Biology 497/897 – Macroecology
Tuesday and Thursday 11-12:15
am
Location: 217 Brace
Spring 2017
Instructor: Dr. Kate Lyons
Manter Hall Rm. 4
Slyons5@unl.edu
Office
hours: TT 1:30-2:30 pm, or by appointment
REQUIRED
MATERIALS
Text: Smith, F.A., Gittleman, J. L., and Brown, J. H.
2014. Foundations of Macroecology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL
A digital copy of a
pre-publication draft is available for download from blackboard (BLACKBOARD
– http://my.unl.edu).
Recommended: Brown. J.H., 1995. Macroecology. University of
Chicago Press. Chicago, IL.
Used
copies of this book can be purchased cheaply from amazon.
Other readings will be made available on blackboard.
Course Objectives:
Macroecology is the study of
large-scale ecological patterns and processes. While relatively young, this
field has made many important advances in the study of how species are
distributed across the globe, how communities assemble and evolve, extinction
dynamics, and patterns of diversity. This understanding not only benefits
students of ecology and biogeography, but also informs conservation scientists
about how species and communities will respond to impending global changes such
as climate change. This course is designed to give the student an in-depth
understanding of how communities and species interact with their environment at
large spatial and temporal scales.
General Course Structure and
Expectations: This
course is a mixture of lecture, class discussion of primary literature and
hands-on experience focused around class assignments. You are expected to come
prepared to discuss the assigned papers. Failure to do so will negatively
affect your grade in the course. The course assignments are designed to give
active, hands-on experience with conducting scientific research in the area of
macroecology.
Course tasks:
- Students will read a series of papers on
selected topics and participate in discussions in class.
- Students will also be required to write a blog
post summarizing the paper. All students are required to post comments on
the blog after it is published and prior to class. The blog can be found here:
http://unlmacroecology.blogspot.com
- There will be 5 class assignments designed to
provide a very basic exposure to the rudiments of macroecological research.
Following successful completion of this course,
students will have developed the following skills:
- Ability to read and understand primary scientific literature
- Experience with finding and assessing data on the internet
- Basic training in scientific writing
Assessment/Grades:
Graduates
and Undergraduates: 25% from participation in class discussions, 40% of
grade from assignments, 35% from blogs.
Participation:
Most class periods will involve
discussion of papers assigned for that topic. Every member of the class is
expected to have read the paper before class and be involved in that discussion
and the instructor will assign a participation grade at the end of every class.
Class
Assignments: There
will be 5 class assignments designed to provide a very basic exposure to the
rudiments of macroecological research.
Summary
Blogs: Students
will take turns being responsible for writing a blog that summarizes the
assigned reading. All students are expected to read and comment on the blog
before class Active participation in
this part of the project in an integral part of the grade for this course.
GRADING:
Grades are assigned on the basis of individual student
performance according to the following scale: 90-100%
= A, 80-89.9% = B, 70-79.9% = C, 60-69.9% = D, Below 60% = F
ONLINE
RESOURCES
BLACKBOARD
– http://my.unl.edu
Postings will include
course information, PowerPoint slides, assignments, and announcements. I will
also send out several email announcements and reminders.
BLOG - http://unlmacroecology.blogspot.com
Because other
students are required to comments on the blogs you write, all blogs are due one
day before a paper is being discussed in class. Blogs must be emailed to me
(slyons5@unl.edu) and I will post them for you.
IMPORTANT:
You are responsible for verifying
that your e-mail address on Blackboard is one that you commonly check. If you
chose to use a non-UNL address, be aware that your emails may end up in my SPAM
folder.
ATTENDANCE
POLICY
Attendance is
mandatory. If you miss class you are responsible for informing yourself about
missed announcements and material covered, and for obtaining notes from other
students in the class. Late assignments, missed quizzes, or missed exams may
not be made up due to missing class unless there is a legitimate reason for
your absence.
Legitimate reasons
for absence include: illness, bereavement, attending a professional conference,
etc. The following reasons for absence are considered unacceptable:
pressure of work, meetings with your advisor, other classes, vacations, etc.
POLICY
ON LATE ASSIGNMENTS
Late assignments will
not be accepted except under unusual circumstances and/or will be subject
to a grade deduction as determined by the instructor (generally on the order of
10% per day). Requests to submit late work must be made before the date
on which the assignment is due. Generally, permission to submit late work is
only granted in extreme family or personal circumstances, and not because of
time management issues. A heavy course load is not an acceptable excuse for
late assignments.
SPECIAL
PROBLEMS
Please let me know if
major personal, family, health, disability, or similar problems are affecting
your attendance or performance. There are many options available for genuine
cases of serious problems, ranging from alternative assignments to incomplete
grades to university services.
Students with
disabilities: If you have a recognized disability and have need of special
facilities or accommodation for class or exams, please inform me early in the
semester. If you have not already done so, you will need to register with
Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) (http://www.unl.edu/ssd/), the
designated office on campus to provide services and administer exams with
accommodations for students with disabilities.
