Ecology is arguably the most important, the most intuitively appealing
and the most complex of the natural sciences because processes that generate
observable patterns in nature are so diverse and vary so much in scale through both
space and time. In this course we will deal explicitly with habitat characteristics and
four levels of biological hierarchy, from individual organisms, through populations
of organisms, to communities of populations and their organization into
ecosystems. Although we will consider the hierarchy in this order, ecology is the
scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their habitat. The
hierarchy is a convenient simplification and we will try to understand how various
ecological processes structure populations into communities. 'Hands-on' field and
laboratory exercises using natural ecosystems, simulations and models will be used
to illustrate lecture material.
“Interaction” is the keyword for the course so that we can stress the
interconnectedness of nature and emphasize Hutchinson's famous metaphor of the
“ecological theater” on which the “evolutionary play” is performed. This is a 5credit hour, baccalaureate-level, writing intensive course in which you will be
expected to embrace higher levels of cognition as reflected in the learning outcomes
summarized below. The course is a required core of our Biology Major and we
hope it will prove to be an exciting component of your program at WMU.
Course catalog description: “We introduce students to the dynamics
of ecological interactions at different spatial and temporal scales and at different
levels of organization from individuals, through populations and communities, to
ecosystems, landscapes and biomes. Our emphasis is on population-level processes
and dynamics, and examples dwell on both pure and applied aspects of ecology.”
The course meets with 2 lecture classes and 1 laboratory class (3
sections) each week. Lectures will be held in room 1718 Wood Hall on Monday
and Wednesday at 10:00 - 11:40 a.m. and laboratory classes will meet in room
1106 Wood Hall each week in 3 sections on: Thursday at 1:00-4:50 pm, or
Friday at 8:00-11:50 am, or 1:00-4:50 pm.
BIOS 3010: Ecology
Dr S.B. Malcolm
page - 1
I do expect you to attend all lectures and assigned laboratory
sections and I strongly recommend that you engage with me, as well as my two
outstanding teaching assistants, to discuss the development and submission
of graded assignments and exams.
Course Objective and Learning Outcomes:
Course Objective:
To appreciate how the science of ecology is used to describe the distributions and
abundances of organisms with an emphasis on the dynamics of biological
interactions at different scales of time and space.
Expected Learning Outcomes:
You should be able to:
(1)
Demonstrate knowledge of ecological processes and examples.
(2)
Comprehend theories about how organisms interact.
(3)
Apply ecological principles to biological problems.
(4)
Use ecological models in the analysis of biological problems.
(5)
Synthesize
and
evaluate
biological
problems
from
an
ecological
perspective.
The required textbook is:
Begon, M., Townsend, C.R., and Harper, J.L. 2006. Ecology: From Individuals,
to Ecosystems. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 738 pp. 4th edition.
(ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1117-1, or ISBN-10: 1-4051-1117-8)
All course material will be taken from the required text, but will be
supplemented with material from other texts and published papers, as acknowledged
during the course. Text readings and laboratory exercises are listed for each class
on the course schedule. Exams will anticipate that you have read this material and
listened to material given in lectures. Please bring the textbook to all lectures and lab
meetings. In addition, bring a calculator to all lab meetings and exams as well as a
no. 2 pencil and pen for exams.
BIOS 3010: Ecology
Dr S.B. Malcolm
page - 2
Grade assignment:
Lecture points:
3, one hour exams at 100 each
1 term paper
1 final exam at 200
Total
Laboratory points:
10 quizzes at 10 each
10 laboratory exercises at 40 each
Total
Overall total
Grading scale:
A = >90%
B = >80%
C = >70%
D = >60%
Points
300
200
200
700
100
400
500
1200
BA = >85%
CB = >75%
DC = >65%
E = <60%
Lecture exams and term paper:
The 3, one-hour exams and the final exam will be a mixture of single or
multiple questions that will require either single sentence answers, graphical
answers, occasional equations and calculations, or short essays.
The term paper will be a structured, hypothesis-based review of an
ecological topic of your choice. The term paper topic will be chosen at the start of the
course and the final paper will be handed in for evaluation no later than the lecture
meeting on December 7. Further information about the paper will be available on the
course
website
at:
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~malcolm/BIOS3010ecology/3010index.html.
There will also be opportunities to earn bonus points.
Laboratory grade assignment:
Teaching Assistants: Nicholas Martin (Thursday p.m.) and Matthew
Deighton (Friday a.m. and Friday p.m.).
BIOS 3010: Ecology
Dr S.B. Malcolm
page - 3
Six of the 13 lab meetings will be in the laboratory (including computer
sessions) and 5 will be in the field. The first lab session is for hands-on library
orientation in the Waldo library and the last meeting is a review session for the whole
course. 11 of the lab meetings will start with a short quiz. The 10 best of the 11
quizzes will be used towards course grade assignments.
The laboratory classes cover topics timed to complement the lectures.
The rationale, methods and results for each of these exercises should be described
in writing by each student and handed to the TA on the week following the relevant
lab. The 10 best of these reports will be used towards course grade assignments.
Academic integrity:
Cheating, fabrication and plagiarism will result in a score of zero for the
relevant activity and will be treated as described under “Student Rights and
Responsibilities” at: http://catalog.wmich.edu/content.php?catoid=22&navoid=882 of
the current Undergraduate Catalog.
