Syllabus for Conservation Biology (W460)

Instructor: Dr. Luke George

Contact Info: W160, x3430, tlg2@humboldt.edu

Office Hrs.: M 1500-1700, W 1000-1200

 

Tentative Lecture Outline

Date

Topic

Reading

Aug 28

Introduction, What is Conservation Biology?

1

30

Patterns of Biodiversity

4

Sep 6

Causes of Loss of Biodiversity

5

11

Ethical consideration in Conservation

2

13

Duties to Endangered Species- Dr. Rick Botzler

 

18

Species Concepts and Conservation

3, Volger & Desalle 1994

20

Endangered Species Act and other Conservation Tools

5, Rohlf 1991, O’Connell 1992

25

Genetic Principles in Conservation

6

27

Genetic Drift, Inbreeding, and Fitness

6

Oct 2

Conservation and Management of Snowy Plovers- Dr. Mark Colwell

 

4

Exam 1

 

9

Population Viability Analysis

7, Caughley 1994

11

Population Viability Analysis, Metapopulations

13

16

PVA for the Willow Flycatcher- Dr. Rollie Lamberson

 

18

Trophic Interactions, Keystone Species and Introduced Species

8

23

Ecosystem Management/Managing for Disturbance

Grumbine 1994, Engstrom et al. 1999

25

Habitat Conservation Plans- Dr. Lowell Diller

Simpson HCP

30

Island Biogeography

9

Nov 1

Reserve Design

9

6

A Case Study in Reserve Design- Dr. Steve Cuhna

 

8

Exam 2

 

13

Habitat loss and Fragmentation

9, Bender et al. 1998

15

Fragmentation Effects in Redwood Forests

Brand & George ms

20,22

Thanksgiving Break

 

27

Harvesting Populations

 

29

Sustainability

Robinson, J.G. 1993

Dec 4

Economics and Conservation

 

6

Economic Issues in Conservation- Dr. Steve Hackett

 

11

Human Population Growth and Over-consumption

 

13

Conclusions

 

Text: Meffe and Carroll. 1998. Principles of Conservation Biology, Second Edition.

 

Tentative Laboratory Schedule

Week of

Topic/Location

Reading/ Due dates

Aug 28

Introduction/ Methods of Estimating Species Richness

Boulinier et al. 1999, Krebs pp. 328-336, 357-368, EcoLab 1

Sep 4

Labor Day, No Lab

 

11

Estimate of Bird Species Richness/ Arcata Community Forest and HSU Campus

ACF Bird list

18

Analysis of Species Richness Data

 

25

Loss of Genetic Diversity with Program Populus

Populus document

Lab. Ex. 1 Due

Oct 2

Snowy Plover Management/ Clam Beach

 

9

Population Viability Analysis I

Ecolab 5

16

Population Viability Analysis II

Ecolab 7

23

Debate Topic: Single Species vs Ecosystem Management

 

30

Tour of Simpson Timber Lands/ Korbel

LABS WILL MEET FOR 4 HOURS- LABS STARTING AT 1100 WILL MEET AT 1000, THE LAB STARTING AT 1400 WILL CONTINUE TO 1800

Simpson HCP

Nov 6

Species-area Relationship

Ecolab 11

13

Edge effects on Vegetation and Amphibian Abundance/ Arcata Community Forest

Saunders et al. 1991

20

Thanksgiving, No Lab

 

27

Analysis of Edge Effects

 

Dec 4

Harvesting Populations

Ecolab 8

11

Debate: Evaluation of the PL Habitat Conservation Plan for Marbled Murrelets

PL HCP

 

 

 

Grading: Based on 450 pts.: 2 midterm exams (100 pts. each), a comprehensive final exam (150 pts.), a policy statement (100 pts), and lab exercises and debates (5 x 20=100 pts.). Grading: No curve; >90%=A; 80%=B; 70%=C; 60%=D; and <60%=F.

Field Trips: Field trips will be conducted rain or shine. Please dress appropriately.

Lab exercises: You will be assigned 3 lab exercises during the course of the semester. You will have time during the regularly scheduled labs to work on these exercises and receive assistance from the TA and myself. You are expected to work independently on these exercises and all lab assignments must be typed. Assignments must be turned in at the beginning of lab on the week they are due (see lab schedule for due dates). I will deduct 10 points/day for late assignments.

