Ecology 03-55-210 Fall 2006First the nuts and bolts:

Course Outline Summary -

Lectures: Tuesday & Thursday 1-2:20 PMRoom 1120 Erie Hall(but you’re here already)

Professor: Dr. I. Michael Weis

Room 202 Biology Buildingphone: ext. 2724e-mail: mweis@uwindsor.ca

Exam Schedule and Grade Component Weighting

1st mid-term October 12 12.5% of grade

2nd mid-termNovember 9 12.5% of grade

In class ‘clicker’ questions 10% of grade

Lab quizzes 20% of grade

Final Exam Dec. 13, 2006 45% of grade3:30 PM

Required Texts

Ricklefs, R.E. 2001. The Economy of Nature 5th ed. W.H. Freeman. New York,N.Y.Alstad, D. 2001. Populus, Models of Ecology.

Required Supplies

Ecology Supplement – from Document ServicesA ‘clicker’ – from the University Bookstore

All further information about the course is presented inthe Ecology Supplement. The supplement also provides examples, graphical information covered in lecture, and problems to permit you to practice the kinds of questions you may see in the examinations.

Ecology Labs will occur Mondays in two hour blocks –all in the Biology Learning Centre:

Section 51…………….8:30 – 10:20 AM 52……………..10:30 AM – 12:20 PM 53……………..12:30 – 2:20 PM 54……………..2:30 – 4:20 PM 55……………..4:30 – 6:20 PM 56……………..6:30 – 8:20 PM

Please make sure you go to the right place at the right time!

Lecture Topics and Approximate Schedule(This is an approximate list by week. There is more detail in the handout (correct dates) and supplement (incorrect dates) Week of ReadingSept. 7 Introduction– History of the subject Chap.1Sept. 12 Adaptations of Individuals, Chap.9,11

Sex and EvolutionSept. 19 Territoriality and Mating Systems, Chap.12,13

Structure of populationsSept. 26 Demography: fecundity, mortality, Chap.14

methods of calculationOct. 3 Population dynamics Chap.14,15Oct. 10 Density dependence and Chap.14

independenceOct. 17 Patterns in life histories, Chap.10

conservation and harvesting

Oct. 24 Intro to Community Ecology, Chap.17,18 Predator-prey interactions

Oct. 31 Competition between species: Chap.19 theory and experiments

Nov. 7 Coevolution, Chap.20-22 Effects of interactions on communities

Nov. 14 Species diversity: Chap.23 patterns and causal hypotheses

Nov. 21 Geographical Ecology Chap.24Nov. 28 Biodiversity: Chap.25

extinction and colonizationDec. 5 Applied ecology Chap.26

Laboratory Schedule

See the supplement.

An introduction to the laboratory and a first assignment will be given in lab next Monday (Sept. 11).

One Last ‘nut or bolt’

The university has adopted a new approach to course evaluation. The questionnaire is now longer, and asks you directly about expectations, etc. Here is a quick look at the new form. Keep it in mind as the semester progresses.

Student Evaluation of Teaching FormCourse: _ _-_ _-_ _ _ Section: _ _ Instructor: ________________________Instructions: Please note that the results of this evaluation will be available to the instructor only AFTER final course grades have been submitted.The results may be used by: STUDENTS for aid in course selection;INSTRUCTORS for feedback on teaching;ADMINISTRATORS for decisions on career advancement for instructors and for program planning. Please complete the evaluation form honestly and seriously!

Please respond to the statements below for your instructor and then for the course, bearing in mind that there are wide variations in class size and subject matter at the University of Windsor. (If the statement is not applicable in this course, please mark the “NA” column.)

A. The instructor...extremely poor(1) very poor(2) poor(3) adequate(4) good(5) very good(6) out-standing(7) NA(0)

1. presented material in an organized, well-planned manner 2. used instructional time well

3. explained content clearly with appropriate use of examples 4. was a clear and effective speaker 5. communicated enthusiasm and interest in the course material 6. stimulated your interest in the subject and motivated your learning 7. attended to students’ questions and answered them clearly and effectively 8. was open to students’ comments and suggestions 9. was sensitive to students’ difficulties10. was approachable for additional help11. was accessible to students for individual consultation (in office hours, after class, open-

door, by e-mail, phone)12. The overall effectiveness of the instructor was

Rate the course:extremely poor very poor poor adequate good very good out-standing NA

