FOR 444/495 INTEGRATIVE ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION SPRING 2009
Introduction: This 3-credit course is designed to get students active in the field of restoration through the
application of ecological principles to restoration practice and through direct experience developing a
restoration plan. The first four weeks of the course will be devoted to elements of restoration design. The
next section will be a terrestrial module that covers issues related to terrestrial restoration projects, including
plant-soil relationships and propagation and use of native plant materials. The final weeks of the course will
be devoted to an aquatic module that explores aquatic restoration within the context of overall ecosystem
restoration at watershed to stream-reach scales. This module will first provide an overview of stream
corridor processes, including an introduction to disturbances that affect watershed function, and then will
apply this knowledge to achieving restoration goals.
Prerequisites: This course is the capstone experience for students in the Wildland Restoration major,
although it is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students from other programs. All students enrolled in
this course must have the desire and motivation to interact with local restoration professionals and to
contribute in a meaningful way to local projects.
In addition, students must have completed at least one course in:
•
Ecology - Students who have not taken an Ecology course are not eligible to take this class.
•
Restoration (FOR265 Elements of Ecological Restoration or equivalent) - Students who have not
taken a restoration course will be required to 1) read the SER Series Reader (available on Blackboard) and 2)
write a paper on Peter Friederici’s book, Nature’s Restoration (2006, Island Press; copies available at the UM
Bookstore by the second week of classes). Guidelines and due dates for the paper are available from the
course instructors.
Time and place: Wednesdays, 2:10-3:00 PM and Fridays, 2:10-4:00 PM; Room 120, Davidson Honors
College. Class sessions may run late (until 5:00 PM) on the Fridays on which field trips or activities are
scheduled (see below).
Instructors:
• Dr. Cara Nelson, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, College of Forestry and
Conservation. Email: cara.nelson@cfc.umt.edu. Phone: 243-6066.
Office hours: Wednesdays 3:10-4.00 PM and Thursdays 12:10-1:00 PM. If possible, please
make an advance appointment during these times to ensure that you will not have to wait.
Appointments can be scheduled outside of office hours if necessary.
• Magnus McCaffery, Wildlife Biology Program, College of Forestry and Conservation.
Email: magnus.mccaffery@umontana.edu. Phone: 243-5465. Office hours: Tuesdays 10:00-12:00 PM, or
by appointment.
Communication: All course communications outside of class will be sent to students’ University
of Montana email accounts. It is your responsibility to regularly check your University account.
Course format: A variety of learning tools will be used, including lectures, field trips and peer-learning
activities.
Lectures ~ Lectures will be based on readings that will be made available to you ahead of class and will
form the basis of in-class discussion (see below for more information on reading assignments).
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this course, lectures will be conducted both by the course
instructors and a variety of guest lecturers.
Field trips ~ There are three required field trips during Friday class periods. Field trip vans will leave
campus promptly at 2:10 PM and will arrive back by 5:00 PM (note that this is 1 hr later than the regular
class period). Please make sure that you are on time for field trips, as the short duration of the class
period will not permit waiting for late comers. Field-trip vans will leave from the parking lot south of
Davidson Honors College, west of Forestry, and east of Old Journalism.
In addition to trips scheduled during class periods, each student will be required to organize and
participate in one out-of-class restoration work party on a weekend (students will work in groups and be
involved in scheduling). The expectations for this activity will be discussed in class during the second
class period (Friday, 1/30).
Peer-learning activities ~ Peer learning has been shown to be a highly effective teaching tool.
During the semester, students will engage in a variety of peer-learning activities, including review of
each other’s work, in-class projects, and semester-long projects.
Assignments: Because the goal of this course is to assist students with gaining real-world experience in
restoration, the course revolves around two semester-long projects: developing a restoration project
proposal and conducting a restoration work party. In addition, students will be expected to complete
reading assignments associated with lectures and to submit a written evaluation of a restoration plan, based
on an in-class peer-learning activity. Instructions for all assignments will be posted on Blackboard, UM's
Online Course Supplement (http://umonline.umt.edu/blackboard/Default.aspx)
Restoration Proposal ~ Students (individually or in teams) will be required to develop a restoration
project proposal. This assignment will involve independent research and incorporate ecological theory,
land management practices, budgeting and proposed monitoring strategies. The plan will be written in
the form of a proposal and will provide all the necessary information to restore an area that has been
altered by human activity. For students planning to enroll in Ecological Restoration Practicum
(FOR445; required for the Wildland Restoration degree), this plan will form the basis of their practicum
proposal. Students will be given assistance with identifying restoration projects that are suitable for the
course assignment and will be able to meet potential project sponsors at a social event at the UC on
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Friday, February 13 . The process of interacting with agency/non-profit professionals is important to your
education; therefore, students will be required to send a resume and cover letter to collaborators with
whom you have an interest in working. At the end of the semester, students will give oral presentations
on their restoration proposals to a grant board comprised of your instructors, peers, and collaborators.
Details about the assignment will be discussed in class on February 6.
This project counts for over half of the course grade and a prize will be awarded to the student or group
with the best proposal. If done as a group, individual group member grades will be weighted by
individual participation within the group.
Restoration Work Party ~ Students will work in groups to organize a volunteer restoration work party to be
held on a Saturday or Sunday of the group’s choice. Groups in the class will compete to hold the most
successful event (the competition will be sensu the TV show, The Apprentice, hosted by Donald Trump); the
winners will receive a prize at the end of the semester. Success will be measured by volunteer attendance,
beneficial ecological and social impacts, knowledge acquired by volunteers, and the amount of fun that the
volunteers had. Students will be assigned to groups and given instructions about the assignment in class on
Jan 30.
