Introductory Ecology: Course Policies and Syllabus

 

Instructor:                   Vikram K. Iyengar                           

Office:                         Mendel 190C (East end of hallway, inside office suite)                   

Office Hours:              Wednesdays 10:30am – 12:00pm, or by appointment

Phone:                         519-8081 (office); 519-5186 (research lab)   

email:                           vikram.iyengar@villanova.edu

 

Lecture:                       MWF  9:30am – 10:20am                   Mendel Hall, Room 341

Lab:                             W 1:30pm – 4:20pm                           Mendel Hall, Room 088

Teaching Assistant:     Merewyn Boak   merewyn.boak@villanova.edu, 519-6358 (office)

 

Required texts:                                                                                                                             

Ricklefs, R. E. 2007. The economy of nature. Fifth edition with Data Analysis Update. Freeman, New York, NY, USA.

Pechenik, J. A. 2007. A short guide to writing about biology. Sixth edition. Pearson Longmans, New York, NY, USA.  [The 5th edition also will be OK.]

Watts, M. T. 1991. Tree finder. Second edition. Nature Study Guild, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Other required supplies:                                                                                                               

      •  USB pen drive (≥ 100 MB) for use during weekday labs

      •  Small notebook (+ pen/pencil!) for use during weekday labs and weekend trip

      •  Sleeping bag plus appropriate footwear and clothing for 36-hour field trip

 

Overview

Introduction to the ecology of individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Lectures cover environmental conditions, biomes, physiological adaptations, behavioral ecology, life history adaptations, population growth and regulation, species interactions, succession, community structure, ecosystem dynamics, and topics in applied ecology and conservation. (This is not a course in environmental science/engineering nor in social ecology; it will include little if any focus on topics such as recycling, energy efficiency, nuclear waste, pollution treatment, or public policy.)

Course objectives: To familiarize students with central topics, concepts, and methods in ecology. Laboratory component emphasizes collection and statistical analysis of ecological data. The course introduces students to the identification and observation of organisms and habitats through field trips; completion of one overnight class trip is required.

Students completing the course should:

•   exhibit comprehension of concepts and factual knowledge throughout ecology, as presented in lectures, handouts, and text readings

•   demonstrate mastery of quantitative foundations of ecology, including analytical and graphical representations of models

•   show ability to summarize and evaluate primary research literature in ecology

•   display familiarity with field guides for identification of organisms, and techniques for recording field observations

•   exhibit understanding of procedures for collecting and analyzing ecological data

Writing component: Bio 3255 is “Writing Enriched” and will give students training in scientific writing, independent of particular career interests in Biology. Students will complete several graded writing assignments, including one involving revision and resubmission. Skills emphasized include searching and analyzing primary research literature; organizing a review; writing clearly and concisely; using accepted style and format; properly acknowledging sources; and presenting research results. Guidelines and expectations for the writing assignments are detailed in a separate handout.

Evaluation and grading:  Students will be evaluated on written assignments and examinations, and on participation in laboratory/field exercises. Examinations will involve quantitative problems and objective, short-answer, and essay responses. Grade weighting will be as follows:

      Lecture (70%):                        Exam #1 (class time, Mon., 29 Sep.):                       16 %

                                                      Exam #2 (class time, Mon., 10 Nov.):                      16 %

                                                      Final Exam (Mon., 15 Dec., 8:00 AM-10:30 AM)   22 %

                                                      Critique (includes mandatory topic statement, first draft, and revised final version)                                                                                  16 %

      Field/Laboratory (30%):         Weekend field trip journal                                          6 %

                                                      Laboratory Project Report (written & oral)              10 %

                                                      Other lab exercises, attendance, quizzes, subjective 14 %

         Revised Critique, Lab Project Report, and completion of the weekend trip are absolutely required before we will assign any course grade.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

Attendance Policy: Lecture attendance is not quite required but very highly recommended. Our lectures will not follow the text exactly; if you skip, you’ll miss material that will be covered on exams. We’ll tend to be more generous with grading for students who have attended lectures consistently, especially if they also ask questions and participate in discussion.

Students are required to attend all scheduled lab sessions. Unexcused absence will severely hurt your course grade; see us in advance to request a section switch if you cannot attend your normal section.

Completion of your weekend trip is essential. Don’t miss the bus! It is extremely difficult for us to set up alternative arrangements in place of the group field activities included in the scheduled weekend trip. Unless you have an overwhelmingly valid excuse, missing your assigned trip will seriously affect your grade for Bio 3255. Invest in a good alarm clock (or two!) and use it!

Academic Integrity: The course will follow strictly the current University Policy regarding academic integrity. Violation of any element of the Code on any assignment or activity will result in an F for the entire course and initiation of formal disciplinary procedures.

Cell phones must be turned off and stowed away during lectures and, especially, exams. Any cell phone that rings during class will result in a quiz for the entire class!

Disability: It is Villanova’s policy to make reasonable academic accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities (learning, physical). If you area person with a disability please contact us as soon as possible and make arrangements to register with the Office of Learning Support (required to receive accommodations; contact 519-5636 or nancy.mott@villanova.edu).

Communication: We expect (= require) all students to check their official Villanova University e-mail account regularly (ideally at least once a day but certainly every second day at a minimum) and to learn how to use e-mail for submission of assignments. We will use electronic means to contact you with important course information. “I didn’t check my email” is not an acceptable excuse for missing a deadline, announcement, or other important piece of communication about the course. If you tend to use another account, make sure to have mail from your Villanova forwarded to that one.