Debates: Several weeks prior to each debate, I will divide the class into two teams and assign each team a position to take on a particular issue. On the day of the debate, each team will make a short (10 minute maximum) presentation followed by a discussion that will be lead by Nicole and me. The format will be similar to a court hearing where each side is trying to sway the judges (me and Nicole). Your grade in the debates will be based on your team presentation (30%), response to questions posed by the judges (30%), and a written statement of your position (40%). Each student on a team will receive the same grade.

Policy statement: Each student is required to write a policy statement on any conservation related topic they choose. The paper must be original work and cannot be a rewrite of a paper written for another class. The paper must be written in the form of a policy statement or a forum, contain at least 5 literature citations, and be less than 6 pages double spaced including the literature citation. See policy statements in Conservation Biology or forum papers in Ecology or Ecological Applications for examples. The paper is due on December 8th. You may turn the paper in by 17 November for a free reading. I will return it on 27 November. Papers will be graded on content (50%), writing style (30%), and format (20%).

 

 

Reading list (on reserve at the library, some readings are available on ONCORES)

Bender, D. J., T. A. Contreras, and L. Fahrig. 1998. Habitat loss and population decline: a meta-analysis of the patch size effect. Ecology 79:517-533.

Boulinier, T., J. D. Nichols, J. R. Sauer, J. E. Hines, and K. H. Pollock. 1998. Estimating species richness: the importance of heterogeneity in species detectability. Ecology 79:1018-1028.

Caughley, G. 1994. Directions in conservation biology. Journal of Animal Ecology. 63:215-244.

Engstrom, R. T., S. Gilbert, M. L. Hunter Jr., D. Merriwether, G. J. Nowacki, and P. Spencer. 1999. Practical applications of disturbance ecology to natural resource managment. Pages 313-330 in R. C. Szaro, N. C. Johnson, and W. T. Sexton, eds. Ecological stewardship: a common reference for ecosystem management, Vol. II. Elsevier Scince, Ltd., Oxford, UK.

Grumbine, R.E. 1994. What is ecosystem management. Cons. Biol. 8:27-38.

O'Connell, M. 1992. Response to: "Six biological reasons why the endangered species act doesn't work - and what to do about it". Cons. Biol. 6:140-142.

Robinson, J.G. 1993. The limits to caring: Sustainable living and the loss of biodiversity. Cons. Biol. 7:20-28.

Rohlf, D.J. 1991. Six biological reasons why the endangered species act doesn't work - and what to do about it. Cons. Biol. 5:273-282.

Saunders, D.A., R.J. Hobbs, & C.R. Margules. 1991. Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation: A review. Cons. Biol. 5:18-32.

Trombulak, S.C. 1994. Undergraduate education and the next generation of conservation biologists. Cons. Biol. 8:589-591.

Vogler, A.P. & R. Desalle. 1994. Diagnosing units of conservation management. Cons. Biol. 8:354-363.

Other reading

Below are a few boos that capture many of the current ideas in Conservation Biology. If you haven’t already done so, I recommend you read one of these during the semester.

 Harris, L. D. 1984. The fragmented forest island biogeography theory and the preservation of biotic diversity. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Leopold, A. and A. Leopold. 1968. A Sand County almanac and Sketches here and there. Oxford University Press, London, New York.

Noss, R. F. and A. Cooperrider. 1994. Saving nature's legacy protecting and restoring biodiversity. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Noss, R. F. and Save-the-Redwoods League. 2000. The redwood forest history, ecology, and conservation of the coast redwoods. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Orr, D. W. 1994. Earth in mind on education, environment, and the human prospect. Island Press, Washington, DC.

Orr, D. W. 1992. Ecological literacy education and the transition to a postmodern world. State University of New York Press, Albany.

Schaller, G. B. 1993. The last panda. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Schaller, G. B. 1972. The Serengeti lion a study of predator-prey relations. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Schaller, G. B., J. Pruchnik, and R. Keane. 1980. Stones of silence journeys in the Himalaya. Viking Press, New York.

Wilson, E. O. 1984. Biophilia. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Wilson, E. O. 1998. Consilience the unity of knowledge. Knopf. Distributed by Random House, New York.

Wilson, E. O. 1992. The diversity of life. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Wilson, E. O. 1996. In search of nature. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Wilson, E. O. 1994. Naturalist. Island Press/Shearwater Books, Washington, D.C.