General Ecology--Biology 214
Fall 2013 Instructor: Dr. Jerry Skinner; Capwell Hall
211;
945-8404. email:
jerry.skinner@keystone.edu.
Class Meetings: Lecture: M-F 9:30-10:45 am Capwell 108; Lab:
Thursday 2:00-4:50 pm in Capwell 202.
Inclement weather meeting time: Lecture: 11-11:45 am; Lab:
2:15-4:50 pm. Texts:
Molles Jr., Manuel. 2013 Ecology: Concepts and
Applications, 6th edition.
WCB/McGraw-Hill Publishers, Boston. 567 pp. ISBN 9780073532493.
Text website:
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073532495/student_view0/index.html.
The 5th edition would probably be acceptable.
McMillan, Victoria E. 2012. Writing Papers in the
Biological Sciences, 5th ed. Bedford Books, Boston. 241
pp. ISBN-0-312-64971-5. Earlier editions may
be acceptable.
Course Webpage: http://academic.keystone.edu/jskinner/Ecology/00EcologySyllabus.htm
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course,
you will: 1) possess a basic understanding of general relationships
between organisms and their environment; 2) posses the skills to perform standard field techniques;
3) improve your ability to read and write in acceptable
scientific style; 4) become intimately familiar with the current ecological
literature, computer searches, indices, and electronic sources.
5) be able to apply all these skills in assessing and
interpreting man's past and future impact on ecosystems.
Through laboratory assignments, you will write, write,
WRITE!
All lab exercises will require literature searches, proper citation
of your sources in accepted scientific style, and analysis of data using
computerized statistical programs. All assignments must be typed with NO
grammatical or spelling errors.
LECTURE SEQUENCE
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READINGS
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PPT |
Introduction: What is ecology?
What do ecologists do? |
1
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1 |
Life on Land.
Biome Powerpoint Assignment |
2
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Life in Water |
3
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Population Genetics and Natural
Selection |
4
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Temperature Relations |
5
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Water Relations |
6
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Energy and Nutrient Relations |
7
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Social Relations |
8
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Population Distribution and Abundance |
9
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Population Dynamics |
10
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Population Growth |
11
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Life Histories |
12
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Competition |
13
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Exploitation: Predation, Herbivory,
Parasitism, and Disease |
14 |
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Mutualism |
15
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Species Abundance and Diversity |
16
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Species Interactions and Community
Structure |
17
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Primary Production and Energy
Flow |
18
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Nutrient Cycling and Retention |
19
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Succession and Stability |
20 |
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Landscape Ecology |
21 |
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Geographic Ecology |
22 |
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Global Ecology |
23 |
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Note: By the end of the semester, you should have read the
entire textbook. Occasionally you will be assigned readings outside of
your textbook. These will be left on reserve in the library, or in some
other readily available place.
POTENTIAL LAB TOPICS:
Doing Science |
Optimal foraging by birds at a
feeder |
Map reading and construction |
Echolocation in bats |
Basic statistics a biologist should
know |
Heat budget of a lake |
The optimal foraging game |
Soils |
Optimal foraging by mice |
Ecological debates |
Riffle fishes and island biogeography |
Batesian mimicry |
An intensive limnological study
of an ecosystem |
Life tables of human populations |
Dendrochronology |
Diet and space overlap of stream
fishes |
How does a robin look for worms? |
Mark and recapture techniques |
Growth of duckweed populations |
Salamander habitat analysis |
Vegetation analysis techniques |
Plants that depress other plants--allelopathy |
Pollination ecology |
Effect of grazers on plant community
structure |
The effect of insect galls on
the fitness of Canada Goldenrod |
Winter ecology studies--what do
plants and animals do when it gets cold? (Pray for snow!) |
ABOUT LABS: I have not made up a schedule of labs.
There are more topics listed above than we can possibly do in one semester.
Some are indoor activities and some are outdoors. Unfortunately, most of
the outside ones deal with the more complex concepts that should come at
the end of the semester when it will be too cold to be outdoors (or the
organisms have been killed by frost or are hibernating). Therefore, the
labs will probably not be current with lecture topics. Also, due to the
vagaries of the weather, I will probably not decide about the week's lab
until the day or two before. What this means to you is that we will not
work in streams after a rain, or with insects when the temperature is in
the 40's. Also, you should come to labs in field clothes--this means
you should expect to get wet, dirty, sweaty, etc. Bring along a change
of clothes, rain gear, etc. if necessary. Expect to go outside every
lab. This doesn't mean that we will, but I don't want to see someone
in a skirt, shorts or Foster-Grants on lab day. Labs will be handed out
to you no later than the day before the lab. It is expected that you will
have read it BEFORE you come to lab.
