Population & Community Ecology (BIO. 142) F’15
Population & Community Ecology (Bio. 142)
Fall 2015 Schedule
Class Date
Topic/Assignment due
Text Chapt.
1
2
3
4
5
W 9/9
F 9/11
W 9/16
F 9/18
W 9/23
1. POPULATION ECOLOGY
Course overview, demography
Demography & population growth
Population growth, patch dynamics
Harvesting, repro value [project choices due 5:00pm M 9/21]
Life history evolution
1, 8
8, 9
9, 14, 16, 17
3, 14, 15
2, 8, 10
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
13
14
SPECIES INTERACTIONS
F 9/25 Predator-prey—patterns & models
W 9/30 Predator-prey—experiments
F 10/2 Herbivory, parasitism, coevolution
W 10/7 Digital Design process [Lit. disc. papers due 9:55am], mimicry
F 10/9 Copyright & Fair Use; intro to Competition
W 10/14 Competition— patterns & models
F 10/16 Competition—models & experiments
W 10/21 Competition—evolutionary aspects
F 10/23 Competition and Mutualism
W 10/28 Mid-term exam [in class]
9, 11
11, 16
12, 13
5, 10
9, 10
9, 10
5, 10
12
3. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
15 F 10/30 Climates on a rotating earth, primary production
6, 22
16 W 11/4 Energy flow, food webs, mutualisms
20, 23
17 F 11/6 Biogeochemistry& alternative stable states, global climate change 24,25
18 T 11/10 iMovie Workshop [Mark lab, Tisch library] [Progress report due]
19 F 11/13 Abundance & diversity of species
19, 21
20 W 11/18 Abundance & diversity, cont’d.
21 F 11/20 Island biogeography & community processes
5, 17, 18
[T 11/24, 3:00pm post your preliminary “rough cut” multimedia project]
[W-F 11/25 & 11/27 Thanksgiving break—no class]
[M 11/30, 11:00pm, individual peer feedback due]
22 W 12/2 Island Case Study—Hawaiian Islands
23 F 12/4 Island biogeography & community processes, case studies [take-home exam]
[Tu 12/8, 3:00pm, post your final presentation version of multimedia project
24 W 12/9 Presentation of Multi-Media Research Proposals
25 F 12/11 Open work session [class will not meet]
W 12/17 Take home final exam due [earlier is welcome!] 10:30am, Dana 120
(Or via email PDF attachment—make sure it is attached!)
Population & Community Ecology (BIO. 142) F’15
Course Information
Dr. Francie Chew, 617-627-3189, Barnum 107 (Biology)
Email: fchew@tufts.edu [fastest]
Office hours: Tuesday 12noon-2pm and by appointment (email several good times for you)
Class meetings: Barnum 114, Wed & Fri 10:30-11:45am [part of E+ block]
Course description: Discussion of population ecology (demography, population growth, patch
dynamics, harvesting, life history and related topics); species interactions (predation,
parasitism & herbivory, mimicry, competition, mutualism); and community ecology
(biogeochemical cycles, patterns of abundance & diversity, island biogeography & community
processes). We focus on pattern and process: patterns allow us to generate hypotheses and
varied experimental & observational approaches give us evidence to distinguish among
possible explanations. Course assignments include a short literature discussion paper, in-class
mid-term, take-home final, and a group multi-media project—developing and presenting a
research proposal to study a case of an ecological process or phenomenon.
Prerequisites: Biology 13 & 14 or equivalent or instructor’s permission.
Text:
-Krebs, C.J. 2009. Ecology, the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance, 6th
edition. Cummings, Boston.
Trunk website: https://trunk.tufts.edu/portal/site/a3c37149-13d7-4419-88a9-af6d83f0c9ad
You will have access to this site automatically when you enroll for the course.
Course assignments & grading:
Literature discussion paper 20%
Mid-term exam 20%
Group multi-media research proposal project (total 30%)
Progress report (preliminary script & storyboard, preliminary resources cited) 10%
Final presentation with final script, expanded explanations, resources cited 20%
Peer feedback on rough cuts (done individually) 5%
Take-home final exam 20%
Class attendance & participation 5%
Literature discussion paper: An individual discussion paper of a new data paper (chosen from
links on Trunk) related to your group’s topic for multi-media research proposal. Your
discussion focuses on explaining the paper’s findings, and developing a compelling rationale
for investigating hypotheses that might be pursued using this system or methods (~1000
words). Links to papers from the primary literature will be on Trunk.
Group multi-media research proposal: A 4-5 minute multi-media vimeo research proposal for
“crowd-funding”, plus up to 5 pages of additional written explanation (expanded from script);
plus storyboard and cited resources. We will use facilities of the Tisch Digital Design Studio
(DDS). Individual students will provide peer feedback on a “rough cut” before the final version
is due, and each team will present its project at the end of the course, and test their “crowd
appeal” on invited guests (with popcorn and fake money; not graded).