| Week 1 |
9/9: Course introduction & what is ecology (Chapter 1)
9/11: Resources & limiting factors (Chapter 3)
9/13: Physiological ecology of plants in the cold
|
| Week 2 |
9/16: Physiological ecology of animals in the cold (Life in
the Cold pages 93-125)
9/18: Physiological ecology of plants in the desert
9/20: Physiological ecology of animals in the desert
|
| Week 3 |
9/23: Limiting resources and the distribution of terrestrial species
& communities (Chapter 4)
9/25: Limiting resources and the distribution of aquatic species
& communities (Chapter 4)
9/27: Case study: climate change and species' distributions (Erasmus
et al. 2002; Response paper 1 due)
|
| Week 4 |
9/30: Life cycles, life tables, and survivorship curves (Chapter
5, pgs 166-184)
10/2: Life cycles, life tables, and survivorship curves (Chapter
5, pgs 166-184)
10/4: Dispersal and migration (Chapter 5, pgs 184-188)
|
| Week 5 |
10/7: Patterns of population growth (Chapter 5, pgs 188-193 plus
Box 5.4 on 194-195 and chapter 12, pgs 422-430)
10/9: Life history patterns (Chapter 5, pages 194-end of chapter)
10/11: Interspecific competition and the competitive exclusion
principle (Chapter 6, page 204-216)
|
| Week 6 |
10/14: The Lotka Volterra model of interspecific competition (Chapter
6, Box 6.1 pages 212-214).
Exam 1, 7-10 PM in BIH 219 & 238!
10/16: Interspecific competition and the
structure of ecological communities (Chapter 6, pages 217-235)
10/18: Mutualism: a look at a variety of
plant-animal mutualisms (skim Chapter 7). In-class
worksheet.
|
| Week 7 |
10/21: Are mutualisms really just 'delicately balanced antagonisms'?
(Bronstein, 1994)
10/23: Case study 2: Interspecific competition
and invasive ants (Holway, 1999). Response
paper 2 due in class.
10/25: No class! Mid-term break.
|
| Week 8 |
10/28: "True" predation, parasitism, and herbivory (Chapter
8, pages 274-276)
10/30: What are the effects, for individual prey and prey populations,
of being eaten? (No, the answer is not as simple as you might think.)
(Chapter 8, pages 276-285
11/1: Choosing what to eat: the behavior of predators and herbivores.
(Chapter 8, pages 285-291.)
|
| Week 9 |
11/4: Case study 3: Effects of herbivory on submerged macrophyte
communities. (Sheldon, 1987). Response paper
due in class.
11/6: Effects of predation, herbivory, and parasitism on population
dynamics and community structure. (Chapter 8, pages 291-310.)
11/8: The community concept in ecology.
|
| Week 10 |
11/11: Community development during succession: theories
(Chapter 9, pages 334-338).
11/13: Community development during succession: an example from
Glacier Bay, Alaska.
11/15: Food webs and keystone species in ecological communities
(Chapter 9, pages 338-343)
|
| Week 11 |
11/18: Stability of ecological communities (Chapter 9, pags 343-349)Exam
2, 7:00 PM BIH 338, 438, and 538
11/20: Species richness & diversity: factors that influence
levels of diversity (Chapter 9, pgs 354-369)
11/22: Species richness & diversity: gradients and patterns
(Chapter 9, pgs 369-384)
|
| Week 12 |
11/25: Case study 4: Species diversity & restoration of tidal
marsh communities (Zedlar et al. 2001). Response
paper due in class.
11/27 & 29: Thanksgiving break!
|
| Week 13 |
12/2: Communities as ecosystems: energy flux through communities
(Chapter 11, pgs 390-406).
12/4: Communities as ecosystems: nutrient cycles in ecological
communities (Chapter 11, pgs 406-415)
12/6: Humans as components of the earth system: a summary look
at the challenges facing the science of ecology
|
| December 12 |
Brown-bag review session, 12-2 PM in BIH 220
Final exam 7-10 PM in BIH 216
|
