PHYCOLOGY (BOT 353)
Preface: This document is intended to be a general description of my Phycology course to be used in helping you to decide whether or not you want to take this class. Date specific information and very technical details of the course have been deliberately omitted so that I don't have to keep updating this document. When teaching, I post everything through the web-based software called Blackboard, thus actual class content is only accessible to enrolled students.
Phycology, which is the study of marine and freshwater algae, is a 4 unit class with two lectures and two three hour laboratory sessions per week. General Botany (BOT 105) is the only prerequisite, but it is a good idea to have taken Biometry (BIOM 109), or Principles of Ecology (BIOL 330) before you take my Phycology course. This course is required for Marine Biology as well as Botany majors.
Course Goals:
This Phycology course provides an opportunity for you to learn about the phylogeny, ecology and importance of both freshwater and marine algae. Here are some more specific course objectives:
1) To have you understand the main patterns of algal evolution by introducing you to groups that represent these patterns; this course makes no attempt to cover all the algal phyla and classes. The first half of the semester will be used to achieve this goal.
2) To achieve a basic level of competence in identifying marine and freshwater algae. Realizing this objective will require you to know basic patterns of morphology, anatomy, development and reproduction that characterize algal taxa. This information is presented to you during laboratory time. The capstone experience for this objective is your algal collection of seaweeds and microalgae.
3) To develop skills used by any biologist, particularly ecologists. These skills include an introduction to field sampling, computer use, basic statistical analysis of data, library use, and writing in the scientific format.
4) To be able 'to think like an alga' and understand intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting their distribution and abundance (i.e. algal ecology). This will be the subject of the second half of the course.
5) To be able to apply the scientific method to biological questions - i.e. to be better biologists!! In the context of this course, that means you will complete another capstone experience referred to as the "Zonation Study". This objective is reached by understanding the readings and lectures about the use of the scientific method, and the synthesis of objectives two through four above.
Required:
1. Graham L.E. & Wilcox L.W. 2000. Algae. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ. [ISBN: 0-13-660333-5]
2. Gabrielson P.W., Widdowson T.B., Lindstrom S.C., Hawkes M.W. & Scagel R.F. 2000. Keys to the Benthic Marine Algae and Seagrasses of British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, Washington and Oregon. The Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada. [ISBN: 0-88865-466-9]
3. Phycology Laboratory Manual by F.J. Shaughnessy (most recent edition). Sold only in the HSU Bookstore.
4. Colored pencils, good paper for drawing, bookstore razor blades (much sharper double edged razor blades can be purchased from local stores), probes, tweezers, slides, coverslips, slide box - sold at the HSU Bookstore.
5. Herbarium paper from the HSU Bookstore.
6. A 100MB PC formatted zip disk.
7. Active email and Blackboard computer accounts.
Other Phycology Textbooks:
Bold H.C. & Wynne M.J. 1978. Introduction to the Algae: Structure and Reproduction. Prentice-Hall. (There is also a more recent edition of this book.)
*Druehl L.D. 2000. Pacific Seaweeds. Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, B.C., 190 pp., ISBN:1550172409
Hauer F.R. & Lamberti G.A. 1996. Methods in Stream Ecology. Academic Press.
Lee R.E. 1989. Phycology (2nd ed.) Cambridge University Press.
Lobban C.S., Harrison P.J., Duncan M.J. 1985. The Physiological Ecology of Seaweeds. Cambridge University Press.
Lobban C.S. & Harrison P.J. 1994. Seaweed Ecology and Physiology. Cambridge University Press.
Prescott, G.W. 1978. How to Know the Freshwater Algae (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
South G.R. & Whittick A. 1987. Introduction to Phycology. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Stevenson R.J., Bothwell M.L., Lowe R.L. 1996. Algal Ecology: Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems. Academic Press.
Tomas C.R. 1997. Identifying Marine Phytoplankton. Academic Press.
Van Den Hoek C., Mann D.G., Jahns H.M. 1995. Algae: An Introduction to Phycology. Cambridge University Press.
Wehr J.D. & Sheath R.G. 2003. Freshwater Algae of North America: Ecology and Classification. Academic Press. 918 pp.
Whitford L.A. & Schumacher G.J. 1984. A Manual of Fresh-Water Algae. Sparks Press.
Grading
The final class average is around 82%, with about 60% of the class getting a grade of A or B. Grades are based upon three lecture exams, the first of which is a review of terms from General Botany, as well as five laboratory quizzes, and two laboratory exams. In addition, you receive grades for both drafts of your rocky intertidal zonation study, and your macro- and microalgal collection. I do not scale grades, although exams later in the semester are worth more points. In addition, your laboratory instructor has the option of bumping up a borderline grade if you have shown a consistent, positive effort throughout the semester.
Students with special needs should talk to me at the beginning of the semester.
Example Syllabus
| Week | Topics (Readings will be assigned) |
| 1 | Holiday
Lecture: Course Introduction, Introduction to the Algae
Lab: Laboratory Skills
Lecture: Introduction to the Algae, The Scientific Method & Ecology |
| 2 | Lab: cyanobacteria & glaucophytes
Lecture: Lecture Exam 1 (Review Gen. Bot. Vocabulary); Our Zonation Study
Lab: Quiz 1, Exercises for the zonation study
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny
Required' Field Trip, Zonation Study, Destination: North Jetty |
| 3 | Lab: red algae; bangiophyceans & Florideophyceae; Zonation Data Returned, Draft assigned
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny
Lab: red algae, Florideophyceae
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny |
| 4 | Lab: red algae, Florideophyceae;
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny
Lab: Quiz 2, green algae
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny |
| 5 | Lab: green algae
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny
Lab: Quiz 3, green algae
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny |
| 6 | Lab: Review for Lab Exam 1
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny
Lab: Lab Exam 1 - cyanobacteria, glaucophytes, red & green algae
Lecture: Zonation Study Issues, Algal Phylogeny |
| 7 | Lab: xanthophyceans, Tribophyceae, chrysophyceans, diatoms
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny
Lab: diatoms
Lecture: Zonation Study Issues, Algal Phylogeny |
| 8 | Lab: diatoms, Draft of Zonation Study Due, SD141
Lecture: Algal Phylogeny
Lab: Quiz 4, diatoms
Lecture: Lecture Exam 2 |
| | Spring Break |
| 9 | Lab: brown algae
Lecture: Feedback on Draft, Complete paper assigned
Lab: brown algae
Lecture: Algal Ecology |
| 10 | holiday
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Lab: brown algae
Lecture: Algal Ecology |
| 11 | Lab: Quiz 5, dinoflagellates & euglenoids, Collection ID time
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Lab: Review for Lab Exam 2
Lecture: Algal Ecology |
| 12 | Lab: Lab Exam 2 - ochrophytes, dinoflagellates, & euglenoids
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Lab: Water Quality Exercise
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Field Trip for algal collecting |
| 13 | Lab: Collection Time
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Lab: Water Quality Exercise?
Lecture: Algal Ecology |
| 14 | Lab: Collection Time
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Lab: Collection Time
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Final Copy of Zonation Study Paper is Due, SD141
Field Trip for algal collecting |
| 15 | Lab: Collection Time
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Lab: Collection Time
Lecture: Algal Ecology
Algae Collection is Due, SD141 |
| 16 | Final Exam |
