EFB 496/796 Plant-Herbivore Interactions
COURSE SYLLABUS – Spring 2009
INSTRUCTOR: DR DYLAN PARRY
109 Illick Hall
Phone 470-6753
E-mail dparry@esf.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:30-12:30
or e-mail or talk to me before /
after class for appt.
Books: None required
Some recommendations:
Schoonhoven et al.: Insect-Plant Biology
Karban and Baldwin: Induced Responses to
Herbivory
PREREQUISITES: I assume that all students have solid grounding in fundamental
ecological and evolutionary principles (i.e., EFB-311, EFB-320 or similar level
courses)
CLASS TIMES: Tues/Thur 2:00-3:20 (127 Illick Hall)
The course focuses on the ecological and
evolutionary nature of interactions between plants and the herbivores that feed
on them. I will use examples from
many different systems involving both invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores
although a majority of the available literature focuses on insects primarily
because insects and the plants they on which they feed dominate the Earth’s
biodiversity.
Broad Overview of Major Topics
1. Introduction and overview of the nature of plant-herbivore
interactions
2. Diversity of interactions
a. Impact of herbivores on plant-fitness
3. Plant traits that influence utilization by herbivores
a. Plant defenses – physical / morphological
b. Plant defenses – chemical
i. Constitutive
ii. Inducible
4. Herbivore traits that optimize utilization of plants
a. Specialization
b. Morphological and physiological
c. Behavioral and ecological
5. Complex trophic interactions
(plants-herbivores-predators/pathogens)
6. Coevolution
7. Community ecology and plant-herbivore interactions
8. Plant-herbivore interactions and global climate change
Format: Once per week, I will introduce a major
topic with an overview lecture. In
the following class we discuss some of the critical or controversial papers
relevant to that section.
·
Through the semester, you will
take turns serving as a discussion leader. The discussion leader’s job is to
select a relevant paper from the PRIMARY
literature, copy it, and give it to me so that I can make copies for the class
the week before the discussion.
·
I will make suggestions but you
are free to pick papers of your choice for your day. I would like to preview
your paper prior to distribution
·
The leader will be responsible for
briefly introducing the topic and then moderating subsequent discussion.
·
You will be evaluated on both your
contributions to discussions and in the role of discussion leader. See handout on the role of discussion
leader.
·
For each paper, you will provide a
brief summary of the major findings and a critical evaluation of the overall
paper. These are due at the beginning of class.
Project: Prepare and present a 15 minute
talk about an interesting case study, conceptual element, or theoretical
component focusing on plant-herbivore interactions. You will be responsible for synthesizing the relevant
literature, preparing, and presenting your talk. I will emphasize guidelines that are standard at scientific
meetings for oral presentations.
Midterm 30%
Participation in discussions: 30% (This breaks down into two
components)
- 15% for paper summaries
- 15% for in class contributions
Discussion leadership: 15%
Project: 25%
Total 100%