BIOL 4120
Spring 2010
Principles of Ecology
Syllabus
Dafeng Hui, Ph.D.
Office: Harned Hall 320
Phone: 963- 5777
Office hours: MWF 11:30 am - 2:30 pm; T Th 9:00-2:30 pm; or by appointment
Prerequisites: BIOL111 & 112 (Intro to Biology I and II), BIOL212 (Genetics),
BIOL211 (Cell Biology)
Textbook: (New textbook for Fall 2010) The Economy of Nature, 6th Edition, Robert E.
Ricklefs, 2008. Freeman & Company, W.H., ISBN:
0716786974/9780716786979
(previous textbook) Elements of Ecology, 6th ed., Smith, T. H. and Smith, R. L.
2006. Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, Inc. ISBN10: 0805348301, ISBN13:
9780805348309.
Lab textbook: Ecology on Campus, 1st ed., Kingsolver, Robert. 2006. Person/Benjamin
Cummings, Inc. ISBN10: 0805382143, ISBN13: 9780805382143.
Class Times/Places:
Days
Times
Place
Lecture MWF
10:20 11:15 AM
202 Harned
Hall
Lab
T
1:00-4:00
PM
212 Harned
Hall
Lab
Th
1:00-4:00
212Harned
PM
Hall
Course Description:
Credit Hours: 4 credit hours
Catalog Description. Fundamental ecological principles with special reference to levels
of organization, population and community properties, structural adaptation,
functional adjustments, and other factors affecting the distribution of organisms.
Course Objectives: This course is designed to present an introduction to current theories
and practices in ecology. Students are introduced 1) to the various questions (in
a broad sense) asked by ecologists, 2) to the ideas (theories, models) from which
hypotheses are suggested to answer the questions, and 3) to the ways in which
ecologists go about gathering data to refute or support the proposed hypotheses.
Evaluation:
This course is intended for the collegiate senior year. Thus, you have had
extensive experience in taking and successfully completing college courses.
With this assumption, material is presented in three ways, with considerable
overlap. The primary source for you is the textbook. Your second source of
information is lecture, which is supplemented with material on the website from
Dr. Hui (http://faculty.tnstate.edu/dhui/biol4120). Dr. Ganter also has a very
informative website at http://www.tnstate.edu/ganter.
Not all of the information in the text can be presented in lecture but you are
responsible for all of the information in the text and anything added in lecture.
The lectures are intended to give an overview of the material and cover material
from the book that bears repetition and close reading: complex ideas and
mathematical formalizations of ecological ideas and hypotheses.
Assignments (including laboratory exercises and the optional paper) should be
turned in through email (Please do NOT use Dr. Hui’s mytsu email account, use
dhui@tnstate.edu. For lab assignments, please email to biol4120@gmail.com).
Laboratory Attendance: Attendance is required at both lecture and laboratory. If you
miss a laboratory and do not have a doctor's or other approved excuse (approved at the
discretion of the laboratory instructor), the assignment for that laboratory will receive a
grade of 0. Since there are fewer than ten assignments, a 0 is a very significant penalty
and should be avoided. Attendance during laboratory periods where presentations are
given is also mandatory and penalties will accompany unexcused absences.
There is a penalty for unexcused lecture absence. Your total grade will be
reduced by 0.5 point for each absence you have.
Grading: Four period-long examinations during laboratory classes on the days noted in
the laboratory schedule and one comprehensive final. Examinations will cover only the
material covered since the previous examination and will be in objective/essay/problem
format except the final, which will be comprehensive and will stress terminology.
In addition to examinations and the final, there will be a presentation on a subject
chosen by the student and approved by the instructor. Presentations will be given at the
end of the semester during laboratory meetings. It is advisable to use Microsoft
PowerPoint or another presentation authoring program.
This is also an optional written assignment. It must be turned in by the end of the
12th week of the semester (see schedule below). This paper will be no more than two
typed, single-spaced pages long but must be a well-organized essay that explains the
science behind a current environmental or ecological issue. For this assignment, you need
to cite at least two (2) referred publications. Other requirements are same as these for the
paper summary above. The grade on the paper will be substituted for an examination
grade (exclusive of the final examination).
Extra-point opportunities will be provided, including quiz, video review and paper
summary. One summary of a research ecological paper is suggested. The summary
should be one page in length, including the rationale of the study, hypotheses generated
or questions addressed in the paper, the method used, major conclusions and the
implication of the study. Citation should be listed. These points will be added to your
exams.
Laboratory assignments will be described during the laboratory periods and are due
on the dates listed in the laboratory schedule. There is a penalty of three points for each
day that a lab is past due. Up to 10% of a lab grade will be optionally (at the discretion of
the lab instructor) may be determined on the day on which the laboratory assignment is
due.
