General Ecology (Biology 305) Course Schedule:
Class:
Room #: TNR 170
Day/Time: 12:00-12:50 M W F
(Monday/Wednesday/Friday)
Texts:
1. Ecology: by Cain, Bowman and Hacker (rental)
Week-by-week **tentative** schedule of topics we will
cover:
Week 1:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 1 and 6 first part)
Wednesday: Introduction to the course and the topic. What is Science? What is Ecology?
Friday: Course expectations and introduction continued: What do Ecologists study? Why is it important?
Week 2:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 2 and 7)
Monday: Setting the stage: why does the environment vary in space and time, and why does it matter?
Wednesday: Setting the stage part II: Natural Selection—a review
Friday: Individual variation and adaptations to a varying environment
Week 3:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 7-9)
Monday: Life history strategies—an introduction
Wednesday: Population ecology—how do ecologists study populations?
Friday: Exponential growth
Week 4:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 10)
Monday: Effects of Stochasticity
Wednesday: Limits to population growth
Friday: Logistic growth
Week 5:
Reading for the week: (Chapter 10)
Monday: Life tables and age structure
Wednesday: Size-structured populations
Friday: Midterm Exam I
Week 6:
Reading for the week: (Chapter 10; TBA)
Monday: Life Histories and Evolutionarily Stable Strategies
Wednesday: Small populations and genetics
Friday: Metapopulation Biology
Week 7:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 10; 12-13)
Monday: Metapopulation Biology
Wednesday: Metapopulations and Source-sink dynamics
Friday: Exploitation: predation and parasitism
Week 8:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 12 and 13; Krebs 2003)
Monday: Adaptations to avoid exploitation I
Wednesday: Adaptations to avoid exploitation II; Predator Prey cycles
Friday: Lotka-Volterra predator-prey models
Week 9: Spring Break!!
Week 10:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 12 and 13; Krebs 2003)
Monday: Lotka-Volterra predator-prey models continued
Wednesday: Pathogens I
Friday: Pathogens II
Week 11:
Reading for the week: (Chapter 11)
Monday: Competition I
Wednesday: Midterm Exam II
Friday: Lotka-Volterra competition models
Week 12:
Reading for the week: (Chapter 11)
Monday: Competition II
Wednesday: Competition III
Friday: Competition IV
Week 13:
Reading for the week: (Chapter 14)
Monday: Coral Case Study
Wednesday: Mutualisms I
Friday: Mutualisms II
Week 14:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 8, 22-23)
Monday: Mutualisms III
Wednesday: Indirect interactions I
Friday: Indirect interactions II
Week 15:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 15-17)
Monday: Coral discussions and Community ecology I
Wednesday: Ecological succession
Friday: Biogeography: Island biogeography and niche theory
Week 16:
Reading for the week: (Chapters 20, 21 24)
Monday: Niche theory and neutral theory; Trophic cascades and energy flow
Wednesday: The Carbon cycle and Global climate change I
Friday: Global climate change II: effects on organisms and communities