Ecology 223 Spring 2003

Instructor: Jim Taulman

Policies

General – A student may be dropped after 3 consecutive absences and will automatically be dropped after 5 total absences. Partial attendance on a given day will be recorded on an hourly basis, that is, arriving an hour late or leaving an hour early will count for missing 1/3 of a class period.

Lecture will be held from 1 pm until 3 pm Thursday at Piya Wiconi. The class will be offered by PicTel at He Sapa and Pine Ridge. However, because I have to teach the Introduction to GIS in the GIS lab at Piya Wiconi immediately after Ecology on Thursdays, I will not be able to travel to the He Sapa and Pine Ridge locations on alternate weeks as would normally be the case. It is expected that you will also work outside of class from 1 to 3 hours for each hour of class time.

Homework – Work assignments will consist of reading and being familiar with chapters in the textbook for each class period. You may be asked to describe your interpretation or understanding of concepts presented in the textbook chapters for a given class period.

Grading –

A = 90 - 100

B = 80 - 89

C = 70 - 79

D = 60 – 69

F = 59 and below

Lecture - Four lecture tests will be given, the lowest grade will be dropped. The other 3 tests will count for 80% of the final course grade.

Project – Each student will do a special written research project. For this project select a topic of interest to you in ecology. Do a literature search to find at least 10 books or scientific articles presenting information on your topic. Read and become familiar with your references. Write a report reviewing the information contained in the literature on your subject. If your topic is a problem in ecology and you have an idea of a solution, present arguments, supported by your literature citations, that defend your position.

This report will count 20% of the final grade in the class. You will have the opportunity to share your findings in a presentation to the class at the end of the semester.

Food – You can bring a drink into class but we won’t be eating in class.

Ecology 223, Spring 2003 Instructor: Jim Taulman

Jan. 23 Introduction, Ch. 1, 2

Jan. 30 Ch. 3, 4, 5 Climate, the Abiotic Environment, Soil

Feb. 6 Ch. 20, 21 Ecosystem productivity, Nutrient Cycling

Feb. 13 Test 1, Ch. 22, 23 Biogeochemical Cycles and Human Impacts

Feb. 20 Ch. 6, 7, 8 Plant and Animal Adaptations, Decomposers

Feb. 27 Ch. 9, 10 Populations and Growth

Mar. 6 Test 2, Ch. 11, 12 Intraspecific Population Regulation, Life History

Mar. 13 Ch. 13, 14, 15 Communities, Interspecific Competition, Predation

Mar. 20 Ch. 16, 17 Parasitism, Process Shaping Communities

Mar.27 Ch. 18, 19 Humans in Communities, Landscape Ecology

Apr. 3 Spring Break

Apr. 10 Test 3, Ch. 24, 25, 26 Biomes: Grasslands, Forests, Deserts

Apr. 17 Ch. 27, 28, 29 Biomes: Wetlands, Lakes, Rivers, Oceans

Apr. 24 Ch. 30 Global Environmental Change

May 1 Reports

May 8 Test 4