All dates for both homework and lecture examinations are subject to change but
this will be announced in class. The overall grade for the course will be based on the
standard TSU point-to-grade scale. The distribution of points is:
Exams:
Laboratory:
Final:
Presentation/paper:
Attendance
50%
25%
10%
10%
5%
:
Policy on plagiarism and cheating: Cheating on exams or plagiarizing on a paper will
result in a 0 grade for that exam or paper. The Department Chair and Dean will be
informed of the occurrence. To plagiarize is 1. to appropriate and pass off as one's own
(the writings, ideas, etc., of another). 2. To appropriate and use passages, ideas, etc. from
another's text or product (Funk and Wagnells Standard Dictionary of the English
Language, 1965). All papers will be kept by the instructor.
Accommodating those with disabilities:
The Biology Department, in conjunction with the Office of Disabled Student Services,
makes reasonable accommodation for qualified students with medically documented
disabilities. If you need an accommodation, please contact Dan Steely of TSU's Disabled
Student Services Office at 963-7400 (phone) or 963-5051 (fax), preferably in the first
week of class.
===============================================================
=================================================
Schedule of Lectures and Reading: (To be updated)
Week Dates Days Topics
1
2
1/15
1/20
F
WF
Ecology as a
Science
The EcologyEvolution
Interface
The Physical
Environment
The Physical
Environment
3
1/25
2/1
MWF
2/8
MWF
2/15
MWF
Note 1
Science of Ecology
Lecture 2
Lecture 3-1
Lecture 3-2
Note 2
Chapters 2, & 3
Note 3
Human genetic
diversity
Note 4
Lecture 3
The Terrestrial
Environment
Animal
Adaptations
Lecture 4
Lecture 5
Lecture 6
Lecture 7
Lecture 8
Life History
6
Chapter 1
Chapters 3 & 4
Plant Adaptations
5
Reading
Lecture 1
MWF
The Aquatic
Environment
4
Lecture Notes
Notes
from Dr.
Ganter’s
web
Population
Characteristics
Lecture 9
Population Growth Lecture 10
Chapters 5 & 6
Note 5
Photosynthesis
Paper<New>
Note 6
Chapters 7 & 8
Water Crisis
Note 7
Note 8
Chapters 9 & 10
Note 9
Video (Invasive
species)
Note 10
ExponentialModel
Populus website
7
2/22
MWF
Population
Regulation
8
3/1
MWF
Interspecific
Competition
9
3/8
10
3/15
11
3/22
Chapters 11 & 12
Note 11
Logistic model
Note 12
Lecture 11
Lecture 12
Chapter 13
Note 13
Spring Break
MWF
MWF
Chapter 14
Predation and
Herbivory
Lecture 13
Mutualism and
Parasitism
Lecture 14
Note 14
Paper reading
Chapter 15
Note 15
Lecture 15
Note 16
Lecture 16
Note 17
Lecture 17
12
3/29
MWF
Community
Ecology
Chapters 16 &17
Papers for
Discussion
(PPT slides),
Chapter 18
Monday, Nov.2
Paper 1, Paper
2
Chapters 20, 21 &
22
Ecosystems
Ecology
13
4/5
MWF
Lecture 18
Note 18
Note 19
Chapter 19
Lecture 19
Landscape
Ecology
Phosphate crisis
An Inconvenient
Truth
14
4/12
MWF
Biogeographical
Ecology
Lecture 20
Lecture 21
Chapters 23
Note 20
Chapter 24 & 25
Video
15
4/19
Diversity Patterns Lecture 22
Chapter 26
Human Ecology
Chapters 27 & 28
MWF
Human Ecology
16
4/26
5/3
Lecture 22
MWF
Chapter 29
Exam 4
17
Note 21
M
Review Guide
Final Exam
(10:20am)
Final Examination is comprehensive
Schedule of Laboratories
Tuesday / Thursday, 1pm – 4pm
Harned Hall Room 212
Instructor: Jennifer Cartwright, PhD student in Biology
e-mail: biol4120@gmail.com
Lab manual: Ecology on Campus, 1st ed., Kingsolver, Robert. 2006. Person/Benjamin Cummings, Inc.
ISBN10: 0805382143, ISBN13: 9780805382143.
check www.half.com, www.amazon.com, www.alibris.com
Please order a copy of the lab manual now if you have not already done so. If it is not available in the TSU
bookstore, please go online from several different retailers (try searching by ISBN number). You will need
this lab manual for next week’s lab and will be using it throughout the semester. If you purchase a used
book, be sure it does not have markings on the pages.
