4 hours. 3 hours lecture and 3 hours lab per week.
Plant Ecology
Course Description
Examination of distribution and abundances of plant species as affected by interactions with other organisms and environment; the influence of habitat fragmentation on dispersal and immigration to populations; factors that influence biodiversity at local, regional, and global scales; nature and limitations of science; causes and consequences of climate change.
Athena Title
Plant Ecology
Prerequisite
(BIOL 1108 and BIOL 1108L) or (BIOL 2108H and BIOL 2108L) or (PBIO 1210 and PBIO 1210L) or (PBIO 1220 and PBIO 1220L) or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will understand the nature of science and its limitations.
Students will formulate and test hypotheses.
Students will collect, analyze, and interpret ecological data, and communicate (oral and written) findings.
Students will master core ecological topics.
Students will understand strengths and weaknesses of experimental, observational, and theoretical studies.
Students will evaluate human impacts on habitat, populations, and populations of interacting species (competitors, herbivores, seed dispersers), and consequences for biodiversity.
Students will evaluate causes and consequences of human-induced climate change, and potential mitigation options.
Topical Outline
The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary. The lab will include several required sessions of outdoor sampling at the State Botanical Garden, which will provide the necessary data for the semester lab report. When they are done depends on weather and other factors and therefore cannot be scheduled.
I. Science Foundation
a) What is science? What are its limits? What is pseudoscience?
b) What is good evidence? Reliability of sources of information
II. Individuals
a) Establishment, growth, and senescence
b) Reproduction and dispersal; life histories
c) Photosynthesis
d) Water and energy
e) Soils and nutrients
III. Populations
a) Population growth, immigration and dispersal, especially as affected by habitat fragmentation
b) Self-thinning, spatial patterns, and distributions
IV. Communities
a) Community properties
b) Competition and herbivory; consequences of human-altered food chains
c) Disturbance and succession; consequences of fire-suppression
V. Ecosystems and Landscapes
a) Carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles; impacts of deforestation
b) Patterns of productivity
c) Landscape spatial patterns, habitat fragmentation, and role of corridors
d) Island biogeography
VI. Global Patterns and Processes
a) Climate change: causes, consequences, and mitigation
