COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION Biol. 694 F03, Spring 2007 Syllabus

Transcription

1 COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION Biol. 694 F03, Spring 2007 Syllabus I. Background information. Instructor: Christa Mulder, office Irving 410A, phone , office hours [TBA] or by appointment. Lectures and discussions: O Neill rm 307, TR 9:45-11:15 am. Materials: We will read a set classical and contemporary articles from the primary literature, supplemented by articles selected by the students. Pre-requisites: This course is aimed at graduate students in ecology, although undergraduates with a strong ecology background are welcome. A basic ecology course plus and at least one advanced ecology course is required. Since this course focuses on the intersection between community ecology and ecosystem biology, some background in at least one of these areas is strongly recommended. Access to class materials and information: This course will use the web-based Blackboard program to make additional information available. Access is restricted to students enrolled in the course. All information associated with the course will be placed there, including lecture notes, slides or images used during class, information on required readings and additional references, links to relevant websites, and anything else that I can think of. You can use this program to send me questions, to discuss problems with your classmates, or to exchange datasets. You can also check your grades and make sure that requested changes have been recorded. How to get there: Provided you have an aurora address, you will already be enrolled through Blackboard as a user. Just go to classes.uaf.edu. From there you can log in; your userid is the bit of your address before (e.g. ffcpm2 for me). If you have never had a Blackboard account before, your initial password is the same as your userid; if you have had a blackboard account previously, you will retain your previous password. II. Goals of the course Community ecology asks what determines the presence and abundance of species in communities, and focuses on interactions between multiple species, community structure (e.g. species richness, relative abundance, and functional group diversity), and trophic interactions (such as complexity and connectedness of food webs). Ecosystem ecology is concerned with the pool sizes and fluxes of energy (or carbon), nutrients, and water through both biotic and abiotic components of the system. These two areas of ecology have traditionally developed independently, yet almost any ecologist would agree that community structure can affect ecosystem functioning, and vice versa. In the past decade there has been a large increase in studies linking these two areas; this has manifested itself in theoretical areas (such as the debate 1

2 over mechanisms linking species richness and productivity) but also in more applied areas (e.g. the importance of invasive species in affecting community structure directly vs. indirectly through altering resource availability). This course focuses on the interaction between these two areas. The course is not limited to any particular trophic groups, although we will probably focus on terrestrial plants and aquatic systems because of the high number of studies that have been conducted in these systems. The goals of this course are as follows: 1) To strengthen students understanding of the interaction between community structure and ecosystem function. Although the general topics have been selected by the instructor, within each topic students may select additional readings of particular interest to them. 2) To increase the ability to critically read and evaluate papers from the primary literature This will be accomplished through reading and class discussion of both classic and recent papers. 3) To improve oral presentation skills. Students will act as discussion leaders for several papers and will present at least one mini-lecture (20-30 mins) on one of the topics. 4) To improve scientific writing skills. Students will write a review paper on a topic of their choice. They will also contribute to a review paper written by the class as a whole which may be submitted for publication. III. Course Structure and Content We will meet weekly for two 1 ½ hour sessions. Each topic will be introduced with a minilecture (20-30 mins) followed by discussion of 2-3 papers from the primary literature. Some of the mini-lectures will be by the instructor; others will be presented by the students (the exact number of each will depend on class size). Within each topic some of the papers will be selected by the instructor and some by the students. Additional readings of review papers may also be assigned. We will cover five major topics (see weekly topics list for details): Topic I: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function In this section we will ask the general question: does how diverse a community is (in terms of species richness, functional group number, or genetic diversity) affect ecosystem processes in a predictable manner? Topic II: Abundance vs. Presence: Contrasting Energy-based and Population-based Food Webs All else being equal, we would expect an abundant species (or a less abundant species with a large body size) to have particularly large impacts on both energy flows and community structure. In this section we will ask the question: when is all else not equal? Do strong connections in an energy-based food web translate into high importance for community structure? Topic III: Invasion biology: impacts on community structure and ecosystem function Changes in resource availability and community structure can change the likelihood of invasion of systems, and invaders in turn can alter ecosystem function and community 2

3 structure. To what extent are impacts of native species the result of changes in ecosystem properties following invasion (e.g. nutrient availability), and to what extent are they the result of population-level processes (e.g. competition)? Can understanding these different impacts help us predict which exotic species will have large impacts on community composition? Topic IV: Disease, resource availability, and community structure. One group of organisms is almost always left out of food webs (whether energy- or population-based): parasites. Yet we know that parasites can have large populations on host population and on community structure, and that resources available to the host can affect parasite present and abundance. Furthermore, community structure can affect disease transmission, and thus affect diversity. In this section we will investigate the interactions between disease-causing organisms, resource availability, and community structure. Topic V: Climate / anthropogenic change: impacts via resource availability and species interactions It has long been assumed that drivers of community composition follow a hierarchical structure: regional climate > local environment > species interactions. A second assumption is that climate change will alter communities primarily by altering resource availability. However, some recent papers have started to question this. In this section we will examine the extent to which climate change impacts on communities are likely to be mediated by changes in resource availability versus changes in species interactions. 3