Lab preparation:
You are expected to come to each lab prepared for that day’s experiment, having read the introductory
material for that chapter (page numbers are listed in the Lab Schedule for reference). Please bring a
calculator to all labs, along with your lab manual and a pencil.
Lab attendance:
You are expected to attend all scheduled labs. If you miss a lab, you will need to provide me with a written
excuse (medical or academic, etc) in order to make up that lab. At the end of the semester, during the first
week of student presentations (December 1 & 3) I will stay late to accommodate any students who need to
perform a make-up lab. This make-up period only takes the place of one make-up lab: if you have more
than one excused absence from lab during the semester, you will need to see me to arrange additional
make-up lab time. Unexcused absences from lab will count as a zero.
During lab time, you need to be focused on your work. Please do not use cell phones or text messaging
during lab. Students who are not focused on lab work (i.e. text messaging, etc.) may be asked to leave and
given a zero for that lab grade.
For your safety, do not bring any food or drink into the lab.
Lab reports:
In each lab period, you will be entering data directly into your lab manual. When you finish the
experimental portion of the lab, you will complete the calculations and questions in your lab manual on
your own time, and turn in the completed lab the following week. You must write your name on the lab and
staple it before turning it in. Any lab reports not submitted on the day they are due (one week after the day
the lab was performed) will be considered late. Late labs may be submitted the following week (one week
late) for a deduction of 15 points. Late labs will not be accepted more than one week after the due date.
Failure to turn in a lab report will result in a zero for that report.
Quizzes:
Throughout the semester, you will take short quizzes (4 or 5 questions) on the material covered in the
previous week’s lab. Quiz questions will be directly based on the reading material for the previous week’s
lab and will focus on the most important concepts of the lab. To preclude cheating, Thursday lab students
will receive slightly different quiz questions than Tuesday lab students. Quizzes will be administered at the
very beginning of lab period, so please be on time. If you miss a quiz with an excused absence (see above)
then you can make up that quiz by submitting a 2 page, single spaced summary (in your own words!) of the
appropriate chapter in your lab manual, including brief definitions of all key terms. This summary is due
the week after the quiz you missed. Quizzes missed because of unexcused absence will be graded as zero.
Video Summary:
Two weeks this semester are interrupted by vacations: Fall Break (no Tues lab on October 20 th) and
Thanksgiving (no Thursday lab on November 26 th). However, Thursday lab will meet on October 22 nd and
Tuesday lab will meet on November 24th. In these two lab periods we will watch a documentary video
related to field ecology. Your assignment for this video lab is to write a 1 page, double-spaced summary of
the concepts explored in the video. Tuesday lab video summaries are due December 1 st and Thursday lab
video summaries are due October 29th (see Lab Schedule).
Grading:
Your final grade in this lab class counts as 25% of your final grade in the Principles of Ecology class.
Student presentations at the end of the semester count for an additional 10% of your final class grade. Your
lab grade will be determined by:
Lab attendance
25%
Lab reports
50%
Quizzes
20%
Video summary
5%
Lab Schedule
Lab Dates
Tues /
Thurs
Textbook
chapters
Jan 19 / 21
1,2,3
Jan 26 / 28
Feb 2 / 4
3,4
5,6
Lab Topic
Intro, expectations,
syllabus
Describing a Population,
p. 1
Files 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 19, 20
Soils, p. 337
Finish Soils
Kingsolver Lab
Manual Chapter
Quiz / Assignment
due
-
-
1B: Needle length
in conifers, p. 12
15A: Physical
properties of soils,
p. 347
Describing a Population
lab due, quiz over
Describing a Population
(Chapter 1)
Exam 1 Review Guide
Feb 9 / 11
7,8
Sample example
Feb 16/18
9,10
Population size
estimation, p. 51
Feb 23 / 25
11, 12
15A continued
3A: MarkRecapture
Simulation, p. 56
Quiz over Soils
(Chapter 15)
6A: Population
genetics simulation,
p. 144
Soils lab due
Population size
estimation lab due, quiz
over population size
estimation (Chapter 3)
-
-
Predators and Prey,
11C: Simulating
functional response
of a
predator,
p. 243
p. 267
Population genetics lab
due, quiz over
population genetics
(Chapter 6), Video
summary due
(Thursday class)
Aquatic Environments,
p. 361
TSU wetlands visit
& productivity
Predators and Prey lab
due, quiz over
Population
Genetics, p. 131
Library use and
presentation research
(30 min)
exam 2 review guide
March 2 / 4
13
Mar 9 / 11
14
Mar 16 / 18
15
Mar 23 / 25
16, 17,
18
Spring Break
experiment
(handout)
predators and prey
(Chapter 11)
Water Quality &
Dissolved Oxygen
Water quality
16A: Dissolved
Oxygen and
Temperature,
March 30 /
Apr 1
20, 21,
22, 19
Test kit instruction,
DO, Chlorine,
Ammonia-N, NitrateN, Phosphate
Apr 6 / 8
23, 24,
25
Exam 3, review Guide
-
Dissolved oxygen lab
due, quiz over aquatic
environments
Apr 13 / 15
26, 27,
28
Plant Photosynthesis
-
(Chapter 16)
Video summary due
(Tuesday class)
April 20 / 22
29
Student Presentations &
make-up lab
Student Presentations
-
Optional paper due
April 27 / 29
-
p 369
Exam 4, Review
Guide
Quiz over productivity
experiment & handout
Make-up labs due
Other news links
West Africa's last giraffes make surprise comeback,
By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer Todd Pitman, Associated Press Writer – Sat Nov 7,
1:31 pm ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091107/ap_on_re_af/af_west_africa_s_last_giraffes
Previous schedule of Laboratories:
Wee
k
Dates
Topics
Textbook, Lab book, Link
Lab
Assignment
Due Dates
Sec. Sec.
