Biology 331 - Fall 2000

Ecology Seminar

Prerequisites and Expectations

There are four prerequisites for this course:

1. Interest in increasing your knowledge of ecological principles;
2. Recollection of the material covered in Biology 213 (Ecology & Evolution), Environmental Studies 200 or equivalent
3. Mathematical competency, evidenced through prior coursework in statistics (Statistics 240 or equivalent) or Calculus (Mathematics 101 or equivalent);
4. Familiarity with computers, especially word-processors (such as Microsoft Word) and spread-sheets (such as Microsoft Excel). Programming experience is useful, but not required.

My primary expectation is that you will participate in all class activities and keep up with the course work (see General Requirements).

Expected background in ecology & evolution

You should be familiar with the main concepts discussed in a basic ecology and evolution course, such as Biology 213, or Environmental Studies 200. These concepts include:

1. The theory of evolution by natural selection
2. Population growth
3. Interactions between organisms (competition, predation, mutualism, etc.)
4. Community structure and biodiversity
5. Energy and nutrient cycling
6. Basic population genetics
7. Homology, homoplasy, and convergence
8. Reconstructing phylogenies (cladistics) from morphological and molecular data

Any basic evolutionary biology text can be consulted for refreshers on concepts 1, 7, and 8, while any basic ecology text can be consulted for refreshers on concepts 2-6.

Expected competency in mathematics and statistics

Mathematics will be used frequently and liberally throughout this course. Scientific ideas and principles are expressed most concisely in the language of mathematics. The use of mathematics also clearly exposes hidden assumptions in conceptual models, thereby exposing the need for additional data or key experiments. Of all the biological sciences, ecology is the most reliant on mathematics for modeling complex phenomena. Basic mathematical skills and concepts needed in any ecologist's toolkit include:

1. Dexterity with algebraic manipulation
2. Familiarity with logarithmic and exponential functions
3. The ability to compute derivatives and simple integrals
4. The ability to solve systems of linear equations

Students unfamiliar with the basic mathematics needed by ecologists are encouraged to consult a basic calculus text or the appendix in Gotelli (1998).

Because natural systems are both complex and variable, statistics are used extensively in ecological research. While most statistical methods will be reviewed as they are encountered in your readings, you should be comfortable with the following statistical skills:

1. t-tests for comparing between populations
2. chi-square tests for assessing goodness of fit
3. correlation and simple linear regression
4. construction of two-dimensional scatter-plots and associated regression lines

The use of computers

Most ecological phenomena are modeled, using analytical, simulation, or statistical models. While solving analytical models rarely requires the use of computers, most interesting ecological phenomena are not approachable through pure analytical models. Simulation and statistical models, therefore, are used frequently. As Hilborn and Mangel (1997) point out, many simulation models used by ecologists can be constructed using programming tools (macros) within spread-sheet programs, although there are more elegant and efficient programming tools (e.g., Pascal, Fortran, C, ModelMaker, Maple, and Mathematica) and software packages for ecological simulations (e.g., Populus, EcoSim). Some of these will be available for your use in the lab.