Fundamentals of Ecosystem Ecology (BIOS 532)
Fall 2015
Time: Tuesday/Thursday, 8:10 - 9:30 AM
Location: FOR 106
Instructor:
Cory Cleveland
Science Complex (CHCB) 423
Cory.Cleveland@Umontana.edu
243-6018
Office Hours: T 9:30 – 11:00 and by appointment
Course Description & Learning Outcomes
In this course students will consider the defining principles of ecosystem ecology. Ecosystem ecology is
somewhat unique in that it considers the flow of both energy and materials through living (e.g., plants,
animals, microbes, humans) and non-living (e.g., lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere) components of
environments. As such, the course includes material ranging from biophysical and chemical to
biological. Using the framework developed by G. Evelyn Hutchinson in his book, The Ecological Theater
and the Evolutionary Play, we will begin by examining the “abiotic stage” (e.g., ecosystem water and
energy balance, climate, geology and soils) on which the major ecological players perform some truly
incredible roles (e.g., primary production, decomposition, nutrient cycling and nutrient use). We will
consider a number of fundamental concepts in the field (e.g., succession, disturbance, ecological
stoichiometry), then turn our attention to the major element cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus),
what drives them, how element fluxes vary in space and time, and what that means for the planet, and
we will consider some strategies for managing and sustaining ecosystems. Along the way, we will use
some specific case studies from the primary literature to help synthesize the information we are
covering.
The overall goal of this course is help students develop an understanding the relationships between
ecosystem structure and the way they function. Through the semester, I hope to weave logical
connections between ideas, and to demonstrate how complex processes can be understood from basic
principles. Approximately 2/3 of the course will be lecture-based, with the remaining 1/3 consisting of
group discussion of concepts and primary literature. Everyone will take exams, and take-home problem
sets may be assigned periodically to provide some experience in ecosystems scientific analysis.
Participation in class discussions will also be a significant part of the course grade, and will be assessed,
in part, via quizzes covering the assigned readings. In addition, students will be responsible for
completing a short independent project (ecological synthesis or meta-analysis) that addresses an
ecosystems-related question in an ecosystem of interest. Finally, all students will be responsible for
preparing and delivering presentations summarizing the information from their independent projects in
an Ecosystem Ecology Symposium held at the end of the semester.
Grading
Grades will be calculated as follows:
Midterm 1:
Midterm 2:
Final Exam:
Participation/Homework:
Independent Project:
Oral Presentation:
20%
20%
20%
10%
20%
10%
Tentative Class Schedule (Fall 2015)
Class# Date Topic
1
9/1
Ecosystem Ecology and the
Ecosystem Concept
2
9/3
The State Factor Approach to
Ecosystems – Hawaii as a case
study
3
9/8
The Atmosphere and Climate
4
9/10 The Atmosphere, Climate and
Ecosystems
5
9/15 Geology & Soils
6
9/17 Energy & Water
7
9/22 C Cycle 1
8
9/24 C Cycle 2
9
9/29 C Cycle 3
10
10/1 Terrestrial C Cycle Case Study: The
C cycle at multiple scales
11
10/6 Terrestrial C Cycle: Decomposition
and Soil Respiration
12
10/8 Midterm 1
13
10/13 Nutrient Use
14
10/15 Nutrient Use
15
16
17
10/20 Nutrient Cycling
10/22 Nutrient Cycling
10/27 Trophic Dynamics
18
10/29 Ecosystem Dynamics & Succession
Final Project Outlines DUE!
11/3 Ecosystem Dynamics and
Succession: Case Study
19
20
21
11/5 Midterm 2
11/10 Species Effects on Ecosystems
22
11/12 Biodiversity Case Studies
23
24
11/17 Global Climate Change: Case
Study
11/19 Global Biogeochemical Cycles
25
26
271
28
29
30
11/24
11/26
12/1
12/3
12/8
12/10
1
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Thanksgiving Break – No Class
Ecosystems Symposium
Ecosystems Symposium
Ecosystems Symposium
Ecosystems Symposium
Textbook Reading
Ch 1
Suggested Reading
Gorham (1991)
Amundson and Jenny
(1997); Vitousek et al.
(1997)
Ch 2
Ch 2
Odum (1969); Chadwick et
al. (1999)
Ch 2 & 3
Ch 4
Ch 5
Ch 6
Ch 5/6
Clark et al. (2001);
Cleveland et al. (2015)
Ch 7
Ch 8
Ch 8; Vitousek &
Howarth (1991)
Ch 9
Ch 9
Ch 10
Ch 12; Vitousek &
Reiners (1975)
Chapin et al. (1994),
Vitousek and Farrington
(1997)
Ch 11
Chapin et al. (1997);
Chapin et al. (2000)
Clark (2004); Zhao &
Running (2010)
Ch 14
Meir et al. (2006)
Chapin et al. (2006)
Meyer & Edwards (1990)
Falkowski et al. (2000)
Raich & Schlesinger (1992)
Couteaux et al. (1995)
Walker & Syers (1976)
Elser et al. (2007)
Mulholland et al. (2008)
Hairston et al. (1960);
Allison et al. (2008)
Chapin et al. (1994)
Vitousek et al. (1979);
Davidson et al. (2007)
Maron et al. (2010);
Vitousek et al. (1987)
Tilman (1996); Tilman &
Downing (1994)
Galloway et al. (2008);
Falkowski et al. (2008)
Ch 14
Presentations
Presentations
Presentations
Presentations
L 27 - 30 are reserved for student presentations of student-developed ecosystems research projects.
Reading
Textbook: Chapin, FS, Matson, PA, Vitousek, PM. 2011. Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology.
Springer, New York.
(Ch) refer to chapters in the textbook.
