Global Ecology & Biogeography                        Biology 328

 

Professor Drew Kerkhoff 
                                                            Office 301 Higley Hall


Email kerkhoffa@kenyon.edu                                          Phone 427-5734

 

Office Hours

Monday 1:00 – 2:00

Tuesday 9:00 – 11:00

Wednesday 1:00 – 3:00

Also by appointment; please don't hesitate to ask for help.

 

Overview

Ecologists are increasingly investigating large-scale ecological processes, and the ecological dynamics of the entire Earth. This course is built around what has been dubbed the macroecological approach; rather than controlled, intensive experiments focused on one or a few taxa and processes, at a single level of organization, we will focus on extensive observational and modelling studies that develop and test general principles across broad taxonomic and geographical scales. We will begin with a focus on describing and understanding very general patterns in the distribution, abundance, and functioning of organisms. Special attention will be given to patterns of biodiversity and their basis in both ecological (dispersal, competition) and evolutionary (speciation, extinction) processes. The second phase of the course will examine current attempts to model dynamic ecological processes at the global scale, with a focus on feedbacks between ecosystems and the atmosphere, and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function. The conclusion of the course will examine the large-scale interactions between Homo sapiens and the rest of the biosphere, including recent attempts to quantify both human impacts and the value of global ecosystem services.

 

Required Text

Brown, James H. 1995, Macroecology, U. Chicago Press.

 

BrownÕs book will be used as a basis for discussing more recent primary literature utilizing macroecological approaches. I will also provide access to a number of additional general texts (the Òcourse libraryÓ) for students who are interested in more general background information.

 

Course readings will be in P:/Class/Biology/Biol 328/readings/week [#]

General Course Goals and Expectations

Through this course you will learn to:

1.  Formulate general principles underlying global patterns of biodiversity, organism function, and ecosystem dynamics.

2.  Understand global feedbacks between organisms (including humans) and their physical environment.

3.  Hone your skills in reading primary literature, and express your own understanding and opinions about what you read.

5.  Use emerging synthetic resources, including published data and model output to address global-scale ecological questions.

 

The course will be run much like a graduate-level seminar, focusing on the discussion of readings and an independent research project. As a student, you should have a basic background in ecology and evolution, a strong interest in developing a scientific understanding of how nature works, and a desire to participate in the learning process. As the instructor, I will give focus to our studies, assist you in attaining your own understanding of the subject, and provide both formal and informal feedback and mentorship. Our roles require that all of us come to class sessions prepared.

 

Assignments

Weekly Reading Reports (WRRs): This course is largely a course in reading and writing about global scale ecology and biogeography. Therefore, it is imperative that you carefully read the assigned material for each class meeting. Once each week (Monday or Wednesday) you will hand in a weekly reading assignment. These assignments will consist of:

o      Keyword list. List at least 10 key terms used in the day's reading. You need not list definitions, but you should try to learn the meaning of each word. If you cannot find the meaning of a word in your list, put an "*" next to it. Check out the "course library" for help with definitions.

o      Two one page essays. The intent here is to write about some interesting aspect of the reading. You might choose any of the following forms for your essay:

o      Controversy: Identify a controversial topic in the reading and describe it.

o      Key sentence: Choose a key sentence in the reading, one that makes an important point. State the sentence, give the page number and line number, and explain it in your own words. Explain why the sentence is important.

o      Connection: Connect some aspect of the reading to another one of the assigned texts, to something else we've discussed in the course, or to a different class you've taken.

o      Contrast: Take two examples (different papers, different taxa, different regions, different modelling approaches, or different conclusions) and contrast them, showing how they are different.

o      Principle: Identify a general principle in the reading and show how it relates to two or more different systems, taxa, or approaches.

o      Paragraph: Find a paragraph in the reading that is trying to make an argument. Evaluate the strength of the argument. How strong is the evidence and how well is it presented?

o      Wild card: Write something interesting about the reading. No more than one wild-card per week and no more than four for the semeseter. Be careful to focus your essay into a coherent and interesting argument.

 

At the top of each WRR, indicate which form you are following. These essays will be due 30 hours before class. Deadline is Sunday morning at 5am for Monday classes and Tuesday morning at 5am for Wednesday classes. Ordinarily, I will read them and provide feedback before class. I will also often use the ideas in these essays as a basis for class discussions.

 

There are 12 WRRs for the semester. I will average the grades for your best 10.

 

Midterm Essay: At mid-term, you will turn in a longer (~7 page) essay. The essay may be based on a revision and expansions of on or the Weekly Reading Reports that you have written. Alternatively, it might be an idea that arose out of class discussion or your further reading and thinking. You may incorporate what you've learned in class discussions in these essays. You must also use at least four outside (not one of the class books) sources, including at least two primary research articles. The idea here is to try to say something interesting, controversial, exciting, provocative, integrative, synthetic, and/or creative about global ecology. Brown and several of the authors in the resource library are good models in this regard.

The midterm essays will form the reading and discussion material for the following week.

I borrowed some of the structure of these writing assignments from Professor Gillen. See his excellent instructions for how to make a strong argument in your essay.

Final Project: You will each conduct an independent research project, taking a macroecological approach to address a question of interest to you based on published data or model output. Shortly after mid-term, you will develop a brief (~one page) proposal outlining your project, hypotheses, and data sources. Final project reports should be structured and formatted as a scientific paper for submission to The American Naturalist. Papers will likely be between 15 – 20 pages not including figures and references. However, more important than length is the quality of the contents of the paper. Finally, in the last week of class, we will hold a colloquium of brief research presentations (~5 – 10 minutes each).

Your final papers and presentations will form the basis of the first issue of The Proceedings of the Kenyon Macroecology Laboratory, which will be published online.

Procedure and standards for submitted work: All coursework should be submitted to me as an e-mail attachment and I will return it in the same way, with comments. Please follow these guidelines:

á      All documents must be in Microsoft Word format (.doc). They must be double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman, with one inch margins, and paginated. Please proofread.

á      All references should be uniformly and correctly formatted. American Naturalist format is preferred.

á      Presentations should be in Microsuck Powerpoint format (.ppt).

á      Assignments should be handed in as single files.

á      Do not embed pictures or drawings or anything else fancy into your WRRs. They should be simple text.

Grades

Your course grade will be based on the following categories and their respective weights.

 

Weekly Reading Reports (25%)

Attendance and Participation (25%)

Midterm Essay (20%)

Research Project and Presentation (30%)

 

Attendance and Participation

Class attendance is mandatory and failure to show up will negatively affect your grade. Please contact me before you miss a class. If you are an athlete or a member of another organization that travels, it is your responsibility (not your coachÕs or advisorÕs) to make arrangements with me concerning missed classes well in advance. Failure to do so will result in unexcused absences. Coursework missed due to unexcused absences may not be made up.

Participation makes up 25% of your final grade, so it is critical to come to class prepared to participate, whether or not you were assigned a WRR for that class. Always feel free to question a conclusion, ask for clarification, or add new perspectives to the discussion. While speaking up in class will be a primary determinant of your participation grade, I will consider all styles of contribution.
Course Outline and Calendar (subject to change)

 

Week

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

 

Assignments

1

 8/28 – 9/1

Syllabus, Brown pref.

Brown Ch. 1 (Intro)

Brown Ch. 2 (Macroecology)

RR#1

2

9/4 – 9/8

Brown Ch. 3 (Niches)

Pither & Aarssen w/commentary

Brown Ch. 4

Murphy

 

RR#2

3

9/11 – 9/15

Brown Ch. 5

Roy

Brown Ch. 6

Weiser MS

 

RR#3

4

9/18 – 9/22

Brown Ch. 7

Allen w/ commentary

Brown Ch. 8

Novotny

 

RR#4

5

9/25 – 9/29

Brown Ch. 9

Duda & Palumbi

Brown Ch. 10

Collard et al.

 

RR#5

6

10/2 – 10/6

Brown Ch. 11

Moses & Brown

Brown Ch. 12

Thomas et al. w/commentary

 

RR#6

7

10/9 – 10/13

Reading Days

Brown Ch. 13

 

Feedback Day

Midterm Essay (Friday)

8

10/16 – 10/20

Midterm Discussion

Midterm Discussion

Midterm

Discussion

RR#7

 

9

10/23 – 10/27

Lenton

Lovelock Ch.

Levin

Kerkhoff absent

RR#8

Proposals

10

10/30 – 11/3

Lenton

Kirschner

 

RR#9

11

11/6 – 11/10

Foley et al.

Cramer et al.

 

RR#10

12

11/13 – 11/17

Vitousek et al.

Imhoff et al.

 

Wackernagel et al.

Sutherland

 

RR#11

13

11/20 – 11/24

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

 

14

11/27 – 12/1

TBA

TBA

TBA

RR#12

15

12/4 – 12/8

Project Workday

Presentations

Presentations

Final Projects

16

12/11

 

Conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

Late Policy

Assignments must be turned in at the beginning of the class period on the assigned due date. If for any reason you cannot turn in your paper on the assigned date, you must contact me before class. If you are unable to visit me in person, you can leave a message via voicemail (427-5734) or e-mail (kerkhoffa@kenyon.edu). No credit will be given for unexcused late papers.

 

Academic Honesty

Acquaint yourself with Kenyon's policy on academic honesty, printed in the Student Handbook. Adherence to standards of academic honesty is the responsibility of the student. If you have any questions or are unsure of appropriate conduct, please contact me.

 

Accommodating Disabilities

If you feel that you may have need for some type of accommodation(s) in order to participate fully in this class or to take exams, please feel free to discuss your concerns with me in private. Also identify yourself to Erin Salva, Coordinator of Disability Services at 427-5453 or via e-mail at salvae@kenyon.edu. All information is confidential.