Course Description
The dynamics of plant populations and communities, emphasizing practical tools for data analysis and ecological modeling in R. Topics include population growth; stochasticity; metapopulations and fragmentation; dispersal; distribution and range limits; competitive interactions; herbivory; mutualisms; coexistence; succession and disturbance; biodiversity; and global change ecology.
Athena Title
Plant Populat Community Ecol
Non-Traditional Format
Consists of a mix of lectures, discussions, and field and computational labs.
Prerequisite
Permission of major
Pre or Corequisite
PBIO(PATH) 8250 or FANR 6750-6750D or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will examine and evaluate population and community characteristics and dynamics, and causal processes, environmental constraints and interactions. Critical evaluation of primary literature will be an integral part of class discussions, aimed at revealing strengths and weaknesses of various types of research approach. Examples and case studies will concentrate on plants from a wide range of habitats and biomes, and their unique traits relative to other types of organisms will be emphasized.
Topical Outline
Niche Resource use and competition within populations Population structure (age, stage) Self-thinning Life histories Herbivory Plant-microbe mutualisms Other plant mutualisms (e.g., pollination, dispersal) Competition between species Facilitation Eco-evolutionary dynamics Dispersal limitation and lottery models Disturbance Succession Assembly rules in plant communities
Syllabus
Public CV