01
02
1
2
9/1
Introduction,
9/3 expectations, Chapters 1, 2, & 3
syllabus
9/8
Invertebrate
9/10
biodiversity
Kingsolver 13B
Chapters 3 & 4.
Kingsolver 15A
3
9/15 9/17 Soils
Chapters 5, 6
4
5
Lecture
9/22 9/24
Exam 1
Population
Size
9/29 10/1 Estimation
sample exam , Study Guide
Sample lab
report from
Dr. Wallace
Biodiversit
y lab
assignment
due
Presentatio
n Topic
Choice
Due
Kingsolver 3A
Population Size Estimation ; Population
Size
Soil lab
assignment
due
Chapters 9, 10
6
7
Population
10/6 10/8
Genetics
Chapters 11, 12
Population
Size
Estimation
due
Library use
Literature Review
and
Presentation
Presentation and paper and
10/1 10/1 Research (30
Population
3
5 minutes)
Genetics
Optional Written Assignment Instruction
Lecture
Exam 2
8
Kingsolver 6A
Study Guide
Fall break;
10/2
No Tuesday Thursday lab watches Video
2
lab
9
10
10/2 10/2
Niche
7
9
Kingsolver 18C
Chapter 14
TSU wetland
visit and
11/3 11/5
Chapter 15
productivity
experiment
Paper
summary
due
Niche
assignment
due
Kingsolver 16A
Water quality
11
11/1 11/1 Water quality
0
2 lab
Test kit instruction, DO, Chlorine,
Ammonia-N, Nitrate-N, Phosphate
Wetland
assignment
due
Chapters 16, 17, 18
Link to online data wet sites
1. EcoTrends:
http://www.ecotrends.info/EcoTrends/
2. LTER:
Ecological
Data analysis
12
Optional
Written
Long-Term Ecological Research Network Assignment
due
(LTER)
3.
AmeriFlux
network: http://public.ornl.gov/ameriflux
/
Water
quality Lab
due
4.NEON: http://www.neoninc.org/, a
recent report in Science
12
13
11/1 11/1 Lecture
7
9 Exam 3
11/2
4
Study Guide
Evaluation Guide for presentation
No Thursday
Tuesday lab watches video
lab
14
Student
12/1 12/3 presentations
16
12/8
Study Guide for Exam 4,
12/1 Student
0 presentations
Water
quality lab
assignment
due
Answers to Exam 4
There will be no final examination for the laboratory portion of the course
Disclaimer and acknowledgement: The instructor reserves the right to change the
occurrence, timing and content of lectures, laboratory exercises, and examinations. The
policy and current schedule are mostly followed / provided by Dr. Ganter at Tennessee
State University. The slides posted here are for students use for the course of Principles
of Ecology. Some of these slides are modified from the slides downloaded from websites.
I would like to thank these professors, especially Dr. Ganter at TSU, Dr. Ralph Kirby at
National Yang-Ming University, Dr. Robert St. Clair at University of Alberta, Dr. Grant
Gentry at Tulane University, and Dr. Yan Dong at State University of New York at
Oswego. Some lab slides are adopted from Dr. Solomon Dobrowski from UC Davis,
Kelly from UK. Figures and tables used in the lecture slides are mostly provided by the
Media Manager for the exclusive use by adopters of Elements of Ecology by Smith and
Smith, 6th Edition.
Visit: