Community Ecology

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

EFB 796, Section 01, Spring 2005

Description: Community ecology has often been considered a ‘poor cousin’ of both population and ecosystem ecology.  Certainly progress in understanding the processes that influence community structure and function has been slower than understanding the abiotic and biotic factors controlling population dynamics.  A basic understanding of community ecology, however, is essential for any biologist studying theoretical and applied ecology, or related fields such as conservation biology.  This course will include topics such as competition and predation models, food webs, community assembly rules, spatial dynamics, causes and consequences of diversity, succession, and applied community ecology.  The course will be a mix of discussion and lecture.

Location: 127 Illick Hall, SUNY ESF

Instructor: Kimberly L. Schulz

Office Hours: Mondays 4:00-5:00 PM; Friday 9:30-10:30 AM, or by appointment

Contact Information:

            Phone: 470-6808 (office); x-4753 (lab)

            Room: 456 Illick

            Email: kschulz@syr.edu

            Website: http://www.esf.edu/efb/schulz

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• Textbook:  Peter J. Morin. 1999. Community Ecology. Blackwell Science, Inc. (available at Follett’s Orange Bookstore)
• Reader – available in class next week

Your responsibilities for this class are:

• Complete readings before class
• Attend class and participate constructively in discussion
• Lead one discussion (with another student)
• Apply your knowledge to two take home assignments (applications of concepts learned in class)
• Write a short (~5-7 page) paper describing how you can apply a community ecology concept learned in class either to your own thesis topic or to another question of interest to you.  This paper can be in the form of a proposal or a draft manuscript (whichever makes most sense for your degree program/current status)
• Present a short (~3 minute) summary of your paper to the rest of the class

Detailed Syllabus

Month	Date	Day	Topic	Morin	Reader	Due Date
Jan	19	W	Introduction		Syllabus
	24	M	Discussion: What is community ecology and how do we do it?		Hairston Gotelli & Graves
	26	W	Historical context/defining communities	1
	31	M	Discussion: Competition I		Hardin 1960 Schoener 1974 Bengtsson et al. 1995
Feb	2	W	Competition: models/theories	2
	7	M	Discussion: Competition II		Emery 2001 Interlandi & Kilham 2001
	9	W	Competition: experiments	3
	14	M	Discussion: Predation I		HSS Chase et al. 2002
	16	W	Predation: models/theories	5
	21	M	Guest Lecture
	23	W	Guest Lecture
	28	M	Discussion: Predation II		Lubchenko 1978 Vucetich et al. 2002
Mar	2	W	Predation: experiments	4
	7	M	Discussion: Food webs		Pimm et al. 1991 Williams & Martinez 2004	Take Home 1
	9	W	Food webs	6
	14/16	M/W	SPRING BREAK
Mar	21	M	Discussion: Indirect effects		Currie et al. 1999 Shurin et al. 2002
	23	W	<>Mutualisms/Indirect effects	7,8
	28	M	Discussion: Assembly rules		Connor & Simberloff 1979 Drake 1990 Gotelli & McCabe 2002
	30	W	Assembly Rules 1	9
Apr	4	M	Practical In-Class Exercise
	6	W	Assembly rules/spatial dimension	10,11
	11	M	Discussion: Succession		Walker & Chapin 1987 Pickett & McDonnell 1989 Bishop 2002
	13	W	Succession/temporal dimension	13
	18	M	Discussion: Diversity		May 1972 Tilman 1996
	20	W	Causes and consequences of diversity	12
	25	M	Presentations			Presentation
	27	W	Conservation/Applied issues	14
May	2	M	Discussion: Conservation/applied community ecology; wrap up		Crowder et al. 1996 Stachowicz et al. 2002 Mills & Semlitsch 2004	Take Home 2

 May 9                                                                                                  Application Paper

Grades will be based on:

 

            Class participation and attendance                                 10

            Leading discussion                                                        10

            Take Home 1                                                               25

            Take Home 2                                                               25

            Short presentation of application                                   5

            Application Paper                                                         25

Late Policy: If you find that you have several assignments or outside obligations due on the same day, see me before the assignment is due, and we can work out a reasonable extension. If you don’t contact me before the assignment is due, I will generally accept late assignments, but at a late penalty of 10% per day. So, obviously, if you anticipate difficulty with completing an assignment, you should contact me early!

Honor Code ESF and SU students are bound by an academic honor code that details rights and responsibilities for study. You should be aware that this code provides serious sanctions for academic dishonesty (including but not limited to plagiarism and cheating). I expect that you will follow the honor code. Any violation of the honor code will result in failing the assignment and/or failing the course. If you have any questions about the ESF honor code or about what constitutes plagiarism or cheating, please either check the ESF website or come speak with me.

Class Absence If you encounter a situation beyond your control during which you will be missing several classes, you can contact the Office of Student Life (110 Bray, (315) 470-6660, FAX: (315) 470-4728), and they will contact all your instructors for you.  Supportive documentation may be required.

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