Goals and Objectives

 ~ Ecology (Bi 20) seeks to understand the relationship(s) between organisms and their environments at a variety of levels, to generate hypothetical rules to explain the observed relationships, and to test these hypothesized rules within the framework of modern statistics.

Lecture

 ~ The lecture portion of the course considers the relationship between organisms and the biological and environmental factors affecting them and affected by them. These relationships will be discussed briefly at the individual level (as ecology pertains to the environment, evolution, and adaptation), and more fully at the population, and community / ecosystem levels. All course discussion and lecture will be presented within an evolutionary framework. You are expected to attend all lectures and labs, to ask questions when puzzled, and to read!, read!, read! lots of material.

Lectures: Tuesday / Thursday (10:00-11:30 AM),
Rm. 3101 (Goulet Science Center).

 ~ Our textbook, Ecology and Field Biology (Smith and Smith; 2001, 6th ed.), is a general book you are expected to know well. It should be brought to class for every lecture. Readings in this book should be done before lecture for maximum comprehension of lecture material. You will also be responsible for reading a number of papers in the primary literature. These are all "classic" papers that every ecologist should read! To make this easier (no having to go to the library, get down dusty journals, etc!), the papers you will be reading are included in Foundations of Ecology (Real and Brown; 1991).

Exams

 ~ There will be 3 long lecture exams; 2 mid-terms and a final. Each exam will be worth approximately 100 points. All exams are essay. The exams count for approximately 70% of your grade. There are makeups for the two mid-term exams, however, you need to have an excellent and verifiable excuse. There is no make-up for the final exam. All exams are designed to investigate your conceptual knowledge and your ability to reason scientifically. They will require you to communicate your thoughts clearly. Points will be taken off for failure to communicate clearly, even if the correct answer is buried somewhere within.

• Review outline for Exam #1
  
• Review outline for Exam #2
  
• Review outline for the Final Exam

Laboratory

 ~ The laboratory section of the course will observe nature, design experiments, and test ecological theories (current, or your own!!) by statistically analyzing data collected in the field. You are expected to attend lab every week. Lab organization will involve a short meeting in the laboratory to go over the day's work, and 2.5+ hrs of field / lab work to collect and analyze data. Since we will be outdoors grubbing in the dirt, etc., come to lab in sensible clothes and shoes (i.e., plan to get dirty, muddy, wet on occasion). There are no lab exams. However, you will be expected to either write up and submit a lab report, or turn in a worksheet for most of the labs that we do (see the handout entitled "Field Problems"). The lab write-ups/ worksheets will account for approximately 20% of your final grade.

Lab: Tuesday, 1:30-4:20 PM in Rm. 1328 (Goulet Science Center).

Text: You will be given lab handouts in class each week before lab.

Equipment: You provide pencils, pens, clipboard or notebook, calculators, etc. More specialized equipment for data collection, etc. will be provided.

General Considerations

 ~ Please give me constructive criticism throughout the course. I prefer personal communication, but E-MAIL is fine. If you are shy, an anonymous letter in my mailbox (Biology office), or under my office door wii also suffice. Improvements in this course from year to year (e.g., the "new" book this year!!) have, to a great extent, been the result of student suggestion.