Principles of Biology:
Conservation Biology
(Biology 114)

Dr. Ken Prestwich


Class Materials and Schedule
Spring Semester 2007
College of the Holy Cross

 

May 10, 2007

Euonymus alata in the fall -- common names are winged euonymus or "burning bush". This is an example of a species that was imported for horticultural reasons but that has frequently escaped cultivation and has operated as an invasive exotic. The sale of this species is soon to be illegal in Massachusetts. There are many examples of this plant on the Holy Cross campus. (photo from University of Connecticut's Invasive Plant Atlas of New England http://www.lib.uconn.edu/webapps/ipane/jpg/images.cfm?unique_identifier=uconn_ipane_euonyalata_02

The Power point notes for the manatee lecture are posted below (follow this link to the lecture date).
Good luck on your exams.

Use the links below to jump to the start of the material for different assignments.
Course information sheet
 (textbooks, general overview)
Links to Assignment Due Dates
Exam #1
(100 pts)

Exam #2
(100 pts)

Final Exam
(200 pts)

Research Paper
(100 pts)

Course Schedule -- note that most links to course downloads are not yet active.

Note that is this a new course. Thus, this schedule will certainly undergo some change and it is your responsibility to check it daily. Please note that exam and paper due dates will NOT change unless there is a general discussion of the same in class. Materials to be covered on a particular exam will be finalized near the exam time but the information presently on this schedule should be very close to being what we actually do for each exam.

Course Preface

Jan. 17 (W)
Cl #1

Introduction. A road map for the course.
What is conservation biology and what does one need to learn to be conversant in this field of study?

Assignment

Hunter and Gibbs (H&G) Ch. 1

Class 1 power point notes.
(CHC access only)
Useful General Web Resource

Section 1. The philosophical underpinnings of science in general and biology in particular.

Jan. 19 (F)
Cl #2

Brief (~5 mins.) discussion of Leopold essay (see below).
Case study -- the hemlock wooly adelgid.
The place of science in human knowledge -- the scope and limitations and methods of science.

Assignments

Leopold pp. 129-133
("Thinking like a mountain")
Resource
 

Jan. 22 (M)
Cl #3

Biological methods, continued. How do biologists "know" something. More on the role of certainty in science.
Begin a consideration of biological hierarchy and scale.

Assignment

Scientific methodology handout (Same as above)

Section 2. Relevant Biological Concepts
A. Biological variation and organization.

Jan. 24 (W)
Cl #4

Finish methodology notes.
Variation, scale and organization in biology. Concepts relating to organization and to time and space.
Biodiversity overview.

Assignment

Reading guide/study questions for Life textbook, Ch. 1 and H&G Ch. 2

Notes on the biological individual and hierarchy

Jan. 26 (F)
Cl #5

The sources of individual difference.
Simple genetic concepts and individual variation.

Assignment

Genetics and individual variation handout.
These are the same notes as were emailed the day before (a couple of very slight changes were made)

Jan. 29 (M)
Cl #6

The sources of genetic variation. Mutation as the ultimate source. Sexual reproduction and new combinations of genetic information

Assignment
Life, Ch. 22 (The mechanisms of evolution) pp 486-494
This section will largely reiterate the class notes on pop. genetics-- read it for a good overview.

B. Populations, species and evolution.

Jan. 31 (W)
Cl #7

Complete genetics for conservation biology students -- -- how does the phenotype develop under genetic instructions and environmental influences.

Assignment

Feb. 2 (F)
Cl #8

Finish the relationship between phenotype and genotype.
Begin the genetics of populations. Hardy-Weinberg's conditions for no evolution.
Basic population genetics.

Assignment

Feb. 5 (M)
Cl #9

Extra credit quiz.
Finish Hardy-Weinberg .
The genetics of small populations.
Genetic drift, bottlenecks, and founder effects.

Assignment -- same as previous.

Feb. 7(W)
Cl #10

Genetic diversity -- how it is measured and what it means.

Assignment
H&G Ch. 5 -- this time we will really cover this chapter.

Feb. 9 (F)
Cl #11

Genetic diversity continued -- heterozygosity, effective population size, small population effects, how diversity is lost.

Assignment -- same as previous.

C. Ecology/Evolution Overview

Feb. 12 (M)
Cl #12

Biome -- southern mixed evergreen
Natural selection.

Assignment
Life, Ch. 22
(The mechanisms of evolution)
Feb. 14 (W)
Cl #13

Natural selection, continued.

Assignment
Feb. 16 (F)
Cl #14

Biome -- tropical savannah
Evolution wrap-up -- sexual selection.
Exam material ends with evolution wrap-up.

Overview of ecology.
Start population ecology -- the growth of populations.

 

Assignment
Life, Ch. 54 (Population Ecology)
(please note that you will be using this material the next few classes)

Feb. 19 (M)
Cl #15

Population ecology -- life history parameters, estimation of population size, density-dependence and density-independence, exponential growth.

