Biology 131 - Ecology and Adaptation
Fall 2009
Instructor: Fred Singer
Office phone: 5115
email:fsinger@radford.edu
Texts: Biology (8th ed.) by Campbell & Reece
Office hours: M 4-5, T 2-4, W 11-12, Th 2-3
Office 314 Reed Hall
Home phone (before 9PM): 633-0142
website: http://www.radford.edu/fsinger/
(I do not use Blackboard nor Webct)
Happy end of summer! This is one of my favorite times of year because I can go out and enjoy the great
outdoors without dealing with large numbers of people trying to do the same thing. For some reason, after
Labor Day people tend to stop hiking, fishing or whatevering. Though I don’t plan to organize any formal
fishing excursions for our laboratories, we will be spending quite a bit of time outside trying to learn about
the two major topics of this course - ecology and adaptations. These two topics are logically connected,
because ecologists study how organisms interact with each other and the environment, while adaptations are
naturally selected traits that enhance organisms’ survival or reproductive success in a specific environment. I
think it will be lots of fun, and I also am confident that we will all learn a lot.
I have three goals (at least in the context of this course). First, I want to get you excited about biology. I
want you to look forward to coming to class, because you think biology is so awesome! My second goal is to
teach you the subject matter. Most of you are biology majors, and it is essential for you to develop an
appreciation of how different environmental conditions have shaped the evolution of different solutions to
life’s major challenges of maintaining homeostasis and producing babies (this is the adaptation part of the
course). At the same time, because organisms have these different physiological adaptations, some species
are better adapted to one type of environment, while other species are better adapted to a second type of
environment (this is the ecology part of the course). My third goal is to make biology relevant to you. Even
if you're not planning a career in evolutionary biology or ecology, it is essential for you to understand the
many linkages between the organism and its environment. These linkages include global issues such as
climate change and pollution, and extend into a diversity of issues in the realms of sociology, anthropology,
psychology, religion, economics and ethics, to name a few.
I will not give you a detailed outline for the course, because I prefer a fluid existence, and I have no good
way of predicting how long we will spend on each topic. I also want you to make suggestions about topics
or activities we can do in class that will enhance everybody’s experience, so that also adds to the
unpredictability. Conceptually, there are three parts to the course, which will hopefully tie together
reasonably well.
Pages in Campbell
Topic
Part I. Ecology
1146 - 1173
1174 - 1197
1198 - 1221
1222 - 1244
1245 - 1267
Introduction to ecology and the biosphere
Population Ecology
Community ecology
Ecosystems
Conservation and restoration ecology
Part II. Introduction to Evolution
452 - 467
487 - 497
Descent with modification: a Darwinian view of life
Evolution of species
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Part III. Physiological and behavioral adaptations in plants and animals
764 - 784
785 - 800
852-874
875 - 897
898 - 929
1120 - 1145
Resource acquisition and transport in vascular plants
Soil and plant nutrition
Basic Principles of animal form and function
Animal nutrition
Circulation and gas exchange
Animal behavior
Outside readings - on electronic reserve at McConnell Library.
Go to the Library website, and click on Course Reserves. Type in Singer, and then download the article.
Panda's Thumb
Devil’s Gardens
Cold Blood: The Tale of the Icefish
Heat reward for insect pollinators
The flower of seduction
Ivory-Bill Returns
Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) Persists in Continental North
America
Comment on "Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) Persists in
Continental North America"
Response to Comment on "Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis)
Persists in Continental North America
Gould, Steven
Frederickson,
Megan E.
Carrol, Sean
Seymour,
Roger S.
Ledford,
Heidi
Kennedy,
Donald
Fitzpatrick,
John
Sibley, David
Fitzpatrick,
John
This is a fair amount of reading material, but reading is the primary way scientists learn. So hopefully you
all enjoy reading, or are at least willing to do it. To help you with your reading I will assign homework
questions, which will help you in several ways.
