BIOL
303: Principles of Ecology
GOALS:
This class is
intended to give you the following:
1. In-depth understanding of the major areas of population ecology, including demography, single-species population dynamics, limitation and density-dependent regulation of populations.
2. In depth understanding of
interactions between pairs of species, including competition, predation
and disease.
3. An introduction to topics in other
areas of ecology, such as community ecology (diversity and stability,
island biogeography, succession), ecosystem ecology (carbon cycles)
behavioral ecology (territoriality, optimal foraging), and evolutionary
ecology (life history trade-offs).
4. In addition to the content-based
goals listed above, a major goal is to
develop your ability to
interpret real data sets. The final goal is to develop your
ability
to understand and explain things verbally, graphically, and
algebraically, and to relate these ways of explaining to one another.
Class Hours &
Location:
2:10 - 3:00 MWF,
304 Lewis Hall
Instructor: Dr.
Scott Creel, 302 Lewis Hall, Phone: 994-7033. Email: screel@montana.edu
Vicki Patrek is the class teaching and grading assistant. She
will be teaching several of the computer lab sessions.
Office Hours: MW 10:30 -12:00 or by
appointment. If my office hours are not convenient, please talk to
me
to arrange another time and we will figure something out. I
almost
always have time for questions
right after class. You're also welcome to email questions (but
try to avoid using email just before a test, because I might not
read it in time).
Text: Ecology, 4th edition,
by Begon, Harper & Townsend
is required. Other required reading (journal articles) will
be posted here on the class web page.
Lecture notes: are available
from the
links below.
Grading:
Exam
Problem sets and computer exercises:
20% Several subjects will include computer labs. In these, you
will use the methods described in lectures to test ideas with
simulations of population dynamics or interactions between species. In
some cases, a graded homework
assignment will be based on the computer exercise. There will
also be at least one take-home problem set (on demography) that is not
based on
a computer
lab. Together, these homework assignments account for 20% of the
grade.
Computer Exercises: We will use
the software packages GenX and Populus to examine evolution, population
growth, and interactions among species (such as interspecific
competition and predation), in a series of computer labs. POPULUS has
simple simulations that allow you to manipulate the variables in
mathematical models of ecological processes, and see the results
graphically.
There are two versions of Populus in the Biol 405 folder at \\hoppernew\labshare (which you can access using 'Map Network Drive' by right-clicking 'My Computer' on any networked machine). Version 3.4, in a folder named Populus34 works on most computers: it is DOS-based and the mouse will not work... use the arrow keys as it explains. A newer version 5.3 might not run everywhere, but has fancier graphics and is Windows based so the mouse works and the menus will work intuitively.
To learn about access to software on the MSU local network, see this link: Using Network Drives to Access Software on the MSU network.
If you want to download POPULUS onto
your personal computer, use the
link in the course outline below
Overheads: Figures that I use in
overheads are at Cards & Copies in the basement of the Student
Union (right across from the book buy-back window). I change some
of these as the course goes, to add examples from new studies, but most
of the overheads are in the packet.
Course Outline, lecture notes and
reading assignments:
Lecture
titles will be links that display lecture notes. I will
post each lecture’s notes after the lecture.
W 14 Jan 1. Introduction and the physical environment. Reading: BHT 30-46/7 (Unless specified othersie, all page numbers refer to the text by Begon Harper & Townsend
F 16
Jan Global climate patterns continued
M 19
Jan NO CLASSES - MLK day
W 21
Jan 2. Climate
change
and ecology
F 23
Jan 3.
Allocating
resources: constraints & trade-offs (first 1.5 pages
only). Reading: BHT 58-69
M 26
Jan 4.
Acquiring
resources: optimal foraging. Reading: BHT 282-293
W 28
Jan Optimal foraging continued
F 30 Jan 5. Evolution I: variability & heritability, genotype & phenotype, fitness, selection and response. Reading: BHT 3-20 and Dawkins (1986) The Blind Watchmaker, 43-50
M 2
Feb Evolution
continued
W
4 Feb
Computer lab
(schedule and location details announced in class) 6. Evolution
II: Computer
simulations of
drift, dispersal, selection.
Link to GenX.exe.
Homework 1
is the last page of the handout. Lab times will be: Wed 4
Feb,
2-3 pm (Roberts 109) and
6-7 pm (Roberts 111)
and Th 5 Feb, 12-1 pm (Roberts 111)
(Sign up sheets
will be in class) . You can do the lab at another time if
necessary, but it is better if you come to one of the scheduled times
so that Vicki and I can introduce the lab and help with questions.
F 6 Feb
7.
Evolution
III: Levels and types of selection
M 9 Feb 8. Resource dispersion and animal spacing patterns. Reading: Macdonald (1983) Nature 301:379-384
W 11
Feb (HW1 DUE IN CLASS)
Animal distributions continued
F 13
Feb Animal
distributions continued
M 16 Feb NO CLASSES - Presidents'
Day
W 18 FEB EXAM
1.
STUDY GUIDE
F 20
Feb SKIP OVER GROUPING:
WE WILL RETURN TO THIS LATER IF TIME ALLOWS, AS PART OF PREDATION
9.
