F-462 RANGELAND ECOLOGY
SPRING SEMESTER 2009
Instructor:
Don Bedunah;
Office:
CHCB 438; Phone 2573 (don.bedunah@cfc.umt.edu)
Office Hours: To be arranged (contact by email or phone- or if door is open, please feel
free to talk with me).
Rangeland Ecology is the scientific discipline that is concerned with the relationships
between organisms and their past, present, and future environments. These relationships
include physiological responses of individuals, structure and dynamics of populations,
interactions among species, organization of biological communities, and processing of
energy and matter in rangeland ecosystems.
Objective: To review and discuss the major ecological principles and processes which
influence the function of rangeland ecosystems. Ecological processes are similar across all
types of ecosystems; however, some processes are more important determinants in some
ecosystems than in others. We will focus on those processes that greatly influence
rangeland ecosystems such as succession, disturbance (e.g. herbivory, fire, and climatic
variation), and nutrient cycling. Diversity and sustainability of ecosystems are everincreasing important considerations.
Text: No text. Lecture notes and assigned readings will be on ERES. Password: F462.
Grading: There will be two mid-term exams, a final exam and a paper. The final exam is
comprehensive and may be optional. The final grade is 25% final and 50% the first two
tests (75% if final is optioned out of) and remainder is the paper score. Graduate students
will present their papers to the class during the last week of class.
Upper Division Writing
This course is one of three courses needed to satisfy the upper division writing requirement
for CFC majors. Each student is required to achieve satisfactory scores on a sophomorelevel writing course (FOR 220/WBIO 245 or equivalent). The successful completion of
one of these courses plus the writing proficiency exam will be prerequisites for completion
of the upper division distributed writing requirement.
Assessment of student writing will be on the basis of the following criteria:
1. A clear statement of purpose (hypothesis or question or goal) within the scientific
context of the specific discipline.
2. The development of effective logical arguments using evidence and/or theory from
the discipline or supporting disciplines.
3. Writing meets discipline-specific writing conventions including the proper citation
of sources of information.
4. Demonstrate appropriate English language usage.
All students must practice academic honesty. Academic misconduct is subject to an
academic penalty by the course instructor and/or a disciplinary sanction by the University.
All students must be familiar with the Student Conduct Code. The Code is available for
review online at http://www.umt.edu/SA/VPSA/index.cfm/page/1321.
TENATATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
CLASS SCHEDULE
Introduction to Class
Introduction to Range Ecology
Evolution of Ecological Thought
Grasses and Grasslands
Tuesday February 17 Grasses and Grasslands/Fire
Thursday February 19 Reading Review/Begin Ice Age
Tuesday February 24 The Ice Age
Thursday February 26 Savannas
Tuesday March 3
Climax Rangelands of North America
Thursday March 5
Ecosystem Concept on Rangelands
Tuesday March 10
Ecosystem Concept on Rangelands
Thursday March 12
Contemporary Vegetation Changes
Tuesday March 17
Contemporary Vegetation Changes
Thursday March 19
Ecology of Grazing 1 and 2
Tuesday March 24
Exam 1
Thursday March 26
Paper research
Tuesday March 31
Spring Break
Thursday April 2
Spring Break
Tuesday April 7
Ecological Relationships
Thursday April 9
Ecological Relationships
Tuesday April 14
Ecological Relationships
Thursday April 16
Ecological Relationships
Tuesday April 21
Ecology of Tundra and Alpine
Thursday April 23
Ecology of Desert Grasslands
Tuesday April 28
Ecology of Great Basin
Thursday April 30
EXAM 2
Tuesday May 5
Graduate Papers
Thursday May 7
Graduate Papers
Friday, May 15
FINAL
DATE