Assignment
Population ecology handout (same as above-- continued.)
Life, Ch. 54 (Population Ecology)
(please note that you will be using this material the next few classes)

Feb. 21 (W)
Cl #16

Population ecology -- logistic growth.
Evolutionary ecology, -- biotic interactions

Review session at 6 PM in the classroom

Assignment
Feb. 23 (F)
Cl #17

EXAM #1 (100 pts.) - all material through evolution.

Feb. 26 (M)
Cl #18

Biome -- Great Plains Grasslands
Species Interactions
Niche concept.

 

Assignment

same as Wed. Feb 23

Feb. 28 (W)
Cl #19

Competition, and the niche concept and competitive interactions.
What is a species?

Assignment

same as Wed. Feb 23

Life, Ch. 23
(Species and their formation)
March 2 (F)
Cl #20

Evolutionary spices concepts.
Biological species concepts.

Assignment
same as above
March 3 - 12
Spring Break
March 12 (M)
Cl #21

Isolating mechanisms.
How are species formed?
Species diversity.

Assignment
same as above
March 14 (W)
Cl #22

Community ecology. What is a community?
Community structure, energy and material flow. Trophic structures of communities
Ecological efficiency.

Assignment
March 16 (F)
Cl #23

Factors that determine community/ecosystem diversity.

Assignment
same as above
March 19 (M)
Cl #24

Disturbances.
Species richness.

Assignment

Life Ch. 56 -- "Global Ecosystems" Study Questions
H&G Ch. 2 Biodiversity
(this is largely an invitation to review an important chapter from early in the course; it also outlines a few terms that relate to diversity that we will cover in class for the first time)

March 21 (W)
Cl #25

Measeures of species diversity and evenness in communiites and ecosystems.
Biogeochemical cycles -- overview.

Assignment
same as above
Section 3. Threats to Biological Diversity.

March 23 (F)
Cl #26

Extinction

Assignment

March 26 (M)
Cl #27

Estimating the chance that a population will go extinct -- population viability analyses (PVA).
Overexploitation.
Material for exam 2 ends with the completion of our consideration of this topic.

Assignment

H&G Ch. 7 -- Extinction Processes


Paper titles and limited bibliography are due at the start of class (paper submission only). Topics will be OK 'd over the coming week by e-mail; final paper due on Monday. April 16.

March 28 (W)
Cl #28

Population viability analysis: a tool for species conservation.

Assignment

Class 28-- PVA PP notes
(CHC access only)

March 30 (F)
Cl #29
EXAM #2 (comprehensive -- but mostly not!, 100 pts.)
April 2 (M)
Cl #30


Discussion of factors that degrade ecosystems.
Invasive species. -- discussion and some lecture

Assignment

H&G Ch. 8 Ecosystem Degradation and Loss

Cool Desert PP notes
(CHC access only)
April 4 (W)
Cl #31

Class cancelled due to instructor's illness

Easter Break (April 4 - 10)

April 11 (W)
Cl #32

Invasive species -- Guest lecture on plant invasives and the botany of central Massachusetts by Prof. Robert Bertin

Assignment

H&G Ch. 10 "Invasives"

 

April 13 (F)
Cl #33


Additional discussion on invasive species and on overexploitation.

Assignment

H&G Ch. 9 "Overexploitation"

Section 4. Techniques to conserve and to maintain biological diversity.

April 16 (M)
Cl #34

Case study -- management of the West Indies Manatee. Dr. Catherine Langtimm of the Sirenia Project, USGS, will visit.

Assignment

H&G Ch. 13 Maintaining Populations

Dr. Langtimm's PP notes
(CHC access only)

 

April 18 (W)
Cl #35

Managing populations.
TERM PAPERS DUE (ELECTRONIC AND PAPER SUBMISSION BY START OF CLASS)

Assignment
H&G Ch. 13 Maintaining Populations (as in previous class)

Population Management PP notes
(CHC access only)

April 20 (F)
Cl #36

Protecting ecosystems. and managing ecosystems.

Assignment

H&G Ch. 11 Protecting Ecosystems
April 21 (Sat)
Optional Field Trip to Harvard Forest in Petersham MA
(with Prof. Sobczak's Ecosystems Ecology Class)
April 22 (Sun)
Earth Day
April 23 (M)
Cl #37

Protecting ecosystems. and managing ecosystems. Zoos and gardens and theiir roles in conservation.

Assignment

same as previous

 
April 25 (W)
Cl #38

Presentations of individual research

April 27 (F)
Cl #39

Presentations of individual research

April 30 (M)
Cl #40

Reaction papers to Sand County Almanac due at start of class, electronic and paper versions.
Presentations of individual research and discussion of Leopold.

May 2 (W)

Study Period Begins

May 12 (Sat)

 200 pt Comprehensive Final Exam 2:30 PM

College of the Holy Cross

The Biology Department

Ken Prestwich's Homepage

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