Wednesdays 11:10am-12:00pm !
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Education (ED) 214 !
Lab 1: Mondays 2:10-5:30pm !
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Health Sciences (HS) 207 !
Lab 2: Tuesdays 2:10-5:30pm !
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Liberal Arts (LA) 306 !
Website: !
https://currents.cfc.umt.edu:8443/display/fors330spring2014/Home !
Login: forest.ecology
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PW: Trees4me !
NOTE: The CFC currents wiki may not work with all browsers (didn’t work with Safari). It
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appears to work fine with Firefox and Chrome.
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Class contact: umforestecology@gmail.com
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Molly Barth and Colin Maher !
409 Clapp Science Complex !
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Office Hours: Mondays 12:00-2:00pm and Wednesdays 9:00-10:45am !
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Examination of physical and biological factors affecting forest structure, composition, and function, including biodiversity, disturbance, and nutrient cycling. Also, we will work on developing skills in field observation, data interpretation and problem solving.
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Through lectures, assignments, field trips and laboratory exercises, you will learn the principles of forest ecology and the basics of ecological research in forests. You will also learn how to navigate the scientific literature and learn the basic aspects of scientific writing and
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presentation.
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Category Assignment
Final project
Lab
Pre-proposal brainstorming
Project draft proposal
Literature critique
Project final proposal
Literature review
Due date
2/24 or 2/25 (in lab)
3/3 or 3/4 (in lab)
3/17 (in class)
3/24 (in class)
4/21 (in class)
Final research paper
Final presentation
Fire adaptations
5/12 (drop-off)
4/28, 4/29, 5/5, or 5/6 (in lab)
2/18 (in class)
Forestry Research Methods and Design In lab assignment
40
25
Exams
Quizzes
Participation
Total Points
Excel
Kelly Island report
Pattee Canyon report
Exam 1
Exam 2
10 quizzes x 10 points each
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In lab assignment
4/7 or 4/8 (in lab)
5/5 or 5/6 (in lab)
3/10
5/7
Random
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Extra credit ???
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20
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While assignment and exam scores are technically independent of participation, they are in fact highly interrelated. It is no mystery that showing up for class and being engaged are requisites for success in learning anything. With that in mind, our contract is this: we will show up to teach and be available for discussion and questions, and we expect you to come to class and engage yourself in the topics as best you can. We will not give concessions for consistently missed class due to scheduling conflicts with work, etc. It is your job as a student to make sure you can attend and complete work for the classes you registered for. If you do have to miss class for something, it is always good policy to contact your instructor beforehand.
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Late assignments will be reduced 10% per day late (including weekends), regardless of the reason. We hope that this policy will encourage turning in assignments on time, but also
25
25
40
100
100
100
100
1000
Points
10
15
40
40
40
200
100

