ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCES 325: FUNDAMENTALS OF ECOLOGY
SUMMER
QUARTER, 2010
Offered Online
Instructor: Dr. David Wallin Office: AH310 Phone: 650-7526 e-mail:
david.wallin@wwu.edu
Text: Ecology: Concepts and Application
(5th Edition), by Manuel C. Molles;
NOTE: Used copies of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd
Editions of this book may be available.
For most of course, these earlier edition books will have nearly the
same material. You can probably get by
with one of these but you will be responsible for checking to make sure that
the content of the edition that you have is equivalent to the chapters that I
assign.
Class Meeting: ONLINE; no classroom meetings.
Office Hours: TBA (sign-up on office door) and by appointment.
Additional readings as assigned: Online.
Prerequisites: As noted in the WWU Bulletin and the online Classfinder, One year of general chemistry (CHEM 121, 122,
123) AND one year of biology (BIOL 204, 205, 206) must be completed prior to
enrolling in ESCI 325.
Grades: 1. Midterm exam 45%
2. Final exam 45%
3. Homework 10%
Late Assignments: grades reduced by 5%/day if turned in late without a valid excuse (illness, family crisis, etc.)
Academic Dishonesty: There has
been a substantial increase in the number of cases of Academic Dishonesty in
recent years. For this reason, all
faculty members have been instructed by the Registrar’s Office to provide
students with explicit information about Academic Dishonesty. Briefly stated, lying, cheating and stealing
will not be tolerated in any form.
Actions of this type will result in severe consequences that could
include a failing grade in the class and dismissal from the university. Hopefully, this does not come as a surprise
to anyone. All students should review Appendix D,
Academic Dishonesty Policy and Procedure in the back of the general
bulletin for a more detailed discussion of what constitutes academic
dishonesty. For more information see the
WWU Plagiarism
Information Web Site.
Grading: A =93; A- 90-92; B+ 88-89; B 83-87; B- 80-82; C+ 78-79; C 73-77; C- 70-72; D+ 68-69; D 63-67 D- 60-62; F 0-59
Notes Regarding the Online Class:
Students in the online class can access lectures via special power point files
that will be posted on the Blackboard site.
These power point lectures will have a narrative recorded for each
slide. Through this narrative, you will
hear essentially the same thing that you would hear if you took the class
through a traditional classroom format.
You can access the lectures at any time that is convenient. It will be critical for you to keep up with
the schedule posted below. Although
taking the class online offers you great flexibility you will miss out on the
typical questions and discussion that take place in the classroom. In an effort to replace this, I will also set
up a Q&A section on the blackboard site.
Everyone will be able to view both the questions and my answers. I will try to check this site every day. In addition, you can send me email or make
arrangements to talk via phone or in person if you have individual question. There will also be a few homework assignments
that you can access online and you will turn in to me via email. Exams will be taken online. You can take the exam any time during a 24
hour time period but you will only have 50 minutes to complete the exam.
Tentative Schedule: CHECK
HERE FOR UPDATES TO THIS SCHEDULE THROUGHOUT THE TERM!
Due dates for assignments, exam
and lecture schedule may change through the quarter. NOTE
THAT THE SCHEDULE BELOW IS APPROXIMATE AND PROBABLY OVERLY OPTIMISTIC. WE WILL PROBABLY NOT GET THROUGH ALL OF THIS
MATERIAL. I WILL UPDATE THE SCHEDULE
PERIODICALLY.
Last Updated: 6/28/2010
|
|
Topic |
4rd Edition Book Chapters & Supplementary |
5th Edition Book Chapters & Supplementary Readings |
|
Week 1 |
Introduction: What is Ecology? |
1, 8 & papers by J.R. Platt (Click
here to view this paper) and another paper by Jerry Coyne (Click here to view this paper) |
1, 4 & papers by J.R. Platt (Click
here to view this paper) and another paper by Jerry Coyne (Click here to view this paper) |
|
Week 1 |
SECTION I: NATURAL HISTORY |
2, 3, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Floatees,
tubtoys_ocean_circ.pdf |
2, 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Floatees,
tubtoys_ocean_circ.pdf |
|
Week 2 |
Life on Land (concluded); Life on Water (concluded); |
|
|
|
Week 2 7/1 |
SECTION II: INDIVIDUALS |
paper by Waring and Franklin waring_and_franklin_1979.pdf 4, 5 |
5, 6 & paper by Waring and Franklin waring_and_franklin_1979.pdf |
|
Week 3 |
Energy and Nutrient Relations SECTION III: POPULATIONS |
6 (Note that we are SKIPPING
Chapter 7) 9, 10 |
7 (Note that we are skipping Chapter
8) 9, 10 |
|
Week 3 |
Population Dynamics In class, several people have asked about the ln,
the natural log. There is lots of
information about this on the web.
Here is one good source of information: http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.e.html ***Homework Assignment Due 7/10*** |
11 |
11 |
|
Week 4 |
***MIDTERM EXAM, 7/12 *** Population Growth, Life Histories |
11, 12 |
11, 12, |
|
Week 4 |
SECTION IV: INTERACTIONS |
13 |
13 |
|
Week 5 |
Exploitation: Predation, Herbivory, Parasitism and Disease |
14 |
14 |
|
Week 5 |
Mutualism SECTION V: COMMUNITIES AND
ECOSYSTEMS Nutrient Cycling and Retention Click
here for Second Homework Assignment: A Simple Forest Carbon Budget |
15 19 (read chapter 19; I will focus on a discussion of the carbon cycle:
see my PNW Carbon Budget Lecture that I will post on Blackboard) |
15, |
|
Week 6 |
Nutrient Cycling (concluded) Parts of the following chapters will be covered as time permits: Species Abundance and Diversity Succession and Stability *** Homework Assignment Due 7/27*** |
16, 17, 20 |
16, 17, 20 |
|
Week 6 |
Final Exam |
|
|
Return
to David Wallin's Home Page