Grading Policy
3 Exams |
@100 pts |
300 |
Lab Reports |
|
300 |
Participation |
50 pts per half semester |
100 |
Total |
|
700 |
A |
93-100% |
A- |
90-92.99 |
B+ |
87-89.99 |
B |
83-86.99 |
B- |
80-82.99 |
C+ |
77-79.99 |
C |
73-76.99 |
C- |
70-72.99 |
D+ |
67-69.99 |
D |
60-66.99 |
F |
<60.00 |
Attendance and due dates:
Just as you expect professionalism from me, so do I expect it from you.
Therefore, your presence is expected
at EVERY lecture and lab. You will notice that attendance is not
included in the grading scale. You do not gain points by carrying out your
responsibility in showing up. There will be no makeup tests without a verifiable
excuse of a very serious nature. Any makeup will be at my convenience and
will be an oral test. Late assignments will not be accepted for any
reason. Assignments are due AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS on the
due date. If they come in after that time, they are late and will not be
accepted.
The Fine Print:
Keystone College does
not discriminate in any of its programs on the basis of disability. While there
is not a deadline for the disclosure of a disability by a student, in order to
facilitate the documentation and accommodation processes, students are
encouraged to voluntarily and confidentially disclose and disability requiring
an accommodation prior to the beginning of class. This disclosure should be made
to the College
Counselor & Coordinator of Disability Services. Students who disclose a
disability, and who are seeking an accommodation, ultimately will be expected to
provide documentation verifying the disability.
Academic Honesty – Division of Natural Science and Mathematics
All students are subject to the College's policy and
procedure on academic dishonesty; see the current Keystone College
catalog.
The Natural Science and Mathematics Division
recognizes that any form or degree of academic dishonesty challenges the
principles of truth and honesty which are among the most important founding
principles of science and mathematics discovery. Keystone College treats
academic dishonesty as a serious violation of academic trust. It penalizes all
students found to have engaged in such behavior.
Academic honesty within the College and
the Natural Science and Mathematics Division must be a cooperative enterprise of
faculty, students and administrators. Acts of academic dishonesty include but
are not limited to the following:
- The illegitimate use of study materials or electronic
devices in any form during a quiz or examination.
- Copying answers from the quiz or examination paper of
another student.
- Plagiarizing or falsifying materials or information used
in the completion of any assignment which is graded or evaluated as the
student's individual effort. Plagiarism includes submitting as one's own the
ideas or work of another, including the laboratory data, written materials
or the computer files of another, regardless of whether that information is
used verbatim or in paraphrased form. The same applies to anything derived
from the Internet, including research papers purchased online.
- Obtaining, through theft, bribery, or collusion, or
otherwise improperly securing an examination paper prior to the time and
date for the administration of the examination. Also, use of an examination
paper previously administered (e.g., during an earlier term) without the
consent of the instructor who authored the examination.
- Impersonating a candidate at an examination or availing
oneself of such an impersonation in any traditional or online class.
- Intentionally interfering with any person's scholastic
work, for example, by damaging or stealing laboratory experiments, computer
data files or library materials.
- It is presumed that material submitted by a student for
an assignment is original to that assignment and, therefore, submitting the
same work for more than one course without the consent of the instructors of
each course in which the work is submitted is considered dishonest.
Submission of previously graded work from prior assignments is considered
dishonest.
- Aiding or abetting any act of academic dishonesty
including but not limited to such offenses as described above.
Any student caught cheating, or using
someone’s work as their own, will be reported to the Academic Dean of the
College. A grade of zero will be recorded for that assignment/test/quiz. For
more information on dishonest acts including plagiarism, cheating, and fraud,
consult your
Student Information Guide.
Keystone College states that all official student email correspondence be
sent only to a student’s Keystone email address and that faculty and staff
consider email from students official only if it originates from a
Keystone account. This allows the College to maintain a high degree of
confidence in the identity of all individuals and the security of transmitted
information. Keystone College furnishes each student with a free email account
that is to be used in all communication with College personnel
The College has set
deadlines for withdrawing from courses. These dates and times are
published in the course catalog and on the Academic Calendar. It is the
student's responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. The
proper paperwork must be completed to ensure that you will not receive a final
grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend once you are enrolled. If
you are considering withdrawing from a class, consult your Advisor and
refer to the
College Catalog.
An “I” (Incomplete)
will only be given under extenuating circumstances. It will not be given to
students who simply fail to do the work or miss an exam. If an “I” is given,
students must complete the work within four weeks into the following semester,
or receive a grade of “F” for the course.
Allelopathy write-up:
An example of excellent scientific writing!
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