Introductory Ecology- Biology 262 Spring 2011

Instructor: Dr. Brad Wetherbee Office: Woodward 024

Phone: 874-2335 Email: wetherbee@uri.edu

Office Hours: MWF 11-12 or by appointment

Grader: Chris Newton (cnewton@my.uri.edu)

Lecture: MWF 10-10:50 CBLS Auditorium

Text: “Ecology: Concepts and Applications” by Manuel Molles 5^th ed. McGraw Hill.

Course Description:

This course reviews the relationships between organisms and their physical and biological environments. Subject matter is divided into four main subdivisions of ecology: interactions of organisms with their physical environment, interactions within a population of the same species, interactions among different species, and interactions with humans.

Instruction:

The primary means of communicating information for this course is the lectures. Some of the lecture notes, study guides, practice exams, scores and supplemental material will be available on the course website:

http://www.uri.edu/cels/bio/wetherbee/bio262/bio262.htm

The text book provides much more detailed information about topics covered in lecture, and students are encouraged to keep up both with chapter readings and regularly reviewing lecture notes for each topic.

Global Change Lecture Series (15 points):

Each student is required to attend one of the seminars in the Veltsen Lecture Series being presented at URI this semester on “The State of Our Oceans”. A one page (typed, double spaced) summary/opinion paper on the lecture that you attended should be submitted to Dr. Wetherbee by the last day of class (May 2). You can submit your report by email, but those submitted after 11am May 2 will not be accepted. The lecture schedule can be found at www.uri.edu/vetlesen

Applications of Ecological Principles (60 points):

At various times during the semester assignments will be given in lecture to find and briefly describe an example of an ecological principle described in class. Each student will describe a real-life application of the principle, including the source of their information. The assignments will be given during class and must be handed in during the next class meeting. No late assignments will be accepted. Examples must not be those given the in the textbook. More detailed explanation of the assignments will be given at the time they are assigned.

Exams - Three midterm exams (50 points each) and the final exam (100 points):

The material on exams for this course is primarily from information presented in lecture and students are strongly urged to learn and understand the material covered in lecture. Exam questions will be limited to subjects covered in lecture, but you should also expect to be VERY familiar with those subjects to be able to score high on the exams. Exams will be a combination of multiple choice, and short answer/essay. The final exam will be 50% over material discussed during the final quarter of the course and 50% over general material from the first ¾ of the semester. Because of the size of the class there are NO MAKE UP EXAMS. Students that have an approved university excuse for missing an exam (illness with a physician’s note, death in the family, university sports team etc.) will be given an opportunity to make up the missed exam by taking an essay exam worth the same amount of points and covering the same material as regular exams.

Grading:

Students will be evaluated on the basis of three mid-semester exams, in-class exercises and the final exam. Scores and point totals will be made available on the course website after each exam, so that everyone is aware of how they are doing in this course and what letter grade to expect if their performance continues at that level. At the end of the semester letter grades will be assigned based on point totals according to the scale:

299-325	A	Final grades for the course will be calculated based on the following:
293-298	A-	Three 50 pt Exams	150
283-292	B+	Final Exam	100
270-282	B	In-class Exercises	75
260-269	B-	TOTAL	325
250-259	C+
234-249	C
228-233	C-
218-227	D+
205-217	D
<205	F

If you are falling behind or are having trouble understanding a subject, do not hesitate to contact your instructor, the TA for this course, fellow students, or Academic Enhancement Services located in Roosevelt Hall. Don’t wait until the last minute to ask for help.

Getting or giving help during an exam, plagiarism and copying from your fellow students is not allowed in this course. Cheating will be dealt with according to university regulations.

Lecture Schedule

Date	Lecture #	Topic	Chapters in Molles 5^th edition
Jan 24 - M	1	Introduction to Ecology	1
26 - W	2	Life on Land - Biomes	2
28 - F	3	Life in Water	3
31 - M	4	Genetics and Natural Selection	4
Feb 2 - W	5	Genetics and Natural Selection	4
4 - F	6	Genetics and Natural Selection	4
7 - M	7	Environmental Variability	5 & 6
9 - W	8	Environmental Variability	5 & 6
11 - F	9	Environmental Variability	5 & 6
14 - M	10	Energy & Nutrients	7
16 - W	11	Review
18 - F		EXAM 1	Lectures 1-11
21 - M	NO CLASS	President’s Day
23 - W	12	Social Relations	8
25 - F	13	Social Relations	8
28 - M	14	Social Relations	8
Mar 2 - W	15	Population Structure	9
4 - F	16	Population Dynamics	10
7 - M	17	Population Growth	11
9 - W	18	More Population Ecology	9-12
11 - F	19	Life Histories	12
14 - M	20	Life Histories	12
16 - W		EXAM II	Lectures 12-20
18 - F	21	Competition	13
21-25	NO CLASS	Spring Break
28 - M	22	Competition	13
30 - W	23	Exploitation	14
Apr 1 - F	24	Exploitation	14
4 - M	25	Mutualism	15
6 - W	26	Species Abundance & Diversity	16
8 - F	27	Species Abundance & Diversity	16
11 - M	28	Species Interactions	17
13 - W		EXAM III	Lectures 21-28
15 - F	29	Primary Productivity & Energy Flow	18
18 - M	30	Nutrient Cycling	19
20 - W	31	Nutrient Cycling	19
22 - F	32	Nutrient Cycling	19
25 - M	33	Succession	20
27 - W	34	Landscape Ecology	21
29 - F	35	Geographic Ecology	22
May 2 - M	36	Global Ecology	23
May 6 - F		Final Exam CBLS 100	8-11am