Academic Honesty: Academic
dishonesty is defined by the university as intentionally using or attempting to
use or providing others with unauthorized information, materials, or study aids
in any academic exercise or activity. The UNL code of conduct can be found here
(http://stuafs.unl.edu/dos/code). In science, this is called plagiarism and
will end your career.
MACROECOLOGY (Bios 497/897) --
Spring 2017
Course Calendar v1.0
Week
|
Date
|
Topic (N)
|
Primary Readings
|
Blog author
|
1
|
Jan 10
|
Course Overview, What
is Macroecology?
|
Syllabus
|
KLyons
|
Jan 12
|
The Macro of
Macroecology (1)
|
1, Smith et al 2008
|
Klyons
|
|
2
|
Jan 17
|
Species - Area relationships
Assignment #1
|
2
|
THawkins
|
Jan 19
|
Species - Area - Time relationship
Discuss assignment #1
|
43
|
RKait
|
|
3
|
Jan 24
|
Species - Area - Time relationship
assignment #1 due
|
White et al. 2010
|
KSullivan
|
Jan 26
|
Richness Gradients
|
28
|
THawkins
|
|
4
|
Jan 31
|
Richness Gradients
Assignment #2 -
diversity gradients
|
37
|
RKait
|
Feb 2
|
Richness Gradients
Discuss assignment #2
|
Jablonski 2006
|
KSullivan
|
|
5
|
Feb 7
|
Geographic Ranges
Assignment #2 due
|
26
|
THawkins
|
Feb 9
|
Geographic Ranges
|
40
|
RKait
|
|
6
|
Feb 14
|
Abundance
|
29
|
KSullivan
|
Feb 16
|
Abundance
|
31
|
THawkins
|
|
7
|
Feb 21
|
Body Size
Assignment #3 - Body
size distributions
|
5
|
RKait
|
Feb 23
|
Body Size
Discuss assignment #3
due
|
14
|
KSullivan
|
|
8
|
Feb 18
|
Body Size
Assignment #3 due
|
13
|
THawkins
|
March 2
|
Body Size
|
18
|
RKait
|
|
9
|
March 7
|
Body Size
|
Lyons and Smith 2013
|
KSullivan
|
March 9
|
Home Range
Assignment #4 -
Relationship between body size and home range
|
7
|
THawkins
|
|
10
|
March 14, 16
|
Metabolic Theory of Ecology
Discuss assignment #4
|
West et al. 1997
|
RKait
|
March 16
|
Home Range and MTE
|
Jetz et al. 2004
|
KSullivan
|
|
March 21
|
SPRING BREAK
|
|||
March 23
|
SPRING BREAK
|
|||
11
|
March 28
|
Extinction dynamics
|
35
|
THawkins
|
March 30
|
NO CLASS
|
|||
12
|
April 4
|
Extinction dynamics
Assignment # 5 -
measuring diversity
|
39
|
RKait
|
April 6
|
Community assembly
Discuss assignment #5
|
30
|
KSullivan
|
|
13
|
April 11
|
Community assembly
Assignment #5 due
|
Maguarran and
Henderson 2003
|
THawkins
|
April 13
|
Community assembly and
climate
|
21
|
RKait
|
|
14
|
April 18
|
Community assembly and
climate
|
27
|
KSullivan
|
April 20
|
Ecology of the
Anthropocene
|
Barnosky et al. 2001
|
THawkins
|
|
15
|
April 25
|
Ecology of the
Anthropocene
|
Dornelas 2014
|
RKait
|
April 27
|
Ecology of the
Anthropocene
|
Lyons et al. 2016
|
KSullivan
|
Notes:
1.
Readings
include the chapter introductions, and especially, the ‘blurbs’ written by
invited specialists in the field. I don’t expect you to understand everything
within each paper – identify what you don’t ‘get’, and bring it up for general
discussion. Identifying at least one question for each paper will really help
the group have lively and fruitful discussions. Ask yourself why this
paper was chosen for the volume (many debates ensued about the choices!). The
blurb writers were tasked with addressing this and did so with varying levels
of success.
2.
Students
will take turns leading discussions for each section; they will provide a
context for the discussion by reviewing the section introduction, googling the
scientists responsible for the section introduction and the blurbs (so they can
gain a perspective on the writers) and doing a brief literature search to see
where the field has gone using key words they identify. These ‘resident
experts’ will then summarize their findings for the rest of us and lead the
discussion of the papers within their section. They will post this information
prior to class on the course blog (macroecology.blogspot.com).
And, the blog is where you will post comments as well. Doing so will help the
discussion leader since they can direct their comments towards issues multiple
students had. We can discuss the timing of these posts/comments in class.
3.
Please
note that this schedule is really more of a guideline; I fully expect that it
will change as our discussions evolve.
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