Hawaii Pacific University
BIOL 3080 Ecology Section ____
Semester and year, meeting times
Instructor: Name, contact information and other relevant information about the instructor.
Course description: A study of the adaptive structure and function at the individual, population,
community, and ecosystem levels; theoretical and experimental studies pertaining to the distribution
and abundance of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial organisms.
Course prerequisite: BIOL 2052 and CHEM 2052
General Education Requirement: If BIOL 3081 is also taken, this course satisifes the requirement for
an Upper-Division Research and Writing course for Natural Science majors as welll as other majors
whose programs of study permit them to take any Upper-Division Research and Writing course. The
combination of BIOL 3080 and 3081 is the required option to meet this requirement for General Biology
and Marine Biology majors.
General Education Student Learning Outcomes and the Five Themes: HPU’s general education
curriculum is focused around five themes. This course in combination with BIOL 3081 functions as an
upper division research and writing course and thus emphasizes the Communication Skills Theme and
the Research and Epistemology Theme. Specific general education student learning outcomes are
primarily addressed in BIOL 3081 and are discussed on the syllabus for that course. The lecture by itself
has some relevance to ach of the themes as discussed below:
1 Communication Skills– Time will be set aside for discussion of material presented in lecture. If you
do not speak voluntarily I will eventually get around to calling on you, so take charge and speak up
whenever you’re ready to contribute! You will be expected to effectively communicate ecological
concepts in an essay format on each exam.
2. Global Systems – We will cover the globe in our presentation of examples of ecological
phenomena.
3. Research and Epistemology – This course is fundamentally about what is known about nature and
the research techniques used to acquire that knowledge.
4. Values & Choices – This theme is also best applied to conservation issues and will be addressed
where appropriate.
5. World Cultures – It is important to understand conservation issues in the context of local cultures.
I will present much material within cultural context and I encourage you to contribute your own
cultural perspectives during discussions.
Course-Specific Student Learning Outcomes for BIOL 3080
After the completion of this course the student should :
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Develop a familiarity with the major climactic zones of the biosphere and the behavioral and
physiological adaptations through which organisms meet the challenges within those zones.
Discuss the observed and predicted impacts on ecosystems of climate change. Also develop an
understanding of short-term climactic variations including ENSO, the POD, and the AO.
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Be familiar with the concepts of evolution by natural selection, how selection acts, and the
meaning of adaptation.
Understand how the physical environment and other organisms influence the distribution and
abundance of species.
Describe the conceptually and mathematically the growth (and decline) of populations.
Emphasis will be on the exponential, geometric, and logistic models of population growth.
Students will develop an understanding of what factors generate stability, oscillations, and
chaos in the logistic model and some of it’s derivatives.
Compare and contrast how population control differs under the influence of densitydependence or independence and how density based models differ from metapopulation
models.
Compare and contrast factors affecting photosynthesis in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Be able to relate the basic concepts of trophodynamics.
Understand the concepts surrounding resource limitation and it’s effects on natural history and
evolution.
Describe the different reproductive strategies observed in nature including mechanisms of
fertilization, parental care, mate selection, clutch size selection, and parent-offspring conflict.
Describe the conceptually and mathematically (using both the Lotka-Volterra and Tilman
models, numerically and graphically) competition theory.
Develop and understanding of consumer-resource dynamics, the different categories of
resources, and the various forms or competition (exploitative, contest, etc.)
Understand the niche and guild concepts
Describe the conceptually and mathematically predation theory.
Relate the selective pressures on and adaptations of predators and prey.
Discuss under what conditions predator populations are capable of regulating prey populations.
Understand the dynamic nature of populations, communities and ecosystems
Discuss the development the community concept including the community-continuum debate
(Clements and Gleason), trophodynamics, food web generation and limitations, top-down vs.
bottom up control of populations.
Demonstrate an understanding of how succession occurs and how it is modified by physical and
biological factors. Compare primary and secondary succession. Discuss multiple stable states
and whether the climax community concept is reality or myth.
Understand what is meant by biodiversity and how it develops and is maintained. Emphasis will
be on how diversity is measured and quantified and equilibrium vs. non-equilibrium theories for
the development and maintenance of diversity.
Synthesize ecological information and evaluate the validity, assumptions, and consistency of
research results and theory. This can only be achieved through an understanding of the
material…. Memorization will not be sufficient.
Student learning outcomes will be evaluated primarily using mid-term and final examinations which will
include essay and short answer questions and other traditional types of questions. Student performance
will also be evaluated using online and in-class quizzing and homework assignments.
For the rest of these required syllabus items see the details in the faculty handbook. Delete this note
once the syllabus is complete. For online courses there are some additional requirements given at this
link.
Texts List textbooks with ISBN’s and include this language as well
All textbook information (pricing, ISBN #, and e-books) for this course can be found on the HPU
Bookstore website: hpu.edu/bookstore.
If you have any questions regarding textbooks, please contact the HPU Bookstore at:
Phone:
808-544-9347
Or e-mail:
jyokota@hpu.edu
mmiyahira@hpu.edu
Assignments and mode of evaluation
Summary of important dates and deadlines (if the schedule is a separate document and due dates are
not given with the description of the assignments).
Class rules and policies (including regarding attendance, late work and academic dishonesty)
Schedule of events (may be attached separately)