Biology 565--Conservation Biology--Spring 2013
Tuesday & Thursday
12:30 to 1:45 pm
107 Wilson Hall
See also the class website:
web.bio.unc.edu/courses/2013Spring/Biol565/default.htm
Instructors
Peter White, Professor, Department of Biology
Director, North Carolina Botanical Garden
Biology phone: 919-962-6939
Garden phone: 919-962-0522
Campus Box 3280 (Biology)
peter.white@unc.edu
I go back and forth between my Coker Hall office and my office at the North Carolina Botanical Garden (about 1.5
miles from the center of campus). Therefore, please make appointments for office meetings using email, phone or by
catching me before or after class. Don’t hesitate to email me frequently with questions based on the lectures,
readings, or assignments!
Peter Wilfahrt, Graduate Assistant
412 Coker Hall
Curriculum in Ecology
919-962-6934
pawilfahrt@gmail.com
Audience—Who Should Take This Class:
This is a class that draws from all aspects of biology to construct a knowledge base for those at the upper
undergraduate or graduate student level who are interested in conservation, whether from a biodiversity or
ecosystem perspective. Often students are majors in Environmental Sciences or Biology, but they have come from
diverse backgrounds, including law, government, city and regional planning, geography, and anthropology. Students
learn from the discoveries of past science (including recently published work), but are also encouraged to think
creatively about new questions and to design projects that might answer those questions.
Prerequisites:
A basic course in ecology and population biology is required (Biology 201) but seek permission of the instructor if you
have special interest in conservation biology, are taking that course simultaneously with this course, or have other
reasons to want to be in the class now.
Course Goals and Learning Objectives:
The goal of this class is to review all the biological knowledge that is essential to conservation, ranging from genetics
to ecosystems and from small scales to broad ones. Some of the material is review, albeit with new conservationthemed examples, and some will be new to you because the work in question is only carried out in a conservation
context. Examples of competencies gained are the following: ability to evaluate the relative contributions of nicheenvironment relations and spatial-temporal constraints to biodiversity patterns and the consequence of these
patterns for conservation design; understanding how genetic diversity is affected by effective population size;
understanding how extinction risk is affected by the size, number, and distribution of populations; ability to
construct, in a conceptual sense, population and metapopulation models; understanding concepts of ecosystem
dynamics, resistance, resilience, and adaptability; ability to critically analyze modern conservation issues like invasive
species, climate change and change in other ecological processes, habitat loss and fragmentation, trophic cascades,
ecological restoration, and ex situ conservation. The key competency to gain is to think critically about scientific
findings, to see where uncertainties and opportunities for new research lie, and to use the findings of biological
science as a conservation tool box.
Course Requirements:
You should read the assigned chapters before the class in question, as we will devote some of the class time to
questions and discussions. You should attend lecture because the material will illustrate, clarify, and extended the
readings. You will find advice on doing well and links to all class requirements HERE.
Other Class Policies:
If you must miss an exam, please contact the instructor in advance—arrangements will include taking an alternative
version of the exam. The final exam will be given in compliance with UNC final exam regulations and according to the
UNC Final Exam Calendar. Late work may be accepted with permission of the instructor, so please contact the
instructor if you have any questions. All work submitted must be your own (you will be asked to acknowledge this),
with sources credited and cited—the UNC Honor Code is linked HERE.
Course Philosophy:
Conservation biology seeks principles from all parts of biology (genetics, population biology, ecology, evolution) that
contribute to conserving biological diversity. During lectures, we will discuss a broad amount of material, including
updates with current literature, and you will be tested on that. You will also do a semester-long project in which you
will become creative and do original research—you will be writing a proposal for a PhD level project in conservation
biology! See the section of this website called Grading and Doing Well (click on the link to go to that information).
We have four ambitions: (1) to discuss the biological principles and findings that all conservation biologists should
know; (2) to integrate the latest research and information from the web and key journals with class discussion; (3) to
connect the concepts and research findings to real world conservation problems; and (4) to go beyond the material
we discuss by defining and proposing to answer original questions.
Conservation Biology is an applied field—and a particularly intriguing one because the information we need focuses
on the basic understanding of how nature works. Though a considerable amount of knowledge has accumulated, this
course also seeks to push towards the unanswered questions and to test the assumptions and the empirical basis of
principles that have been presented. We will attempt to go beyond the simple to the deeper issues.
The current state of and threats to the natural world are discussed, but this course does not focus on this year’s
headlines. Rather, we attempt to define the principles and findings that constitute conservation’s tool box—a tool
box that is universal rather than focused on particular places or times.
We warn you that the literature often presents conflicts. Often this is because conservationists have limited time and
money and must choose between alternatives. For example, Does genetic diversity matter more than current
population size? Are corridors the answer or does isolation provide benefit? Is it better to conserve a single large
area or several small areas of the same total area (the so-called SLOSS debate, see also below)? The obvious answer
to these questions is “sometimes” or “it depends”—an answer which feels unsatisfying when presented in those
terms. Rather, we should learn to examine these questions more deeply. For example, the question isn’t “does
genetic diversity matter?”, but, “When does genetic diversity matter?” If the answer is “it depends”, what does it
depend on? Use of corridors is one tool in the conservation tool box—the question isn’t if we should use it, but when
we should use it. So, heed our warning: Do not expect universal and simple answers (though we will be excited to
find some of these!) in the face of nature’s complexity. Learn to think critically about the questions posed.
We cover all levels of biological organization: genetics, species, ecosystems, and landscapes. Some of the material
reviews information from other courses, but hopefully with a new slant and examples drawn from a new literature.
We hope that this material, whether old or new, is drawn together in a new way and focused on a common set of
questions.
Subjects
Why conservation? Toward a Conservation Ethic; History of conservation in the US
Why conservation? Can we produce a taxonomy of conservation goals? What can we learn from the history
of conservation in North America and elsewhere? How do we formulate a conservation ethic?
This is a course about science, so we won’t spend much time on the history, philosophy, or ethics of
conservation. However, conservation is many different things, some of them contradictory, to different
people. Unless we organize our thinking about these issues early on, we will find ourselves trying to sort
them out later while trying to talk about the science of conservation. In these discussions, we explore the
many seeming contradictions—all of which ultimately have to do with the relationship between humans and
nature: Conservation as sustainable use of resources vs. Conservation as wild areas with no human use;
Conservation through direct management vs. Conservation as hands-off protection; Conservation of species
vs. Conservation of ecosystems; Conservation as naturally occurring biodiversity vs. Conservation as building
the ark; Conservation for change vs. Conservation against change.
Biodiversity
What is biodiversity? How do we measure it? What is the scale dependence of species richness? What is the
relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function? What are the threats to biodiversity?
Biological diversity has become a label for conservation goals. Narrowly defined it is species richness or the
number of species present. However, the persistence of species is affected by population size (one individual
makes the species “present”, but rarely is sufficient for persistence), genetic diversity, habitat quality, species
interactions, ecosystem processes, and landscape pattern (not just what is present, but how it is arranged in
space). Broadly defined, biological diversity encompasses composition (species, genes, or ecosystems
present), structure (arrangement, size, or amount of what is present), and process (functional interactions) for
each of four levels: genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystems.
Island biogeography, SLOSS, Fragmentation, Corridors
What is the theory of island biogeography and what is the history of the application of this theory to
conservation biology? What is minimum dynamic area? What is gained by size and numbers of conservation
areas? Does good conservation design reduce the cost of management and increase conservation success?
Do corridors work?
Island biogeography has been a central idea in conservation. Though primarily concerned with species
richness as a function of the size and isolation of islands, the ideas of island biogeography find relationshpis to
many other conservation issues: viable population size, area-sensitivity of particular species,
metapopulations, the nestedness of species lists. Island biogeography is perhaps best known from the Single
Large or Several Small (SLOSS) debate: given a fixed amount of financial or political support, should we
conserve a single large tract or several small tracts that sum to the same total area as the single large tract?
SLOSS has been erected and laid to rest many times. Because size and numbers of reserves maximize
different components of biodiversity, the debate can never be resolved. Human occupation of the landscape
results in the outright loss of habitat and the fragmentation of surviving habitat. Fragmentation has its own
consequences, beyond those called by direct human effects on habitat quality. Conservation biologists
sometimes propose corridors to reduce isolation.
Species conservation
What makes some species endangered? How do naturally rare species and those species on which humans
have imposed rarity differ? Are species equal or are there keystone, linking, or indicator species? Where are
the hot spots of diversity and do these matter? Are hot spots and diversity patterns correlated across taxa?
Does the umbrella species concept work?
Genetics
When does genetics matter? What are inbreeding depression, outbreeding depression, and optimum
breeding distance? Should we worry about genetics in species reintroduction or translocation? What is the
value of ex situ conservation?
Populations and metapopulations
What is effective population size (Ne) vs. census population size (N)? How do we determine minimum viable
population size? What tools do we use to predict population size? What is a metapopulation and how do we
conserve and manage for metapopulation dynamics?
Why are some species invasive? Are some ecosystems more invasible than others? Can we predict invasions?
Does biological control work?
Communities, ecosystems, and landscapes
What natural processes control community composition and dynamics? What is natural process or ecosystem
management? What is the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis? What are qualitative and quantitative
concepts of dynamic equilibrium? What are the Historic Range of Variability and the Natural Range of
Variation as used in ecosystem management?
What are the challenges and techniques of ecological restoration? What do succession and assembly rules tell
us about restoration?
What are the currently unanswered questions of conservation biology?
Doing Well in this Class
Do the Readings BEFORE the class on which they are assigned…Come to ASK AND ANSWER QUESTIONS, PARTICIPATE
IN DISCUSSION, and SOAK UP the lectures…Get intellectually engaged in the material…Ask questions, engage in
discussion, including with professor Peter White and the grad student TA…Look for new unanswered questions…Learn
the theory and think about applications to current problems.
Grading
IMPORTANT NOTE ON ELECTRONIC NAMING CONVENTIONS: as you will see, you will be emailing your assignments
(research project, exam 1, exam 2-take-home, exam2-in class, service assignment, and participation in the North
Carolina Botanical Garden tour) to the graduate TA. To help us stay organized, please put your last name as the first
word in the subject line of the email and, as will be repeated in the body of the exams, use your last name as the first
word of the name of any attached files).
Grading has 3 larger and 2 smaller components (for a total of 100 pts).
The 3 larger components:
Independent Research Assignment (30 pts). GO HERE for a description of the Research Project.
Exam1 (Mid-Term, 30 pts) (this is a take home exam, see Syllabus for schedule).
Exam2 (Final, 35 pts) (this has both a take home and in-class portion, see Syllabus for schedule). The final will address
the second half of the class in detail, but will also include questions that integrate across the two halves of the class.
Smaller components (click on the links to find out more):
Service Assignment (3 pts)
Tour of the North Carolina Botanical Garden (2 pts).
See Announcements for periodic announcements of service opportunities and tours and email Peter White if you
have a problem with scheduling.
The 2 Exams
The exams are open notes, open book, open google, and open mind. As a result I will ask questions that depend on
understanding and using the material, rather than just repeating it. You should keep up with the material and email
Peter White if you feel that something is not clicking. Coming to class and engaging in the lectures is important to
doing well in this class.
I want you to engage in the material and, as long as you know how to get the facts you use, it doesn’t matter where
you get the facts—you MUST, of course, cite your sources (you do NOT have to cite our lectures, readings, or
powerpoint slides, however, in your exam answers). I should point out this is how your professors work—open
library, book, open notes, open google, and hopefully open mind. But the thinking and work, your exam answers and
research project, that are based on your notes, google searches, and class materials must, of course, be yours and
yours alone—see Honor Code.
Independent Research Project (30 pts): Your PhD Proposal
This project is a major part of your grade and you should start working on it early in the class.
The project is intended to engage you inquiry-based learning-and to go beyond the survey of the material in the
lectures. If the lectures represent the trunk and main branches of conservation biology, the research projects
represent the latest questions and findings. If we have steered away from the headlines and crises of the day, here
you get to jump into immediate problems to solve. If we have not taken time to apply class concepts to real world
situation, here is hour chance to apply them.
For handouts from the UNC Writing Center (these may be helpful to you, if you don’t have much experience), click
HERE for handouts on writing for specific fields (look for science) and for handouts on specific writing assignments
(look for grant proposals).
ALSO, it is your responsibility to know what plagiarism is and to not use materials inappropriately! Click HERE for the
Writing Center’s handout on plagiarism.
The finished product, due on the last day of class at midnight, can be presented as a paper (Word file or pdf, that is) or
in web page form. See below for the outline you should follow (the outline topics become links from your project
home page if you do this in web page format).
The finished product should be about 6-10 single spaced pages of text or the equivalent information on a series of
web pages (not including the last section—the bibliography). Illustrations, graphs, and tables of data are welcome,
but don’t count towards page totals.
All of the topics of conservation biology are fair game, so you can develop your own enthusiasms and interests. The
questions can draw on more than one lecture or chapter. If the question has been answered elsewhere, you are free
to apply that question to a new situation or a new place—for example, to UNC, North Carolina, or the Triangle Area.
Ideal questions would:
--Be interesting scientific questions that are covered or raised in our course readings or lectures and that can be
phrased as answerable questions.
--Result in original work and synthesis, not just a literature review, and would take the course material into the
present and into the real world.
--Would be useful in that they would have application somewhere—but including in the Southeast, North Carolina,
Chapel Hill area, or for the University.
Your project will take the form of a PhD proposal! That is, a document that a PhD student would be expected to
produce by the end of their 2nd year as they formulated a research plan for their dissertation. I know most of you are
not PhD students…but think of yourselves as creative and critical thinkers who are going to add knowledge and solve
problems.
Use the following outline, which is adapted from my Duke colleague Dean Urban’s outline (you can title the sections
and use subheadings as you see fit):
Section 1. “Houston, we have a problem!”
This section describes the nature and significance of the problem you are tackling and connects it to the
concepts from class and the literature (including the web). This section is important in convincing the reader
that you have thought deeply and creatively found an area of important research. This section defines the
problem and the general question or questions to be addressed (in section 3, below, you will present the
specific questions).
This section would be roughly 1-3 paragraphs long (half of a page to 1.5 pages).
This statement is due at one minute passed 11:59 pm on Friday, March 2nd (when Spring Break begins) and
should be emailed to the Graduate TA for feedback. You are welcome to talk with me and get feedback from
me prior to March 2nd as well.
Section 2. “Here is what we know about the problem.”
This section gives literature review and other background information (including original data or information
you collect, see below). This section can include studies done in other study areas and studies that have
examined your questions with species other than the one(s) you would like to focus on. It should include
reference to material that helped to establish the importance of your questions, what the current state of the
knowledge is, and how you will go beyond what has been previously done.
Preliminary Data. Some projects can include original data and information that you collect as part of you
background section. For instance, if you want to pose a research project on invasive plant species and the
campus landscaping program (see Research Question Ideas), find appropriate campus employees to interview
and include what you find in this background section. Be sure you describe your methods of data collection
and summary.
This section would be roughly 9-15 paragraphs long (3 to 5 pages).
The sooner that you complete the first section above, the sooner you get going on Section 2.
Section 3. “Thank God for Me!”
This section is where you present your specific questions (formulating questions well is part of what you are
contributing) and describe how you will answer them (both main question(s) and subquestions). You should
literally pose the objectives as questions (with question marks at the end). You should describe where and
how you will attempt to answer the questions. You should match your approach to the specific
questions. Use the first paragraph to introduce the questions (listing them at the end of that paragraph) and
then use the rest of this section to describe how you will approach answering the questions.
This section would be roughly 5-9 paragraphs long (2-3 pages).
Bibliography for the studies, including web sites and even “personal communications” (that is ideas and
information you got by talking to folks—any folks).
Email Peter White for help. The starting point for a successful project is a well-articulated and broad question which
is then broken down into a series of more specific questions—part of this exercise is to get you to frame questions
well!
For those of you going on in research, here is a short essay I wrote on “What makes a good question?”.
For random and half-baked ideas of questions for this project go HERE.
Topics, Readings, and Powerpoint Presentations from Class
Do the readings before class—some portion of the class time will be devoted to questions and discussion based on
these readings!
NOTE: powerpoint slides and other links will be activated as we move through the course…Most will be inactive at the
beginning.
ALSO NOTE: I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus as we move along, including project due dates and test
dates (excluding the officially scheduled final examination). These changes will be announced as early as possible so
that you can adjust your schedules.
Text Book (available at Student Stores the first week of class):
Peter White 2012. Conservation Biology (Ver.4): Concepts, Principles. Published by the author, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Please note this is a DRAFT based on the lectures for this class—and that the tables and figures are not inserted but
are in a slim volume that accompanies the text (some figures are hard to read in the print version, but they will all
appear in class powerpoints—and those will be linked below). Note also that not all references are inserted or
cited! It is a work in progress. Please provide feedback!
January
10 Logistics, Formats, Readings, Grading, Assignments; Introduction to Conservation Biology; The 12 Threads of
Conservation Biology [Chapter 1, 2] [Biology 565 Introduction, Conservation Biology introduction & the 12 Threads
Slides]
15 Ethics and philosophy 1: Grassy Balds…You decide! [Grassy Bald Slides] [Class vote and research categories]
17 Ethics and philosophy 2: Toward a Conservation Ethic [Chapter 3, 4] [Conservation Ethics Slides]
22 Ethics and philosophy 3: Timeline of conservation in the U.S. [Timeline Slides]; History of change in Great Smoky
Mts National Park [Reading: Smokies Change] [Smokies Slides]; The two triangles and a taxonomy of conservation
goals [Chapter 5] [Triangles, Goals Slides].
24 Biodiversity: A Shifted Focus and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function [Chapter 6, 7, 8, 9] [Biodiversity Slides 1]
[Phylogeny in conservation: references]
29 Biodiversity, continued. [Biodiversity Slides 2]; Biodiversity in the Southeast [Biodiversity example: Endemism in
the Southeast]
31 Biodiversity, concluded. [Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function Slides]
February
5
Foundation paradigms 1: Island Biogeography & related ideas [Chapter 10, 11, 12] [IBT Slides]
7
Foundation paradigms 2 [Chapter 13, 14] [IBT Slides 2]
12 Foundation paradigms 3: Island Biogeography concluded.
14 Genetics 1 [Chapter 15, 16] [Conservation Genetics Slides 1]
19 Genetics 2: Conservation genetics concluded [Conservation Genetics Slides 2]. Experiment with a simulation of
population genetics by down loading the program AlleleA1.exe from this SITE.
21 Populations 1: [Chapter 17, 18] [Population Slides 1]
26 Populations 2: Populations concluded [Population Slides 2]
28 Metapopulations 1: [Chapter 19, 20] [Metapopulation Slides]
March
5
Metapopulations 2: Metapopulations concluded
7
Invasive species [Chapter 21, 22] [Invasive species slides] [Conservation Garden slides]
If you have questions as you study for the midterm, please email peter.white@unc.edu. I’ll try to keep up with these
and respond quickly.
Mid-term distributed February 28th, due midnight, March 3rd (one minute past 11:59 pm on March 2nd) by email to the
grad TA. Go HERE to download the exam! Read the directions at the top of the first page!
NOTE THAT SECTION 1 of the RESEARCH PROJECT IS ALSO DUE at one minute passed 11:59 pm on March 2 nd. EMAIL
YOUR DRAFT TO the grad TA. Prior to submitting your draft, you are welcome to seek feedback and advice from
peter.white@unc.edu.
12 & 14 NO CLASS, Spring Break!
19 Invasive species continued
21 Rarity, ex situ conservation, reintroduction [Chapter 23, 24, 25] [Rarity and ex situ Slides]
26 Rarity, ex situ conservation, reintroduction continued
28 Communities, ecosystems, landscapes 1: [Chapter 27, 28] [Species Interactions Slides]
April
2 Communities, ecosystems, landscapes 2: Species Interactions Concluded; Disturbance ecology [Chapter 29, 30]
[Disturbance 1 Slides] [Disturbance 2 Slides]
4
Communities, ecosystems, landscapes 3: Disturbance ecology continued
9 Communities, ecosystems, landscapes 4: Disturbance ecology continued [Chapter 31] [Intermediate Disturbance
Hypothesis Slides].
11 Communities, ecosystems, landscapes 5: Disturbance ecology concluded. [Fire and the Smokies Slides…Lecture
given April 17th]
16 Behavioral ecology [Chapter 26] [Behavior Slides]
18 Landscape ecology [Chapter 32] [Landscape Ecology Slides] Fragmentation and Edges [Chapter 33] [Fragmentation
Slides], Ecosystems and Large Scale Conservation [Chapter 34]
23 Ecological Restoration [Chapter 35] [Restoration Slides]
25 The Twelve Threads Revisited [Chapter 36] [12 Threads Slides]; REVIEW! And Conclusion [Chapter 37] [What
Makes a Good Question Handout]
By midnight on THE LAST DAY OF SPRING SEMESTER CLASSES, April 26 th (for those of you that are sticklers for
accuracy, this is really 1 minute past 11:59 pm on Wednesday, April 25th), all assignment documentations are DUE,
emailed to the grad TA.
The FINAL EXAM will consist of two parts, a take home part (open book, notes, web site, and google like the Midterm) and an in-class part (see below!). The take home part will be available on the web site on Wednesday, April 25h,
and will be due by mid-night (by email to the grad TA) on April 30th (for those of you that are sticklers for accuracy,
this is really 1 minute past 11:59 pm on April 29th). The FINAL EXAM PART 1 is linked HERE.
Bob Dylan quotes for exams, graduation, and moving on…HERE.
May
6 Final Exam Part 2, 12-2 pm
IMPORTANT NOTE ON FINAL EXAM PART 2: Stay tuned for more details!