Bio 767: Foundations of Ecology

 



Instructors: Dave Anderson and Miles Silman

 

Contact: da@wfu.edu, silmanmr@wfu.edu; http://www.wfu.edu/~silmanmr/foundations

 

Lectures: Twice weekly, to be determined at first meeting (T-Th 3-4).

 

Required text: Real, Leslie A. and James H. Brown (eds.). 1991. Foundations of Ecology: Classic papers with commentaries. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

 

Course Description: In Foundations of Ecology we trace the development of ecology as a discipline, and the roots of modern ecological thought. Class consists of students reading, presenting, and discussing seminal papers in ecology. Focus is on theory, case studies, and experiments.

 

 

Class Schedule Fall 2014

 

Date

Day

Papers Discussed

Leader

4-Sep

R

Mangle and Hillborn ch. 2

Miles and Dave

9-Sep

T

Forbes 1887, Cowles 1899

Emily and Jenny

11-Sep

R

Clements 1936 , Gleason 1926

Kathleen and Sarah

16-Sep

T

Tansley 1935

Emily

18-Sep

R

Grinnell 1917, Nicholson and Bailey 1935

Jenny (Grinnell),  Max

23-Sep

T

Preston 1962 (Hubbell?)

 Nicholas

25-Sep

R

Volterra 1926, Hutchinson 1957, May 1974

 Sarah, Kathleen

30-Sep

T

Cole 1954

 Nicholas, Max

2-Oct

R

Cole 1954 [Skellam 1951]

 Nicholas, Max

7-Oct

T

MacArthur and Pianka 1966

 Jenny

9-Oct

R

Hutchinson 1959; Simberloff (handout)

 Emily

14-Oct

T

Hairston, Smith, and Slobodkin 1960 (Trophic Cascades)

 Jenny    

16-Oct

R

Erlich and Raven 1964

 Kathleen

21-Oct

T

Harper 1967

 Max

23-Oct

R

Von Post 1916, Davis 1969

 Emily, Nicholas

28-Oct

T

Leslie 1945

 Sarah

30-Oct

R

Birch 1948, Holling 1959

 Kathleen, Jenny

4-Nov

T

Bray and Curtis 1957 (Ordination Handout), Odum 1969

 Sarah, Emily

6-Nov

R

Davidson and Andrewartha 1948, Teal 1962

 Max, Jenny

11-Nov

T

Watt 1947, MacArthur 1958

 Kathleen, Nicholas

13-Nov

R

Brooks and Dodson 1965, Kettlewell 1955

 Sarah, Emily

18-Nov

T

Park 1948, Connell 1961

 Max, Kathleen

20-Nov

R

Huffaker 1958, Paine 1966

 Nicholas, Emily

25-Nov

T

Thanksgiving Break

 

27-Nov

R

Thanksgiving Break

 

2-Dec

T

Simberloff and Wilson 1969

 Sarah

4-Dec

R

Likens et al. 1970, Porter and Gates 1969

 Kathleen, Max


Written Assignments

 

 

Papers: One mid-term (due Oct. 27) and one final paper (due Dec. 12).

 

Literature Search: Before every class meeting, presenters should use the Science Citation Index to (1) look at the impact of the papers we are reading that day, and (2) make an endnote file to share with the class highlighting recent important work that stems from those papers.

 

Foundations of Ecology: Essay Assignment 1

Your first essay is to be based upon a paper of your choice from the last two years of the journals Ecological Monographs and Ecology.

 

First, you should summarize the paper in no more than 1-1/2 pages.  Next, one or more of the classic papers we have read so far in the semester provide historical context for the topics of these papers.  In the second part of the assignment, you will discuss thoroughly (but concisely) the links between the classic papers that are most directly related to the contemporary paper you choose to read. You should discuss not only how the contemporary paper has built upon the ideas presented in the classic papers, but also the ways in which the contemporary paper improves upon or points out flaws, misconceptions or oversights of the classic papers.  This part of the assignment should be 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 pages long.