Module for Academic Year 2010/2011
SEMESTER 2
1. Module Code and Title:
BL5209 Directed Studies in Ecology
2. Modular Credits [MC]:
MC [4]
3. Rationale for introducing this module:
This module is targeted at students interested in recent
developments in ecological theory.
4. Brief Module Description:
(Publishable quality for Handbook /
Prospectus / Bulletin / Website; between 75
and 100 words briefly addressing:
 teaching and learning objectives.
 major topics covered.)
The trouble with ecology is that there are too many
variables: too many species, types of relationships, and
environmental factors. This makes it easy to get bogged
down in the details, while losing sight of the major
patterns. This course will introduce a range of new
concepts and theoretical syntheses in ecology (including
some that are probably wrong), and will also provide an
opportunity for each student to explore one topic in detail
and to teach the class about it. Most topics will come from
terrestrial ecology, but almost all will have a broad
relevance to other fields.
5. Cross Listing:
Nil
6. Pre-requisites/Co-requisites:
Open to graduate students only. Students without a
background in ecology should consult the lecturers first.
7. Preclusions:
None
(i) Lecture/Seminar
8. Workload hours per week:
(The weekly workload for a 4-MC module
must add up to 10 hours. e.g. 2 hours lecture; (ii) Tutorial
1 hour tutorial; 7 hours preparatory work.)
(iii) Laboratory:
2
1
(iv) Fieldwork, projects, assignments, etc:
(v)
Preparatory work:
7
Total:
9. Offered with effect from:
10
Semester 2 of AY 2008/09
10. Aims and objectives:
(Elaboration of teaching and learning
objectives.)
To expose students to recent advances and current
controversies in ecology and to encourage them to develop
an interest in ecological theory.
11. Maximum Class Size:
25
12. Syllabus:
(Elaboration of major topics covered.)
The syllabus will vary depending on what topics are
currently “hot” in ecology. Examples of topics that may be
included are given below. Students will also be allowed to
suggest topics, as long as these are not directly related to
their own postgraduate research. Each topic will be briefly
introduced in the first week and then assigned to a group of
students for further study before giving a presentation to
the class.
Phylogeny and community assembly.
Molecular phylogenies are becoming a powerful tool for
investigating the processes that structure species
composition in biotic communities. The species and higher
taxa present in a community are not simply a random
sample from the regional species pool. This nonrandomness is what ecologists call ‘structure’ and nonrandom patterns of evolutionary relatedness are termed
phylogenetic community structure. If, as generally seems
to be the case, closely related species are ecologically more
similar than distantly related ones, then phylogenetic
structure can give an indication of the ecological processes
involved in the assembly of communities from the regional
species pool.
Readings:
 Kraft, N.J.B., Cornwell, W.K., Webb, C.O. & Ackerly,
D.D. (2007) Trait evolution, community assembly, and
the phylogenetic structure of ecological communities.
American Naturalist, 170, 271-283.
 Verdu, M. & Pausas, J.G. (2007) Fire drives
phylogenetic clustering in Mediterranean Basin woody
plant communities. Journal of Ecology, 95, 1316-1323.
Neutral theory and tropical rainforest biodiversity.
Neutral theory assumes that all species are ecologically
equivalent, with the same per capita birth and death rates,
and the same chance of immigration from the regional
species pool (or metacommunity). Population dynamics in
the local community is driven solely by random variation
in births, deaths, and immigration. Despite these extreme
assumptions, neutral models predict some fundamental
ecological patterns as well or better than models based on
species differences. However, neutral theory does have
serious problems, most obviously that its basic assumption
is wrong: species are not all the same. Even if neutral
theory is simply wrong, however, it may still be useful,
both as a null hypothesis against which the significance of
differences between species can be assessed, and as a
stepping stone to a more realistic theory.
Readings:
 Hubbell, S.P. (2001) The unified neutral theory of
biodiversity and biogeography. Princeton University
Press, Princeton.
 Hubbell, S.P. (2006) Neutral theory and the evolution
of ecological equivalence. Ecology, 87, 1387-1398.
 Leigh, E.G. (2007) Neutral theory: a historical
perspective. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20,
2075-2091.
Biodiversity and climate change in the tropics.
