Course
Schedule
BIOS 3010: ECOLOGY
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~malcolm/BIOS301-ecology/301index.html
Dr Stephen Malcolm, 3151 Wood Hall
Department of Biological Sciences,
Western Michigan University
Ecology is
arguably the most important, the most intuitively appealing and the most
difficult of the natural sciences because processes that generate observable
patterns in nature are so complex and vary so much in scale and through
time. In this course we will deal
explicitly with habitat characteristics and three levels of biological
hierarchy, from individual organisms, through populations of organisms, to communities
of populations and their organization into ecosystems. Although we will consider the hierarchy
in this order, ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between
organisms and their habitat. The
hierarchy is thus a convenient simplification and we will try to understand how
various ecological processes structure populations into communities. 'Hands-on' field and laboratory
exercises using natural ecosystems will be used to illustrate lecture material.
ÒInteractionÓ is the keyword for the course so that we
can stress the interconnectedness of nature and emphasize Hutchinson's famous
metaphor of the Òecological theaterÓ on which the Òevolutionary playÓ is
performed.
The course meets with
2 lecture classes and 1 laboratory class (4 sections) each week. Lectures will be held in room 1718 Wood
Hall on Monday and Wednesday at 10:00 - 11:50 a.m. and laboratory classes will
meet in room 1106 Wood Hall each week in 4 sections on: Thursday at 8:00-11:50
am, or 1:00-4:50 pm, or Friday at 8:00-11:50 am, or 1:00-4:50 pm.
Course
Objective and Learning Outcomes:
Course
Objective:
To appreciate how the science of ecology is
used to describe the distributions and abundances of organisms with an emphasis
on the dynamics of biological interactions at different scales of time and
space.
Expected
Learning Outcomes:
You
should be able to:
(1)
Demonstrate
knowledge of ecological processes and examples.
(2)
Comprehend
theories about how organisms interact.
(3)
Apply
ecological principles to biological problems.
(4)
Use
ecological models in the analysis of biological problems.
(5)
Synthesize
and evaluate biological problems from an ecological perspective.
The required textbook is:
Begon,
M., Townsend, C.R., and Harper, J.L. 2006. Ecology: From Individuals, to
Ecosystems. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 738 pp. 4th
edition.
(ISBN-13:
978-1Ñ4051-1117-1, or ISBN-10: 1-4051-1117-8)
All course material will be taken from the
required text, but will be supplemented with material from other texts and
published papers, as acknowledged during the course. Text readings and laboratory exercises are listed for each
class on the course schedule.
Exams will anticipate that you have read this material and listened to
material given in lectures. Please
bring the textbook to all lectures and lab meetings. In addition, bring a calculator to all lab meetings and
exams as well as a number 2 pencil and pen for exams.
Grade assignment:
|
Lecture points: |
Points |
|
3, one hour exams at 100 each |
300 |
|
1 term paper |
200 |
|
1 final exam at 200 |
200 |
|
Total |
700 |
|
|
|
|
Laboratory points: |
|
|
10 out of 11 quizzes at 10 each |
100 |
|
10 laboratory exercises at 40 each |
400 |
|
Total |
500 |
|
Overall total |
1200 |
Grading scale:
|
A = >90% |
BA = >85% |
|
B = >80% |
CB = >75% |
|
C = >70% |
DC = >65% |
|
D = >60% |
E = <60% |
Lecture exams and term paper:
The 3, one-hour exams and the final exam
will be a mixture of single or multiple questions that will require either
single sentence answers, graphical answers, occasional equations and
calculations, or short essays.
The term
paper will be a structured, hypothesis-based review of an ecological topic of
your choice. The term paper topic
will be chosen at the start of the course and the final paper will be handed in
for assessment no later than the lecture meeting on 24 November 2004. Further information about the paper
will be handed out in class.
There will also be opportunities to earn
bonus points during the course.
Laboratory grade assignment:
Teaching Assistants: Julie Ryan
(Thurs/Fri p.m.) and John Couture (Thurs/Fri. a.m.)
Six of the 13 lab meetings will be in the
laboratory (including computer sessions) and 5 will be in the field. The first lab session is for hands-on
library orientation in the Waldo library and the last meeting is a review
session for the whole course. 11
of the lab meetings will start with a short quiz. The 10 best of the 11 quizzes will be used towards course
grade assignments.
The laboratory classes cover topics timed
to complement the lectures. The
rationale, methods and results for each of these exercises should be described
in writing by each student and handed to the TA on the week following the
relevant lab. The 10 best of these
reports will be used towards course grade assignments.
Academic integrity:
Cheating, fabrication and plagiarism will
result in a score of zero for the relevant activity and will be treated as
described under ÒStudent Rights and ResponsibilitiesÓ on pages 274-278 of the 2003-2005
Undergraduate Catalog.
ÒYou are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog (pp. 274-276) that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse.
The academic work you submit must reflect your
own efforts. Where language or
ideas are taken from other sources, you must take care to properly cite those
sources. Any required papers for
this class may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to
plagiarism detection software under license to WMU. All papers submitted will be included as source documents in
that reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of
papers subsequently submitted to the system. Students who take this class must be prepared to submit an
electronic copy of an assignment if requested. If a student is asked to submit a paper electronically this
does not necessarily imply suspected plagiarism.
If there is reason to believe you have been
involved in plagiarism or another form of academic dishonesty, you will be
referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to
review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the
opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain
about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or
test.Ó
Office hours: Dr Stephen Malcolm
Room 3151 Wood Hall
Monday, Wednesday: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
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Tel: |
(269)
387-5604 |
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E-mail: |
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Fax: |
(269)
387-5609 |