Students are also required to visit the course web site regularly to obtain important news, download documents, and visit links supporting lecture and lab content.

Animal Use:

The Department of Biology has established a formal policy regarding the ethical and humane treatment of animals in teaching and research. This course will not make intensive use of animals (i.e., no dissections or invasive experiments) but interested students are welcome to consult the Departmental policy to address any specific questions (see one of the Instructors, your TA, or the staff in the Department office). Our course will include observation of animals in the wild during field trips and weekday labs; behavioral experiments involving arthropods; and possibly demonstration of methods for capture, banding, and blood sampling of songbirds (approved under Dr. Curry’s USFWS Bird Banding Permit).


Lecture, Exam, & Reading schedule (subject to change as needed; check web site often)

Required reading in Ricklefs (2001) is denoted by R and chapter number for each lecture. (The material will be most helpful to you if read, where possible, prior to corresponding lectures.) Required readings in Pechenik (2007) are listed in the ‘Writing Assignments’ and laboratory exercise handouts. Dates and Times for major assignments and exams are denoted by boxes.

Date                Topic                                                                                      Reading

August

25                    Course organization & expectations; introduction                             R1

27                    Scale in space & time; key factors in physical environment I R2

29                    Scale in space & time; key factors in physical environment II           R2

September

1                      Labor Day: no lecture

3                      Coping with gradients; adaptations I                                                 R3      

5                      Coping with gradients; adaptations II                                                            R4

8                      Global patterns in the environment I                                                  R4      

8  Critique Topic Statements due by 9:30am (submitted as Word file via attachment)

10                    Global patterns in the environment II                                                 R4

12                    Climate and physical geography                                                         R5

15                    Climate, Soils, and Biomes                                                                 R5

17                    Ecosystem concepts                                                                            R6

19                    Ecosystem energetics                                                                          R6

22                    Energy & elements in ecosystems                                                       R7

24                    Global Carbon and Nitrogen Budgets                                                R7

26                    Ecosystems: cycles and regeneration                                                  R8

29 Mon.          Exam #1, during class period                                                           R 1-8  

October         

1                      Adaptive responses & environmental grain                                        R 9, 16

3                      Behavioral ecology & foraging                                                           R 9, 16

4-5                   Overnight Field Trip: Cape May & Pine Barrens, NJ

6                      Life History Ecology                                                                          R10

8                      Ecology of sex & mating systems                                                       R11

10                    Social ecology                                                                                     R12

10   Critique due by 9:30am (submitted as Word file via attachment)

11-19               Semester Recess

20                    Population distribution & structure; life tables                                   R13

22                    Population structure & growth                                                           R13

24                    Exponential population growth                                                          R14

27                    Regulated population growth                                                             R14

29                    Population dynamics I                                                                                    R15

31                    Population dynamics II           Journal due                                        R15

November

3                      Species relationships                                                                           R17

5                      Coevolution and mutualism                                                                R20

7                      TBA                                                                                                   

10 Mon.          Exam #2, during class period                                                           R 9-16, 20

12                    Dynamics of Predation I                                                                     R18

14                    Dynamics of Predation II                                                                   R18

17                    Competition concepts, theory                                                             R19

19                    Competition evidence & evolutionary responses                                R19

21                    Community Structure                                                                         R21

21  Final Revised Critique due by 9:30am (submitted as Word file via attachment)         

24                    Community development & succession                                              R22

25-30               Thanksgiving recess; no class

December

1                      Biodiversity                                                                                        R23

3                      TBA: Work on Project Reports?                                                        

5                      Island Biogeography                                                                           R23

5  Lab Project Report due by 9:30am (submitted as Word file via attachment)

8                      Historical ecology & biogeography                                                    R24

9                      Conservation Ecology   (Friday schedule)                                          R25

10                    Global Ecology and Wrap-up                                                             R26

12                    Reading Day:  Review session TBA

15 Mon.          FINAL EXAM   8:30 – 10:30am                                                     R1-26

 

 

Lab schedule (tentative; changes may be necessary because of bad weather, etc.):

 

Date                Topic

8/27                 Lab organization; using Macs; Measurement and descriptive statistics I

9/03                 Hypothesis Testing; Adaptive leaf-size; t-test

9/10                 Competition Projects: experimental design & set-up 

9/17                 Mark/recapture & Seed choice by songbirds

9/24                 NO FORMAL LAB MEETINGS: Review Session for Exam #1

10/01               Distributional Analyses with Galls; Chi-square tests

10/08               Field Trip Data Analysis and Discussion: Species-Area Relationships

10/15               NO LAB: Fall Break

10/22               “Fish Banks” Simulation & Discussion

10/29               Competition Projects: “The Harvest”

11/05               NO FORMAL LAB MEETINGS: Review Session for Exam #2 

11/12               Competition Projects: Data Analyses

11/19               Competition Projects: Presentation Graphics, PowerPoint, Reports 

11/26               NO LAB: Thanksgiving Break

12/03               Project Presentations           

12/10               Wrap-up discussion (Review Session for Exam #3). Course evaluations.

           

   Note:   Requirements and due dates for additional work associated with weekday lab exercises will be announced in lab and posted on the course web site.  Worksheets generally will be due prior to the following week’s lab.