Predicting impacts on biodiversity from climate change is
especially difficult in the tropics because of the lack of
information on how present-day climates influence the
distributions and ecologies of organisms, the uncertainties
in the rainfall projections, and the ubiquity of other human
impacts. Tropical biotas have survived previous periods of
climate change, but the predicted changes over the next
100 years will be much more rapid than past natural
changes and, for temperature at least, may exceed the
extremes of the last two million years. At the same time,
the fragmentation of natural ecosystems and the increasing
‘unfriendliness’ of the matrix between fragments will make
response by migration difficult for all but the most mobile
species, while logging, hunting, fires, and pollution will
place additional stresses on numerous species.
Readings:
 Deutsch, C.A., Tewksbury, J.J., Huey, R.B., et al.
(2008) Impacts of climate warming on terrestrial
ectotherms across latitude. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the USA, 105, 6668-6672.
 IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical
science basis. Cambridge University Press, New York.
 Lenton, T.M., Held, H., Kriegler, E., et al. (2008)
Tipping elements in the Earth’s climate system.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of
the USA, 105, 1786-1793.
Are tropical forests nitrogen-rich and phosphoruspoor?
An increasing amount of evidence has accumulated to
suggest that the productivity of tropical and subtropical
lowland forests on highly-weathered soils is most often
limited by the availability of P. This evidence is partly
direct, from the responses to P-fertilization experiments,
but mostly indirect, including the efficiency with which
plants resorb P from senescing leaves before leaf
abscission, the relatively high C:P and N:P ratios in leaves
and litterfall, and the covariation between soil P and both
plant species composition and productivity. Similar sorts of
evidence suggest that N is often in superabundant supply in
these forests. This suggested ‘N-rich P-poor’ pattern in
tropical forests (which may be wrong) contrasts with
ecosystems at higher latitudes, where nitrogen is the most
common limiting nutrient.
Readings:
 Davidson, E.A., de Carvalho, C.J.R., Figueira, A.M., et
al. (2007) Recuperation of nitrogen cycling in
Amazonian forests following agricultural
abandonment. Nature, 447, 995-U6.
 Hedin, L.O., Vitousek, P.M. & Matson, P.A. (2003)
Nutrient losses over four million years of tropical
forest development. Ecology, 84, 2231-2255.
 Porder, S., Vitousek, P.M., Chadwick, O.A.,
Chamberlain, C.P. & Hilley, G.E. (2007) Uplift,
erosion, and phosphorus limitation in terrestrial
ecosystems. Ecosystems, 10, 158-170.
Other possible topics:
Have extinction risks in the tropics been exaggerated?
 Wright, S.J. & Muller-Landau, H.C. (2006) The
uncertain future of tropical forest species.
Biotropica, 38, 443-445.
Can reducing emissions from deforestation and
degradation (REDD) help save tropical forests?
 Clement, C.R., Clement, R.C. (2008) REDD herring?
Science, 58, 677.
 Laurance, W,F. (2008) Better REDD than dead.
Science, 58, 677.
13. Assessment (%):
(Please indicate the % breakdown for each
continuous assessment [CA] component and
for the Final Examination.)
CA:
(Small-group presentation: Each student will work
40%
in a small group on a currently “hot” topic in
ecology that will be assigned to them. There
will be an opportunity at the start to ‘trade’
topics and to suggest alternatives, but students
will not be allowed to work on a topic that is
closely related to their own postgraduate
research. Each group will then give a
presentation (PowerPoint or an agreed
alternative) on their topic to the other students.
This will be assessed on its usefulness to the
other students, weighted by the difficulty of the
topic. The mark for the presentation will be
shared by all the members of the group, unless
they agree to an alternative distribution of
marks to reflect unequal contributions.
Total for CA:
Final Examination:
The exam will include questions on all topics
covered, with students required to answer questions
on any two topics other than the one their own
group worked on.
Total for Final Examinations:
40%
60%
60%
Total Assessment: 100%
14. Module Lecturer/s:
(Name/s and Department/s.)
(i) Principal lecturer:
Prof. Richard T. Corlett
(ii) Alternative lecturer:
Assoc. Prof. Hugh T.W. Tan
15. Modes of Teaching and Learning:
(Lectures, regular tests, Q & A, IVLE,
problem-based learning.)
The main modes will be student-led seminars, interactive
class discussions, and self-study. The lecturers will briefly
introduce each topic and hold a 1-hour tutorial with each
group.
16. Illustrative Basic Reading List:
(a) Compulsory reading:
Ecological topics in current issues of the journalsNature,
Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
of the United States of America (PNAS), etc.