4 IV. Weekly Schedule of Topics Note: There are only twelve weeks of topics listed because two weeks will be devoted to working on the class review paper. The timing of those sessions will depend on the topic selected. Week day Topic 0 R Introduction to course Topic I: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function 1 T Introduction to course R A: Species richness and productivity Lecture 1: mechanisms linking species richness and ecosystem function (CM) Discussion 1: species richness and producivity I 2 T Discussion 2: species richness and productivity II R B: Functional groups and productivity Lecture 2: defining functional groups (CM) Discussion 3: functional groups explaining productivity T C: Diversity and nutrient cycling Lecture 3: mechanisms linking species richness and nutrient cycling (CM) Discussion 4: decomposition, soil fauna, and mycorrhizae R D: Diversity and stability Lecture 4: Old ideas and new definitions (CM) Discussion T E: Higher trophic interactions Lecture 5: What about the rest of the foodweb? Discussion 6 R F: Connecting small-scale and larger-scale processes Lecture 6: Linking traditional community theory with experimental work Discussion Topic II: Abundance vs. Presence (more detail on this and the following sections will become available later). 5 Relative abundance and diversity - ecosystem function relationships Rare and common species: do they differ in their function? 6 Keystone species: impacts on communities vs ecoystem functioning Ecosystem engineers and community structure 4

5 Topic III: Invasion biology 7 Are more diverse communities more invasible? Species invasiveness traits vs. community invasibility 8 Impacts of invaders on ecosystem function and community structure Are successful invaders predictably different in function from natives? Topic IV: Disease, Resource Availability, and Community Structure 9 Parasites in food webs Resource availability and parasite impacts 10 Host community characteristics and parasite impacts Parasites as links between resource availability and diversity Topic V: Climate / anthropogenic change, resource availability, and species interactions 11 Impacts on community structure mediated by changes in resource availability Impacts on community structure mediated by changes in species interactions - 12 Are there general predictions for which will have larger impacts?? V. Assessment: Item Percent of total grade Due date Participation in discussions 30% -- Mini-lecture(s) 15% -- Leading discussions 15% -- Student review paper 25% April 3 Contribution to class review paper 15% May 1 Discussion participation: All students are expected to actively participate in discussion of the assigned papers. Both the quality and quantity of contributions will be assessed. Minilectures and leading discussions: Students are responsible for giving one or two short lectures (20-30 mins) on one of the topics on the syllabus. These should be designed to give the students the background necessary for productive discussion of the papers. This student will also select one or two papers (in addition to those selected by the instructor) for the class to read and discuss, and s/he will lead that discussion. Individual review paper: Students will select one topic on which to write a literature review. A draft of this paper (15% of grade) will be due by April ; the draft will be discussed with the instructor prior to submission of the final draft on april 24 (10% of grade). Class review paper: We will write a review paper in the style of an existing journal as a class. This will allow us to tackle an area that is too complex or large for one person to handle 5

6 effectively, and will stimulate class discussion. Depending on the topic selected, this may be a literature review, the presentation of a new conceptual model, or a meta-analysis of existing datasets. All students are expected to contribute to this process by locating references, participating in analysis, writing sections of the manuscript, and editing the drafts. The final product may be submitted for publication in an appropriate journal (with all participants listed as authors). VI. General comments All assignments must be handed in by 5 pm on the due date. They can be handed in during class or placed in my mailbox (3 rd floor Irving I). Late assignments will be penalized by 5% per day, unless arrangements are made before the due date (or exceptional conditions exist). DRAFTS of work may be submitted by . Always keep an extra copy of your work. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the overt or covert use of other people s work or ideas without acknowledgement of the source. This includes using ideas or data from a classmate or colleague without permission and acknowledgement, including sentences from journal articles (either in their entirety or with minor changes) in your writing without citing the author, or copying parts of a website into your essay. You cannot use someone s ideas without citing the originator; you cannot use someone s words without quoting the writer. Any deviation from this will be regarded as plagiarism. When you plagiarize you are stealing the currency which science (and many other endeavors) use: knowledge. Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses that violate the student code of conduct may result in an F in the course and / or referral to the university disciplinary committee. A few simple rules to prevent plagiarism: 1. When in doubt about whether you should cite or acknowledge someone, do so. 2. If you are unsure of how to cite someone s writings or ideas, ask one of the instructors for help. Reference librarians are also a good source of information for help with citations. 3. Note for students with disabilities: If you have a disability of any kind for which you think you may need an adjustment in the classroom, you must see the disability services program coordinator (Mary Matthews, Center for Health and Counseling, ). I cannot give you any special accommodations without a letter from her office! 6