allow for the circumstance where you might need an extra day to make your assignment that
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much more excellent, without losing too many points. Don’t let it get out of hand, though!
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Academic honesty is a required practice, including taking care not to plagiarize the words or ideas of others (i.e., submitting a direct quotation from a source without using quotation marks and proper citation of the original document, or submitting text based on someone else’s ideas without proper citation). Plagiarism and other related forms of academic misconduct is subject to an academic penalty by the course instructor and/or a disciplinary sanction by the University of Montana. All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct
Code. The Code is available for review online at: !
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http://life.umt.edu/vpsa/student_conduct.php
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Please note, this class is offered for traditional letter grade only; it is not offered under
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the credit/no credit option.
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The University of Montana assures equal access to instruction through collaboration between students with disabilities, instructors, and Disability Services for Students (DSS). If you think you may have a disability adversely affecting your academic performance, and you have not already registered with DSS, please contact DSS in Lommason 154 or 406 243 2243. I will work with
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you and DSS to provide an appropriate accommodation.
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February 14th: Last day to drop classes on cyberbear !
February 18th- April 7th: Drop requires form with instructor and advisor signature, $10 fee to the registrar’s office, and student will receive a ‘W’ grade.
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April 8th:
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Do your readings before lecture. Even 15 minutes spent browsing the material before class (even if it makes no sense to you at first!) can be great to prime you for being engaged in lecture, and will help you formulate questions in class. Within 24 hours of lecture, aim to complete your reading and go over your notes, writing in things you missed or re-writing concepts in a way that makes more sense to you. Check out: http://orientation.ucsc.edu/whatto-expect.html#step%20five for more info and advice. Be sure to ask us for tips to help your
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learning too!
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An on-campus resource that can help with your writing is The Writing Center. They have tutors on the main level of the library. Check out their webpage for more info and locations: http:// www.umt.edu/writingcenter/default.php. More resources are available through UM’s office of
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student success: http://www.umt.edu/oss/.
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An integral part of this course, attendance in the labs is critical. In addition, this is the fun part! This is where you will have a chance to do hands-on learning of the topics covered in
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lecture.
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We only have two field trips, but is important to say that you should come prepared to be outdoors on those days. That includes, but is not exclusive to, wearing appropriate clothing
(e.g., boots, warm layers, rain gear, sunglasses, hats etc.) and bringing water or a snack if you
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need it. !
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We have chosen readings from both the primary literature and selected textbook chapters. All readings can be accessed from the website. We used chapters from the following
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textbooks: !
Forest Ecosystems , 2nd Edition !
By David A. Perry, Ram Oren, and Stephen C. Hart !
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Johns Hopkins University Press !
The Ecology of Plants , 2nd Edition !
By Jessica Gurevitch, Samuel M. Scheiner, and Gordon A. Fox !
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Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers !
Elements of Ecology , 5th Edition !
By Robert Leo Smith and Thomas M. Smith !
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Pearson Education publishing as Benjamin Cummings !
Principals of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology , 2nd Edition !
By Stuart F. Chapin III, Pamela A. Matson, and Peter Vitousek !
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Springer !
Additional readings are not required, though are highly recommended. Our intention is to provide to with the most resources possible to help you learn the concepts. Examining a topic
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from multiple perspectives can help you learn. Don’t be afraid to browse the additional readings!
Even just looking at a figure or reading a section might help solidify a concept.
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Regular readings ARE required, in case you were wondering.
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3/31
4/2
4/7
4/9
Date Unit Lecture Topic
1/27 0 Course introduction
1/29 1 What is forest ecology?
Reading(s)
2/3
2/5
2/10
2/12
1 Light
1 Water relations
1 Life history trade-offs
1 Disturbance adaptations
Gurevitch Ch.2
Gurevitch Ch.3
Gurevitch Ch.8
Agee 1993
Perry Chapter 9 (pg.
156-170): The structure of local ecosystems
Smith & Smith Ch. 6
Smith & Smith Ch. 6
2/17
2/19
2/24
2/26
3/3
No class - President’s Day
1 Nutrient cycling I
1 Nutrient cycling II
Chapin Ch. 8: Plant Nutrient
Use (pgs. 229-223, 238-249,
253-257)
Chapin Ch. 9: Nutrient
Cycling (pgs. 266-290)
Perry Ch. 18:
Biogeochemical
Cycling
2 Nutrient cycling III Chapin Ch. 7: Decomposition
(pgs. 183-204)
Perry Ch. 18:
Biogeochemical
Cycling
2 Forest primary productivity Perry Ch. 15: Primary
Productivity
Chapin Ch. 5:
Carbon Inputs to
Ecosystems
2 Abiotic factors Barton & Teeri 1993 3/5
3/10 2 Trees at the extremes
3/12 1&2 Exam 1
3/17
3/19
3 Competition
3 Facilitation and mutualism
Gurevitch Ch. 10
Flores & Jurado 2003
Brooker et al. 2005
3/24 Gurevitch Ch. 11 Ruel & Whitham
2002
3/26
3 Herbivory and plant defenses
3 Top down regulation &
Trophic cascades
No class - Spring break
No class - Spring break
3 Biological diversity
4 Primary succession
TBA
Perry Ch. 10
Gurevitch Ch. 12
Additional Reading
Johnson & Miyanishi
2008

4/14 4 Stand development Franklin et al. 2000 van Pelt and Franklin
2004; van Pelt West/
East Old Growth
Guides
4/16
4/21
4 Tree establishment
4 Whitebark Pine
Ecosystems
4 Tree mortality
TBA
TBA
4/23 Franklin et al. 1987
4/28
4/30
5/5 4 Forest management and restoration
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5/7 3&4 Exam 2
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Date Topic Reading
TBA
2/10 & !
2/11
2/17 & !
2/18
2/24 &
2/25
3/3 &
3/4
3/10 & !
3/11
1/27 &
1/28
2/3 &
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2/4 !
in !
Stone
Hall
107
4 Fire ecology: effects on forest dynamics
4 Forest spatial structure
No lab
-Final project introduction !
-Scientific writing !
-Literature reviews in science
Fire disturbance adaptations
No lab !
Research Project meetings
Research Project meetings
Research study design lab
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Doing Science Ch. 5 -
“Communication of
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Scientific Writing” !
“Guidelines for
Systematic Review in
Conservation and
Environmental
Management”
TBA
Sugihara et al. 2006
TBA
Doing Science ch. 4 -
“Principles of
Research Design”
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Assignment
Write-up
In lab assignment
Larson and Franklin
2010

3/17 & !
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3/18 !
in
Stone
Hall
107
Intro to Excel -
Species interactions and microsite effects
3/24 &
3/25
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Kelly Island Field Trip -
Riparian forest ecology
No lab - Spring break 3/31 & !
4/1
4/7 &
4/8
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Giving scientific presentations
4/14 & !
4/15
No lab
Young 1998 AND
Bourne 2007
4/21 & !
4/22
Pattee Canyon Field
Trip - Forest Structure
Analysis
4/28 & !
4/29
Final Presentations
5/5 &
5/6
Final Presentations
Write-up
Write-up
Write-up
Final Papers due finals week