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Population and Community Ecology

Analytical Thinking
Critical Thinking

Course Description

This course grapples with the processes and mechanisms that structure ecological populations and communities. Topics include how birth, death, and movement of organisms determine population dynamics of single species; how species interact via competition, predation, mutualism, and disease; and causes, consequences, and maintenance of biodiversity in ecological communities.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Students enrolled for credit at the 6000-level (M.S. degree) are undertaking professional preparation that goes beyond what is typical at the undergraduate level. Three additional assignments are therefore designed both to increase the difficulty level at which students have mastered subject matter content and to introduce students to professional activities and teach skills needed to perform these activities. These are (i) additional required questions on homework assignments and exams that are optional or extra credit for other students, (ii) peer review of a genuine "in preparation" research paper in the field provided by instructors, (iii) a literature review (~1000 words) of the books in the Princeton Monographs in Population Biology series (http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/series/mpb.html).

Athena Title

Population and Community Ecol

Prerequisite

[(ECOL 3500 and ECOL 3500L) or (ECOL 3505H and ECOL 3500L) or (ECOL 3505H and ECOL 3505L) or (FANR 3200W and FANR 3200L)] and (MATH 2250 or MATH 2250E)

Semester Course Offered

Offered fall

Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Students will describe general processes and phenomena that structure population dynamics, species interactions, and biodiversity of ecological communities
  • Students will apply foundational ecological models, both mathematically and graphically, to investigate properties of ecological population and communities
  • Students will sketch and interpret graphs that illustrate quantitative relationships among ecological variables
  • Students will analyze ecological data using the computer language R to link theory to observed patterns of population dynamics and biodiversity
  • Students will read and discuss the primary literature to understand how ecological insights arise from the combination of field surveys, experiments and models

Topical Outline

  • Population and community ecology are active fields of research with important applications for management and conservation. This course links conceptual foundations and basic quantitative models to active analysis of data and discussion of primary literature. My goal is to provide students with the tools to better understand the processes and mechanisms that structure ecological populations and communities.
  • Unit 1 (Populations) focuses on birth, death, and movement of organisms and how these processes determine the population dynamics of a single species.
  • Unit 2 (Species Interactions) introduces several canonical forms of interactions among multiple species, including competition, predation, mutualism, and disease.
  • Unit 3 (Communities) adds further complexity to explore the causes, consequences, and maintenance of biodiversity in ecological communities.

Institutional Competencies

Analytical Thinking

The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.


Critical Thinking

The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.


Syllabus

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