“You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the University
policies and procedures that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies include
cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism,
complicity and computer misuse. (The academic policies addressing Student Rights
and Responsibilities can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog at
http://catalog.wmich.edu/content.php?catoid=22&navoid=882 and the Graduate
Catalog at http://catalog.wmich.edu/content.php?catoid=23&navoid=938.) If there is
reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be
referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review
the charge(s) and if you believe you are not responsible, you will have the
opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with your instructor if you are uncertain
about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or
test.”
You are also encouraged to access the Office of Student
Conduct www.wmich.edu/conduct, the Registrar’s Office www.wmich.edu/registrar
or Disability Services for Students www.wmich.edu/disabilityservices to access the
Code of Honor and general academic policies on such issues as diversity, religious
observance, student disabilities, etc.
Religious Observances Policy:
http://www.wmich.edu/policies/religious-observances-policy
http://www.wmich.edu/facultysenate/downloads/MOA0702_religious_observances_final.pdf
”The University is a diverse, multicultural enterprise and, as a community, we jointly
embrace both individual responsibility and dignified respect for our differences. It is
our general policy to permit students to fulfill obligations set aside by their faith. It is
our intent that students who must be absent from scheduled classes to fulfill religious
obligations or observe practices associated with their faith not be disadvantaged.
However, it is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with his/her
instructors in advance. It is in the student’s best interests to approach each instructor
expeditiously and with sufficient notice that the rights and responsibilities of the
BIOS 3010: Ecology
Dr S.B. Malcolm
page - 4
instructor are not disrupted. Instructors should make it known to classes early in the
term what they consider reasonable notice for anticipated absences. Without
specifying a fixed notification time, we acknowledge in this policy joint responsibility:
instructors will inform students of their requirements and students will make every
effort to cause no disruption in the instructors’ plans and duties.
Instructors should assume that a claim of religious observance has veracity,
especially when advance notice is provided by the student. Students likewise must
recognize that it is their responsibility to meet all their course obligations. Instructors
are not obligated to provide materials to students unless these materials would have
normally been distributed to the entire class. For example, if an instructor does not
normally post notes, a student cannot expect notes to be provided for lectures
missed. If instructors choose to incorporate adjustments into the syllabus intended to
cover student absences, it should be explicit that these apply to absences for
religious observances, as well as all other contingencies.”
Office hours: Dr Stephen Malcolm
Room 3151 Wood Hall
Monday, Wednesday: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Tel: (269) 387-5604
E-mail: steve.malcolm@wmich.edu
Fax: (269) 387-5609
BIOS 3010: Ecology
Dr S.B. Malcolm
page - 5
Fall 2015 schedule for BIOS 3010 - ECOLOGY
Date
Class
Topic
Text
Sep 9
lecture 1
Habitat: Conditions & constraints
ch 2
10/11
14
lab 1
lecture 2
Literature research - Waldo library
Habitat: Resources
ch 3
16
17/18
21
lecture 3
lab 2
lecture 4
Birth and death
Scientific methods in ecology & conditions
Distribution and movement (paper topic due)
ch 4
23
24/25
lecture 5
lab 3
Processes: Intraspecific competition
Life tables
ch 5
28
30
lecture 6
lecture 7
Processes: Interspecific competition
Processes: Predation
ch 8
ch 9
Oct 1/2
Oct 5
lab 4
EXAM 1
Competition
lectures 1 - 6
7
8/9
lecture 8
lab 5
Predator foraging & prey defense
Mark and recapture
ch 9
12
14
lecture 9
lecture 10
Dynamics of predation
Processes: Parasitism & disease
ch 10
ch 12
15/16
19
lab 6
lecture 11
Lotka-Volterra & the logistic equation
Processes: Herbivory
(bibliography due)
20
22/23
lecture 12
lab 7
Processes: Decomposition & detritivory
Goldenrod gall density
26
28
EXAM 2
lecture 13
lectures 7 - 12
Processes: Symbiosis & mutualism
29/30
Nov 2
lab 8
lecture 14
Term paper plan – 10 min. presentations
Life histories
4
5/6
lecture 15
lab 9
Abundance & metapopulations
Density dependence
9
11
lecture 16
lecture 17
Manipulating abundance
Communities
12/13
16
lab 10
lecture 18
Dispersion analysis
Community matter and energy flux
18
19/20
lecture 19
lab 11
Community structure & competition
Metapopulation dynamics
23
25
lecture 20
EXAM 3
Community structure & predation
lectures 13 – 20
26/27
30
No lab
lecture 21
Thanksgiving recess
Food webs
Dec 2
3/4
lecture 22
lab 12
Island biogeography
Stream diversity
7
8
lecture 23
lecture 24
Biodiversity & conservation
Abundance or catastrophe?
lab 13
FINAL
EXAM
Review
Monday, December 14, 10:15 a.m. – 12:15
p.m., Room 1718, Wood Hall
10/11
Dec. 14
BIOS 3010: Ecology
Lab exercise
Library
Lab
ch 6
Lab computer
Lab computer
Field
Lab computer
ch 9 & 12
ch 11
Field
ch 13
Lab
ch 4
ch 6 & 14
Lab computer
ch 15
ch 16
Field
ch 17 & 18
(paper)
ch 19
Field
ch 19
ch 20
ch 21 & 22
Field
(final paper due)
Dr S.B. Malcolm
ch 21 & 22
Course review
page - 6
BIOS 3010: Ecology
Dr S.B. Malcolm
page - 7