Group
living:
costs and benefits from the
perspectives of predators and prey.
Reading: (1) Alcock
pp. 356-369 (2)
Bednarz
(1988) Science 239:1525-1527
(3)
Hamilton (1971)
Journal of Theoretical Biology 31:295-300
(4) Dunbar (1997) Nature
386:555-556
M 23
Feb Grouping continued
W 25
Feb Grouping: African wild dog case study
F 27
Feb 10. Demography
and age-structured populations Reading: BHT 94-107. Homework 2 passed out.
M
2 Mar Basic demography continued
W 4 Mar
Demography
continued. Evolutionary life history trade-offs,
Leslie matrices and stable age distributions. Reading: BHT
108-118, 122-123
Link
to more notes on using Leslie Matrices to examine age-structured
population
growth rate
F 6 Mar Homework 2 due in class.11. Population growth. Reading: BHT 132-151 Link to POPTOOLS - add in for Microsoft Excel that facilitates many kinds of population modelling
M 9 Mar 12.
Population growth
continued. Intraspecific competition and density
dependence. Reading: BHT 132-151
W 11 Mar
Computer
lab Intraspecific
competition and linear density dependent population growth
Lab times will be Wed 11 Mar 2-3 pm (Roberts 109) and 6-7 pm (Roberts 111), Th 12 Mar 12-1 pm (Roberts 111)
Link to download
POPULUS software if you want to run it on your personal
computer. We'll be using this for the rest of the computer
exercises.
F 13
Mar 13. Interspecific
competition case study: African wild dogs
MWF 16
- 20 Mar NO CLASSES - Spring Break
M 23
Mar Interspecific
competition: theory.
Reading: BHT 227-239
W 25 Mar 14. Interspecific competion: empirical approaches Homework 3 passed out HW3 is based on a computer lab you'll do on your own with Populus. The handout is here. Interspecific competition simulations. The HW is on the last page
F 27 Mar Ecological
niches. Reading: BHT 257-265, 550-560
M 30 Mar Niches continued Homework
3 due
W 1 Apr EXAM 2 Study Guide
F 3 Apr 15. Predation: theory. Reading: BHT 266-267, 279-282
M 6 Apr Predation theory continued
W 8 Apr Predation: data. Reading: BHT 297-311
F 10 Apr NO CLASSES -
"University Day" ???
M 13 Apr 16. Predation:
wolf-elk case study. Powerpoint slides are here.
W 15 Apr Grouping - prey perspective 9. Group living: costs and benefits from the perspectives of predators and prey. Reading: (1) Alcock pp. 356-369 (2) Bednarz (1988) Science 239:1525-152 (3) Hamilton (1971) Journal of Theoretical Biology 31:295-300 (4) Dunbar (1997) Nature 386:555-556
F 17
Apr 17. Grouping - predator perspective
M 20
Apr Grouping case study: African wild dogs.
W 22
Apr Computer lab.
Predation
simulations. Includes HW not graded but
required and covered on exam 3.
Lab times will be Wed 22 Apr 2-3 pm (Roberts 109) and 6-7 pm (Roberts 111) and Th 23
Apr 12-1
pm (Roberts 111)
F 24
Apr Parasitism and disease background
M 27
Apr 19. Epidemiology
and Susceptible - Infected - Recovered
models
Reading: BHT 354-380.
W 29
Apr S-I-R models continued
F 1 May
SIR Computer lab (cancelled)
Lab times will be Fr 1 May 2-3
pm (Roberts 111), 4:30 - 5:30 pm (Roberts 111), 6 - 7 pm (Roberts 111)
Monday 4
May 4:00 PM FINAL EXAM over
material
since Exam 2
This includes:
Niches
- basic definition, hutchinson's 'hypervolume',
fundamental vs realized, niche breadth, within vs between phenotype, 6
patterns of overlap and nonoverlap
- Werner's bluegill/bass study, patterns &
inferences
- Hairston's salamander study, patterns &
inferences
- Holmes' tapeworm/spiny worm study, patterns &
inferences
- Dayan's carnivore guild study, patterns &
inferences
Predation
- compensatory and additive mortality, competing
risks and demographic compensation
- harvesting by fixed effort or fixed quota, offtake
vs DD recruitment curves, equilibria, stability/instability, MSY (need
to understand recruitment curve, dN/dt vs N, from Pearl-Verhulst model
of DD)
- predator- prey dynamics
- Lotka-Volterra Model
- basic
- DD
- with variation in functional responses
- functional responses (searching, handling,
learning, switching), numeric responses, total response, parallels to
harvest models
- grouping
-functions for predators
-functions for prey
Parasitism
- macro/micro, endo/ecto, direct/indirect,
vertical/horizontal
- similarities and differences with predation
- SIR flow diagram: what is the logic
- SIR equations: what is the logic
- maintenance of endemic infection, threshold number
of suceptibles
- Ro as secondary infections per primary infection,
using dI/dt = 0 to derive St
- vaccination and relationship of p to Ro
Final
grades for the course