1. How effective was the course outline in communicating goals and requirements of the course? 2. How consistently did the stated course goals match what was being taught in the course?3. How appropriate was the course format for the subject matter?4. How well did the methods of evaluation (e.g., papers, assignments, tests etc) reflect the subject matter? 5. How fair was the grading of student work?6. How timely was the grading of student work? 7. How helpful were comments and feedback on student work?8. How well did the instructional materials (readings, audio-visual materials, etc) facilitate your learning?9. How well did the instructional activities (lectures, labs, tutorials, practica, field trips etc) facilitate your learning?10.How reasonable was the level of difficulty of the course material?11. How reasonable was the volume of the work required in the course?12.The value of the overall learning experience was

13.Your level of enthusiasm for taking this course at the time of initial registration: low medium high

14.Your level of enthusiasm for the course at the conclusion of the course: low medium high

15.Considering your experience with this course, would you recommend it to other students? Yes No

C. Statements about yourself: This information will be used to identify student demographics and their effect on the questionnaire results. Please answer all questions honestly and to the best of your knowledge. Ask the facilitator for assistance, if needed.

1. Your faculty:Arts Social Sciences Science Business Education Engineering Human Kinetics Law NursingInterfaculty Programs 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 11 132. Your status: Undergraduate: 1st year 2nd year 3rd year

4th year 5th year or B.Ed. student (Fac. of Educ.) Graduate student (Master’s or Ph.D.

level) Law other

3. Status of this course for you: required not required4. Your expected grade level in this course: A B C D

F5. You are: Female Male

What is Ecology?

Ecology is the study of the distributions and abundances ofspecies, and the causes underlying those observed distributionsand abundances.

How do ecologists study distribution and abundance?1) Empirical observations in the laboratory or in the field.2) Simulation models

Direct observations are obviously realistic, but take too long. Thiscourse lasts 13 weeks, but processes and organism life cycles maytake years. We can compare current and historical data to learn about whether species characteristics have changed, when needed data areavailable. However, many such studies are also expensive, and dueto natural environmental variation, they often fail.

You will gather four types of empirical data in labs:• Information from “lonely hearts” ads to test some hypotheses about the evolution of mate choice• Historical data on birth year and length of life from cemetary (headstone) data• Effects of leaf extracts on germination of lettuce seeds to test for allelopathy• Information about waste generated and energy use in your home

Otherwise, simulation models are cheap, fast to run, make it easy to test alternative conditions, and can give better insight into howecological systems work and how factors affect processes.

You will use a set of models collectively called Populus. The laboratories using a computer modeling approach will use four models:

• 2 that model population growth• 1 that models predator-prey interactions• 1 that models competition between 2 species utilizing the

same resources

Why should you study ecology?

It’s a required core course in Biological Science.(dumb answer!)

It provides vital information that can help us understandthe world around us and conserve species and resources for future generations.

For example, understanding extinction.

Humans are driving a rate of extinction that parallels ormay exceed rates seen during the last mass extinction 65million years ago. But are we wholly responsible?

Why do species become extinct?

• Habitat destruction• Excess harvesting

These are obvious, but only partially correct.

In the history of life on earth, more than 99.9% of speciesthat have lived on earth are now extinct. Most of theseextinctions occurred before humans evolved, and only a fraction of the extinctions in recent times are directly theresult of human activity. Even then, humans probably onlydealt the final blow.

The risk of extinction is related to …

• population size• ability to colonize new suitable sites• reproductive potential

These are the biological conditions. How do they relate tothe impacts of humans?

Humans destroy or damage areas of habitat. In the processareas of suitable habitat become fragmented.

Why does habitat fragmentation cause a reduction in biological diversity? The reasons lie in the effects onthose biological characteristics…

• small fragments only support small populations. • Those populations are more likely to become extinct, either due to random chance or failure of reproduction.

Locally, we have dramatic evidence of another humanactivity that impacts extinction…

International trade, particularly large ships that move goodsfrom eastern Europe (the Ponto-Caspian region) used to dumpballast water taken up there in the Great Lakes. That waterincluded exotic (non-native) species. Among them -the zebra mussel and small crustacean zooplankton.

Exotic, “invading” species can drive native species extinct.• The zebra mussel has driven most native bivalves in the Great Lakes and other invaded lakes extinct.• Zooplankters like Bythotrephes and Cercopagis have had significant impact on their communities in <10 yrs.

There are international conventions on endangered species.The CITES treaty bans international trade in endangered species.Canada has recently signed an international treaty on biological diversity (the Rio convention)… the RENEW (REcovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife) program is the result.The mandate is…• No endangered species in Canada will be allowed to become extinct.• Species that are locally extinct in Canada will be be re-introduced.

However, the enabling legislation covers only federal lands.