Reading Assignments ~ There is no required textbook for this course. Readings will be assigned
from the contemporary scientific literature, chapters from books, and popular sources. All reading
materials either will be provided in class or will be available through UM’s OnlineCourse
Supplement. Students will be expected to describe what they learned from the readings during class
sessions; participation points associated with reading assignments will contribute to students’ overall
course grade.
Students interested in delving more deeply into aspects of restoration can find reference
information within the following (optional):
•
The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration book series, published by Island Press. A list of
books published within this series can be found at: http://www.ser.org/reading_resources.asp.
•
Hill, H. and R. Simpson (ed). 2001. Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes, and
Practices. Federal Interagency Stream Restoration Working Group. Available for free download at:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/stream_restoration/newtofc.htm
•
Roni, P. 2005. Monitoring Stream and Watershed Restoration. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda,
MD.
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Whisenant, S. G. 1999. Repairing Damaged Wildlands: a Process-Oriented, Landscape-Scale
Approach. 1999. Cambridge University Press. New York..
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Williams, J. E., C. A. Wood, and M. P. Dombeck (ed). 1997. Watershed Restoration: Principles and
Practices. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, MD.
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Evaluation of a Restoration Plan ~ During class on Feb. 20 , students will work in groups to critique a
restoration plan. Plans for review will be handed out in class on Feb. 11, along with detailed instructions
about the assignment. Each student will turn in a short paper with their comments on the plan one week
after the group discussion.
Evaluation: Students will be evaluated based on their participation in class sessions as well as the quality of
1) a short report evaluating a restoration plan, 2) a restoration work party/field event, and 3) a restoration plan
proposal, submitted as a final paper for the course. Course points are as follows:
Participation 10% Evaluation of a restoration plan 5% Restoration work party 25% Restoration proposal
60% Total points possible 100%
Extra credit: The College of Forestry is currently interviewing candidates for an Assistant Professor of
Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and an Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology. Three candidates for each of
these positions will be on campus this spring conducting interviews. One percentage point will be awarded
to any student who attends (and completes a seminar evaluation form for) all of the teaching seminars for
either the Aquatic Invertebrate Ecologist candidates or the Forest Ecologist candidates (seminar dates will
be announced in class). No partial credit will be awarded.
Graduate credit: Graduate students may elect to take this course as FOR595 Ecological Restoration in
Action. In order to receive graduate credit, students must complete an additional assignment. Contact the
course instructors if you are a graduate student and are interested in receiving graduate credit.
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 sophomore-level
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.
Additional restoration opportunities:
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If you would like to join a listserve to get information about upcoming restoration activities around
Missoula, sign up at: http://groups.google.com/group/missoula-restoration.
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For information on University of Montana’s Society for Ecological Restoration Student Guild,
contact Melissa Lanza.
Classroom environment: Students at University of Montana are diverse in many ways, including race,
gender, age, religion, preparedness, and mobility. Please help create a respectful learning environment by
honoring all student contributions and expressing your views in ways that do not diminish other students’
perspectives.
Plagiarism: All students must practice academic honesty, 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 citing the
original document; or submitting text based on someone else’s ideas without proper citation). Academic
misconduct is subject to an academic penalty by the course instructor and/or a disciplinary sanction by the
University. All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code. The Code is available for
review on line at: http://www.umt.edu/SA/VPSA/index.cfm?page?1321.
Disability modification: Students with disabilities will receive reasonable modifications. It is the
student’s responsibilities to request modifications from the instructors with sufficient advance notice, and
to be prepared to provide verification of disability and its impact from Disability Services. Please make an
appointment to speak to one of the Instructors after class during the first two weeks of the semester to
discuss details. For more information, visit the Disability Services for Students website at
www.umt.edu/dss/.
Tentative Course Schedule Sectio Date Day Topic Instructor n Restoration Design 28‐Jan W Overview Cara/Magnus 30‐Jan F Primer on ecological restoration Cara Discussion of restoration work party assignment Cara 4‐Feb W Terrestrial/aquatic linkages (food webs) Magnus 6‐Feb F Overview of stream restoration Magnus Discussion of restoration project proposal assignment Activity: Resume peer review 11‐Feb W Designing a restoration plan Cara Discussion of plan evaluation group activity 13‐Feb F Activity: "Meet and Greet" with proposal sponsors (UC) Sponsors 18‐Feb W Regulations and funding 20‐Feb F Activity: evaluation of a restoration plan Students 25‐Feb W Organizing a volunteer restoration work party Graham Roy 27‐Feb F Plant‐soil bioregulation Cara 4‐Mar W Soil remediation Cara Mark Vandermeer 6‐Mar Sectio F Date Field trip: restoration from a soil science perspective Day Topic Instructor 11 Marn W
Selection of plants
Cara
Restoration in Restoration Action: Design Terrestrial 28‐Jan W Overview Cara/Magnus 30‐Jan F Primer on ecological restoration Cara Discussion of restoration work party assignment Cara SPRING 4‐Feb W Terrestrial/aquatic linkages (food webs) Magnus BREAK 6‐Feb F Overview of stream restoration Magnus Discussion of restoration project proposal assignment Activity: Resume peer review 11‐Feb W Designing a restoration plan Cara Sectio Date Day Topic Instructor n Restoration Design 28‐Jan W Overview Cara/Magnus 30‐Jan F Primer on ecological restoration Cara Discussion of restoration work party assignment Cara 4‐Feb W Terrestrial/aquatic linkages (food webs) Magnus 6‐Feb F Overview of stream restoration Magnus Discussion of restoration project proposal assignment Activity: Resume peer review 11‐Feb W Designing a restoration plan Cara Discussion of plan evaluation group activity 13‐Feb F Activity: "Meet and Greet" with proposal sponsors (UC) Sponsors 18‐Feb W Regulations and funding 20‐Feb F Activity: evaluation of a restoration plan Students