Way # 1. I will assign homework every week that you should have completed by the lecture on Thursday
morning. Bring your homework to class. You can use these questions as a guide to the reading in the
chapter. I expect you will need to spend several hours to answer the homework questions well (you can
answer them poorly in less than an hour, but that won't help you) because…
Way # 2. Every Thursday morning (with the exception of the first Thursday, and weeks that have exams),
you will be greeted with a quiz. The quiz will be based on your homework questions, the readings, and on
the lecture material that we've covered since the last quiz or exam. I will sometimes not cover the homework
material in class, so you (in those cases) will have to do some learning on your own. Of course you are
always encouraged to ask me questions in class and/or in my office about material that you are having
difficulty with (or that you want to know more about). The quiz will be open-notes, so you will be way
ahead of the game if you come to all the lectures, and bring your homework with you to class on Thursday. I
will drop the two lowest quiz scores. If you're sick for a quiz, I will excuse you if you present me with a
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Dr.'s note confirming your illness (otherwise, you can drop that quiz score). If you’re on a sports team that
has an away game, I will excuse you for the quiz so long as you let me know (email is fine) before the quiz.
If you have an appointment with your academic advisor, or if you need to register for classes, please change
your appointment. If you leave class in the middle of a quiz day, I will place your quiz into the recycling bin
without even looking at it.
Way # 3. For each exam (there will be 3 of them), you will be allowed to bring in a full-sized piece of paper
to keep you company on the exam. On that paper, you may write anything you'd like. The paper must be
prepared by you and handwritten (i.e. you can't give your piece of paper to someone else, and you can't make
two copies of your piece of paper).
I will not collect your homework assignments. Instead I will use them, your readings and lecture material as
the basis for your weekly quizzes.
Final Exam (takehome - 75 points)
There are many commonalities in the physiological challenges faced by plants and animals. There are also
many differences. In this class we’ve discussed how plants and animals regulate water, wastes and nutrients.
Use specific examples that you’ve learned about in class to show how these commonalities and differences
influence the distribution and abundance of plants and animals in their environment. Your answer should be
typed and double spaced. You may work with one other person if you would like. Individuals should try to
limit themselves to three pages (doubled spaced), while pairs should try to write no more than four pages.
Good luck!
Laboratories
Labs begin this week. There are seven labs at the beginning whose sequence will vary in relation to the
weather. If it’s a nice day, we will do outside labs, if it is much less than nice, we will do inside labs. For
outside labs (such as dragonflies/waterstriders) make sure you wear water shoes, and you might consider
shorts, so you don’t need to spend the day with wet clothes. Always bring water for outside labs. Bring the
following to all labs (but you might not use them every week).
1. pencils with erasers
2. Small notebook that fits in your pocket, that you can take to the field and I can collect.
3. calculator
Laboratory Plan
Date
Topic
Aug 31, Sep 1
Sep 7, 8
Sep 14, 15
Sep 21, 22
Sep 28, 29
Oct 5, 6
Oct 12, 13
Oct 19, 20
Oct 26, 27
Nov 2, 3
Nov 9, 10
Introduction, Pretest, Pollination or Plant development (depends on weather)
Ecology of dragonflies I or Ecology of waterstriders
Ecology of dragonflies II or Ecology of waterstriders
Asking questions (at Selu Conservancy)
Answering questions (at Selu Conservancy)
Introduction to natural selection (rainy day lab)
Introduction to Statistical analysis (rainy day lab)
Tree distribution and abundance
Bird behavior lab
Salamander search session
Plant hormones
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Nov 16, 17
Nov 30, Dec 1
Dec 7, 8
Harvest plant development
Harvest plant hormones
Mystery lab
Grades
Grades will be given. The general scheme is pretty traditional, as denoted below:
A
90%+
B
80-89%
C
70-79%
D
60-69%
Unmentionable
below 60%
Final note: In order for a class to go well, it is essential that students come to class prepared and motivated.
The homework is intended to keep you up to date, so that you are able to be part of the class dynamic, and
share your insights with your classmates (and with me). We will also be discussing topics from the readings
in class on a regular basis, and I will value your contributions very highly. Thus if you have an 85%
average, but are a thoughtful and frequent contributor to classroom discussions, you may find yourself with
an A (even though a silent lump in the class with an 88% average will get a B). So please share your
thoughts with the rest of the class - everybody benefits.
I’m looking forward to a great semester.
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