In Canada …

Number of speciesMammals Amphibians Plants & birds & reptiles & lichens

Extinct 8 1 2

Endangered 19 4 23

Threatened 14 3 30

Vulnerable 39 7 29

A short history of Ecology

(The longer version is on the course website. It is a chapter written originally for an online ecology text in development.)

The term “ecology” as we now view it was first used byErnst Haeckel. Haeckel was an early and ardent supporter of Darwin's theory of evolution. In 1866, Haeckel published General Morphology, a genealogical tree of vertebrates, thatrepresented the first ordering of life according to the principles of Darwinism. The definition of ecology we use is drawn from that book.

The history of ecology can, in one sense, be suggested to begin with observations of the ancient philosophers of Egypt and Greece. However, their observations fall into what we would now class as "natural history".

Aristotle believed in a "scala naturae", which was a scale of increasing complexity along which species could be ordered. Species remain unchanging on their rungs of this ladder, and evolution does not occur.

Quantification in "ecology" can be traced to observations collected during the middle ages, at the time of the Black Plague. In England, matrons in each parish acted as amateur coroners, trying to determine the causes of death. The parish records record the numbers of births and christenings and the probable causes of death for each corpse on a regular and an annual basis.

Bills of Mortality and Christening provided the data for the first calculations of population growth rate. In 1662, John Graunt published "Natural and Political Observations", in which he estimated the doubling time for the population of London from rates of birth and death in the bills. He established that more female babies were born than males, as well as, on average, longer lifespans for females. Based on religiousEstimates of the time of Adam and Eve,there had been 87 doublings since. If that were true, the population would have reached 1026 individuals, or about 100 million per square centimeter of habitable ground. Even Graunt knew this could not be, that a pattern of regular doubling could not continue indefinitely. This was the first formal recognition of limits to growth.

Regular doubling is called exponential or geometric increase. This term was coined by Sir Matthew Hale in 1677. He was made Lord Chief Justice in 1664 (the equivalent of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court). Clearly, his interests and ability extended beyond the law.

William Petty, in "Another Essay in Political Arithmetic" (1683) established the notion of a maximum sustainable population size we call the carrying capacity, K. He was far better known asan economist.

The next major step occurred about a century later, and provided the first input to Darwin’screative synthesis we call the Theory of Evolution. It was the recognition by ThomasMalthus that it was resources limitingpopulation growth. That populations can growexponentially, but resources only in a linearway was published in his An Essay on the Principle of Population…

There were other key underpinnings to Darwin’s theory: George Cuvier ‘invented’ paleology, showed species going extinct, andsuggested the great age of the earth.

George Lyell developed and established theidea of “uniformatarianism”, the notion thatwhat we see happening in geology today hasbeen happening throughout the history of theearth. He also persuaded Darwin to finallypublish the theory.

James Hutton found that the sedimentary rockof the earth’s surface was laid down in a sequence of layers, which reinforced ideasabout the age of the earth, and explained someof Darwin’s observations on the slopes of theAndes.

Putting all this together, Darwin hypothesized Natural Selection.

The final impetus for Darwin to publish came from the independent development of the same basic hypothesis byAlfred Russell Wallace. He collectedinsects, first in the Amazon basin, thenin Indonesia. The paper that he developed from those collections wasOn the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type. That wasn’t all he did. He also was thefirst to develop what we now callBiogeography. He is horribly under-appreciated in the history of our subject.

To get further, there had to be developments in genetics.

In genetics the basic figures are well-known: Gregor Mendel,and then to understand the importance of sex and sex chromosomes, Thomas Hunt Morgan. Morganwon a Nobel Prize for establishing thechromosomal mechanism of inheritance infruit flies.

Mathematical models used in ecology developed quite independently of the basic biology. The logistic was developed by a French mathematician, Pierre Verhulst, but was not accepted until early in the 20th century.

It was not Verhulst who brought the logistic into ecology, butA demographer, Raymond Pearl, studying the history of population growth in the U.S. To create a model (an equation) fitting the growth pattern, he re-discovered Verhulst’s logistic.

We now have most of the basics of ecological thought established, but there is one more person to mention. He is G. Evelyn Hutchinson. It is Hutchinson whose ideas are key to a modern view of community ecology. He’s the one responsible for our modern view of the niche, by means of whch we learn how species fit together in communities. So, in his honor, one last picture…

The ecologists in the Biological Sciences Dept. were mostly aquatic in orientation (now there are about as many behavioural scientists). Hutchinson wrote the seminal, 3-volume work, A Treatise on Limnology, that is, at some level, the basis for most of the aquatic ecologists’ work.

Scientists also have fun with intellectual pedigrees – he’s my intellectual great grandfather.