Reading: Journal Articles (Available for download on Moodle)
Aber, J. 1998. Nitrogen saturation in temperate forests- Hypotheses revisited. BioScience 48.
Aber, J. D., K. J. Nadelhoffer, P. Steudler, and J. M. Melillo. 1989. Nitrogen saturation in northern forest
ecosystems. BioScience 39:378-386.
Amundson, R. and H. Jenny. 1997. On a state factor model of ecosystems. BioScience 47:536-543.
Chadwick, O., L. Derry, P. M. Vitousek, B. Huebert, and L. Hedin. 1999. Changing sources of nutrients
during four million years of ecosystem development. Nature 397:491-497.
Chapin, F. S. et al. 2006. Reconciling carbon-cycle concepts, terminology and methods. Ecosystems
9:1041-1050.
Chapin, F. S., L. R. Walker, C. L. Fastie, and L. C. Sharman. 1994. Mechanisms Of Primary Succession
Following Deglaciation At Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ecological Monographs 64:149-175.
Chapin, F. S. et al. 1997. Biotic control over the functioning of ecosystems. Science 277:500-503.
Chapin, F. S. et al. 2000. Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature 405:234-242.
Clark, D. A., S. Brown, D. W. Kicklighter, J. Q. Chambers, J. R. Thomlinson, and J. Ni. 2001b. Measuring
net primary production in forests: concepts and field methods. Ecological Applications 11:356370.
Cleveland, C.C., P. Taylor, K.D. Chadwick, K. Dahlin, C.E. Doughty, Y. Malhi, W.K. Smith, B.W. Sullivan,
W.R. Wieder and A.R. Townsend. 2015. A comparison of plot-based, satellite and Earth system
model estimates of tropical NPP. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 29, doi:10.1002/2014GB005022.
Couteaux, M.-M., P. Bottner, and B. Berg. 1995. Litter decomposition, climate and litter quality. TREE
10:63-66.
Davidson, E. A. et al. 2007. Recuperation of nitrogen cycling in Amazonian forests following agricultural
abandonment. Nature 447:995-999.
Elser J., Bracken M.E.S., Cleland E.E., Gruner D.S., Harpole W.S., Hillebrand H. et al. (2007). Global
analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and
terrestrial ecosystems. Ecol. Lett., 10, 1135-1142.
Falkowski, P. et al. 2008. The microbial engines that drive earth's biogeochemical cycles. Science 320:
1034-1039.
Galloway, J. et al. 2008. Tranformations of the nitrogen cycle: Recent trends, questions and potential
solutions. Science 320:889-892.
Gorham, E. (1991) Biogeochemistry: Its origins and development. Biogeochemistry 13:199-239.
Lindeman, R.L. (1942) The trophic-dynamic aspects of ecology. Ecology 23:399-418.
Maron, J., M. Marler, J. Klironomos, C. Cleveland. 2010. Soil pathogens contribute to the positive plant
diversity-productivity relationship. Ecology Letters doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01547.x
Odum, E. P. 1969. The strategy of ecosystem development. Science 164:262-269.
Raich, J. W. and W. H. Schlesinger. 1992. The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its
relationship to vegetation and climate. Tellus Series B Chemical and Physical Meteorology 44:8199.
Running, S., R. R. Nemani, F. A. Heinsch, M. Zhao, M. Reeves, and H. Hashimoto. 2004. A continuous
satellite-derived measure of global terrestrial primary production. BioScience 54:547-560.
Tilman, D. 1996. Biodiversity: population versus ecosystem stability. Ecology 77:350-363.
Tilman, D. and J. A. Downing. 1994. Biodiversity and stability in grasslands. Nature 367:363-365.
Vitousek, P. and W. Reiners. 1975. Ecosystem succession and nutrient retention: A hypothesis.
BioScience 25:376-381.
Vitousek, P. M., O. A. Chadwick, T. E. Crews, J. H. Fownes, D. M. Hendricks, and D. Herbert. 1997. Soil
and ecosystem development across the Hawaiian Islands. GSA Today 7:1-8.
Vitousek. P.M. et al. (1987) Biological invasion by Myrica faya alters ecosystem development in Hawaii.
Science 238:802-804.
Vitousek, P. M. and H. Farrington. 1997. Nutrient limitation and soil development: Experimental test of a
biogeochemical theory. Biogeochemistry 37:63-75.
Vitousek, P., J. R. Gosz, C. C. Grier, J. M. Melillo, W. A. Reiners, and R. L. Todd. 1979. Nitrate losses from
disturbed ecosystems. Science 204:469-474.
Vitousek, P. M. and R. W. Howarth. 1991. Nitrogen limitation on land and sea: How can it occur.
Biogeochemistry 13:87-115.
Walker, T. W. and J. K. Syers. 1976. The fate of phosporus during pedogenesis. Geoderma 15:1-19.
Zhao, M. and S.W. Running. (2010) Drought-induced reduction in global terrestrial net primary
production from 2000 through 2009. Science 329:940-943.
Some other important and potentially useful references:
Aber, J.D. and J. M. Melillo (1991) Terrestrial Ecosystems. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, PA.
Likens, G.E. and F.H. Bormann (1995) Biogeochemistry of a Forested Ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, New
York.
Sala, O.E., R.B. Jackson, H.A. Mooney and R.W. Howarth. (2000) Methods in Ecosystem Science.Springer,
New York.
Schlesinger, W.H., Bernhardt, E.S. (2013) Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change. Academic
Press, San Diego, CA
Vitousek, P.M. (2004) Nutrient Cycling and Limitation. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Waring, R.H. and S.W. Running. (1998) Forest Ecosystems: Analysis at Multiple Scales. Academic Press,
New York.
Wetzel, R.G. (2001). Limnology, 3rd Edition: Lake and River Ecosystems. Academic Press, New York.