Course Goals:

Course Overview:

    Fundamentals of Ecology offers a study of the relationships among organisms and their environments, at several different levels and scales.  This course provides an overview of the extremely diverse field of ecology, from the ecology of individual organisms and their adaptations to the environment, to the dynamics of populations and species interactions in ecological communities, and the intricacies of energy flow and nutrient cycling in ecosystems.  Examples from the classic ecological literature as well as more contemporary studies are used to illustrate key concepts throughout the course.  The lab allows students to learn about a variety of field methods and sampling protocols used by professional ecologists, and requires in-depth data summary, analysis, presentation, and problem-solving. 

    The textbook by Smith and Smith presents the current state of the art in ecology as viewed by contemporary ecologists and experts in a variety of fields.  As a supplement to the text, you will also read and discuss papers from the scientific literature that are pertinent to each of the topics we address. The book and papers are excellent resources for starting down the path toward understanding what ecology is and what ecologists do.

    My approach in this course will be to combine interactive lectures with cooperative group learning activities.  Your presence, alert interest, and active participation will be required every day!!

Course Objectives:

This  course has three main goals.  Students will:

1. Gain an understanding of the major principles addressed in the field of ecology – the dominant branch of environmental biology. 

   • Learn to recognize the different perspectives ecologists take in each of the major sub-fields of ecology:

     • Physiological (organismal)

     • Population

     • Community

     • Landscape

     • Ecosystem

   • Recognize important physical constraints on ecological systems at each of the above levels

     • in particular, be able to describe how the global climate system functions, how it drives organismal adaptations and the nature of ecosystems, and how human impacts are changing the climate system

2. Further their understanding of the scientific method and how it is used to study natural systems. 

   • Successfully read and interpret papers from the scientific literature, and discuss their major points and relevance to issues we cover in class. 

   • Write 3 partial and 1 complete lab reports using the scientific method and following standard scientific paper format.

3. Explore some of the methods and techniques used by ecologists in the field and the laboratory. 

   • Learn methods of data collection and sampling as well as data analysis and summary using basic statistical tests. 

   • Use local examples to illustrate more general ecological principles.

Bio 320 – Summary of Student Individual Goals

Winter 2013

 Local Environment

• Learn common plants (…e.g. spruce vs. fir)

• Learn common animals (esp. birds) & interactions with environment

• Specific ecological patterns of SW

  • recognize local habitats & how they work

  • what's normal vs. out of ordinary

• Impact of elevation & climate on vegetation

 Ecological Skills

• Field techniques; more research/lab experience

• Learn practical techniques and instrumentation for collecting ecological data

• Gain experience to prepare for sr. thesis research project

• Go outside & apply knowledge

 General Ecological Concepts

• Improve general understanding of the field of ecology as well as its major subfields

• How relationships among organisms & environments work - by observing interactions, as well as talking about them

  • Predator-Prey interactions & food webs

  • Plant-Animal interactions

  • Impacts of invasive species

• Effects of humans on natural environments

  • and how to improve those environments

• Climate change – past & present, & impacts at different levels of ecological systems

• Distributions of organisms/populations

  • ecosystems around the world

  • how presence or absence of a single organism can impact whole community or ecosystem

• Relate ecology to everyday life/current issues & other classes

• Relate ecological findings to conservation and restoration

• Understand population growth/change & distributions

• Better understanding of community ecology

• Learn & understand terminology for ecological processes

• Learn about animal behavior (...this is one area we don't usually touch on very much, but I'll try!)

• Use current/modern examples to make the topics relevant and easier to understand

 Grade Goals

• get a good grade (A or B)!

• stay focused on the subject...

General Goals 

• Have FUN & Learn Lots

• Help figure out future career goals & gain skills for future jobs (e.g. land management)

• Improve lab report writing skills

• Positive experience with group work &

  • improved understanding of effective group dynamic

  • feel more comfortable participating in class

  • get to know other students in class better

   

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