Draft syllabus - Conservation Biology (BISC 352L)
Spring 2016, Catalina Island
Instructors
Dr. Suzanne Edmands, AHF 316, 213 740-5548 (USC campus)
Email: sedmands@usc.edu
Dr. Karla Heidelberg, SOS B15, 213-740-0951 (USC campus)
Email: kheidelb@usc.edu
TA: Nicole Adams, AHF 316
Email: nicoleea@usc.edu
Course description
This course was developed for the Environmental Studies Catalina Sustainability Block Semester. The course
focuses on principles of conservation science and the challenges of balancing the needs of people and nature.
Conservation of both marine and terrestrial ecosystems is considered in light of scientific principles from diverse
fields, such as population genetics, ecology, economics, and other natural and social sciences, which are
important in protecting biological diversity.
Recommended preparation
This course has no formal pre-requisites, but students should have had an introductory course in biology.
Course overview
Humans now dominate our planet processes by impacting virtually all ecosystems, changing climate, and altering
the global cycling of elements, such as carbon and nitrogen. Indeed, some scientists argue that Earth has entered a
new geological era, the Anthropocene, which future geologists will be able to recognize by abrupt appearance in
the rock record of radio-isotopes and other chemical and fossil signatures of human activity. Life on Earth may
already be experiencing a sixth mass extinction, caused by habitat degradation, over-exploitation, species
invasions, and other human impacts. This course introduces students to conservation science—part
interdisciplinary scientific enterprise and part social movement—that seeks to protect the existing diversity of
Earth’s animals, plants, and ecosystems, while balancing the needs of nature with those of humans. Students will
learn about tools for predicting the future of biodiversity on a human-dominated planet and for identifying and
weighing options for managing ecosystem change. The focus is, thus, on solutions and a way forward rather than
“gloom and doom” scenarios. Finally, students will explore, throughout the course, the line between objective
scientific observation and reporting and advocacy.
Required textbook and additional books
Kareiva, P, and M. Marvier. 2011. Conservation Science. Roberts and Company Publishers, Greenwood Village,
CO. ISBN: 978-1-936221-06-6
Carson, R.L. 1962. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin.
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press.
Laboratory & field exercises
The two experimental exercises, one focusing on laboratory study and the other, on field observations, will be
written up in standard scientific format (Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Discussion, Literature Cited, Table and
Figures). Reports must be typed and should be approximately 3-5 pages in length (excluding tables and figures).
Group projects
Students will use case studies to synthesize information and apply knowledge. Students will work in small groups
to tackle different aspects or examples of each case. Groups will investigate their topics separately and then
reassemble to exchange information in a final symposium. Students will also form teams to conduct Population
Viability Analyses (computer simulations) of island fox and feral cat populations on Catalina Island; teams will
meet to compare and contrast results to determine whether foxes or cats will prevail or if coexistence is possible.
In all group projects, students will be responsible for individual oral reports, written reports, or short essays.
Discussion sessions
We will have reading and discussing sections of classical books, such Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Aldo
Leopold’s Sand County Almanac, as well as topical papers from the primary literature. Students are expected to
read the assignments and participate actively in the discussion.
Grading
Lab reports, 2×10%
Group project reports, 3×10%
Midterm
Final
Overall participation (discussion sessions)
20%
30%
20%
25%
5%
100%
Policies
Missed exams: Missed exams will receive a grade of zero unless the student has an excused absence due to a
documented medical or family emergency. At the discretion of the instructor, a missed exam a) may be retaken as
a written exam, b) may be retaken as an oral exam or c) may be given a prorated score based on performance in
the rest of the course.
Regrades: If you would like to contest a grade on an exam or assignment, you must submit a written explanation
of why you think the grade was incorrect. Please note that the ENTIRE exam or assignment will be subject to
reevaluation and your score may therefore go up, go down or remain the same. Regrade requests must be
submitted to the instructor within two days of when the exam/assignment is returned.
Late assignments: Due dates are written in the schedule. Late assignments will be downgraded by 10% per day.
Schedule: Due to the vagaries of weather, boat schedules and island life, it may be necessary to make some
adjustments in the course schedule.
Statement for students with disabilities: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is
required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for
approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as
early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Academic honesty: Academic integrity policies of the university will be strictly followed. Infractions can result in
severe penalties. See SCampus for these policies.
Statement on academic integrity: USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of
academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that
individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect
one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All
students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the
Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/. Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial
Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The
Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.
Tentative Schedule (blue = lectures; purple = labs; yellow = discussions)
Day,
Date
M
3/7
T
3/8
W
3/9
Th
3/10
F
3/11
Morning
Afternoon
Lecture: Introduction to conservation
science
Lecture: Seafood labeling:
Introduction to DNA barcoding lab
Lab: Intro to molecular methods
Lecture: Biodiversity and extinction
Group project: Conflicts in species
Lab: DNA barcoding I, PCR
conservation
Discussion: Silent Spring
Lecture: Ecosystem services
Lecture: Policies to protect
Lab: DNA barcoding II, load, run,
biodiversity
stain and score gels
Work on Group Projects
Field Trip: Wrigley Botanical Garden
Group Project Symposium: Conflicts
or Middle Ranch
in species conservation
No class – enjoy your early Spring Break!
Readings
Ch.1, K&M
Ch. 2, K&M; Silent
Spring, Intro, Chs. 1, 3,
15, Afterward
Ch. 3-4, K&M
USC Spring Break, March 14 - 18
M
3/21
T
3/22
W
3/23
Th
3/24
F
3/25
M
3/28
T
3/29
W
3/30
Lecture: Protected Areas
Lab: DNA barcoding III, analysis
Lecture: Setting Priorities
Discussion: Allendorf et al. 2001
Group project: PVAs of island fox
and feral cats
Lecture: Small Populations
Work on Group Projects
Lecture: Population viability analysis
(PVA)
DNA barcoding lab report due
Group Project Symposium: Who
wins, foxes or cats or both?
Lecture: Assessing threats
Lecture: Islands, theory & practice
Field Trip: Wrigley Botanical Garden
or Middle Ranch
Lecture: Adaptive management
Discussion: A Sand County Almanac
Lecture: Forest conservation
M
4/4
Lecture: Sustainable fisheries &
aquaculture
Lecture: Balancing freshwater for
people & nature
W
4/6
Th
4/7
Ch. 6, K&M Allendorf et
al. 2001 TREE 16:613632.
Ch. 7-8, K&M
Ch. 9, K&M
Midterm Examination
Th
3/31
F
4/1
T
4/5
Ch. 5 K&M
Lecture: Balancing agriculture &
conservation
Lecture: Climate and ocean change
Lecture: Habitat fragmentation
Group project: Wilderness & the
Drakes Bay Oyster Co.
Lecture: Restoration, reintroduction
and translocation
Lab: Insect biodiversity I, field
collections
Lab: Insect biodiversity II, data
analysis
Lecture: Conservation agriculture
Insect biodiversity report due
Group Project Symposium
Wilderness & Oysters
Lecture: Introduced & invasive
species
Discussion: Heller & Zavaleta 2009
Lecture: How to succeed at
conservation
Final Examination
Ch. 10, K&M
Ch. 11, K&M
Ch. 12, K&M; A Sand
County Almanac, Intro,
pp. 167-191.
Ch. 13, K&M
Ch. 14, K&M
Ch. 15, K&M
Ch. 16-17, K&M; Heller
& Zavaleta 2009 Biol
Cons 142:14-32.
Ch. 18-19, K&M