01 Session: Overview, The Nature of Ecology and The Physical Environment (Part I) | 01Plan

01-1. Distinguish environmentalism and ecology.  [EoE Ch. 1]  (Dr. Dann)

01-2. Apply the scientific method to explain an ecological curiosity or pattern observed in nature.  [Ch. 1]  (Everyone - see journal01)

01-3. Characterize the spatial, temporal and organizational range and resolution of ecology's focus  (Individual study)

01-4. Examine how ecological patterns and variability change with the scale of description.  [Levin 1992] (LEAD?)

01-5. Discriminate how mechanisms operating at different scales of time, space and organization affect a pattern we observe in nature.  [Levin 1992] (LEAD?)

01-6. Recognize key climatic factors affecting organisms and ecosystems, and illustrate these factors’ natural variability (periodic, episodic, aperiodic and sustained) vs. what is "normal.”  [Ch. 2] (LEAD?)

01-7. Explain the key abiotic factors & constraints affecting diversity of patterns observed in aquatic ecosystems. [Ch. 3] (LEAD?)

01-8. Explain the key abiotic factors & constraints affecting diversity of patterns observed in terrestrial ecosystems. [Ch. 4 ] (Danielle W.) 

02 Session: The Organism and its Environment (Part II) | 02Plan

02-1. Present a reasoned argument for the scale(s) at which natural selection operates to produce antibiotic resistance, ecotypes and speciation. [Ch 5] (LEAD?)

02-2. Reproduce formulae representing key aquatic and terrestrial processes in Earth's carbon cycle. (LEAD?)

02-3. Demonstrate how various plants & animals adapt in different ways to exploit tradeoffs in various environmental constraints. [Ch. 6 & 7] (2 Leads - one plant, one animal?)

02-4. Postulate how some endophytic bacteria or fungi species might adapt to tradeoffs imposed by environmental constraints. (LEAD?)

02-5. Model how environmental conditions may impact the reproductive and life history characteristics of an r- or k-selected species. [Ch. 8] (LEAD?)

02-6.Describe how the "small things" described by Bryant (2003) have both adapted to and affected their physical environment (LEAD?) 

02-7. Argue the role adaptation has played in the diversity of open ocean prokaryotic (Rocap et al., 2003) or eukaryotic (Science Daily 2009) photosynthetic microbes. (2 leads may split the 2 articles.) (LEAD 1?)  (LEAD 2?)

03 Sesson:  Populations (Part III) | 03Plan

03-1. Describe 3 factors that govern the net growth of a population within its geographic range at 2+ organizational scales. Also identify 3 density dependent regulators and 1 density independent regulator of population growth. 

03-2. Determine the appropriate sampling method for determining population density of a particular plant or animal. (Matt A)Matt - 03-2

03-3. Examine the ecological assumptions and implications of exponential and logistical models of [net] population growth for variable N(t) and parameters b, d, a and c (Dr. Dann, using excel-based simulation)

03-4. Defend how a local plant or animal species of your choice owes its presence here to active dispersal by humans, then identify factors that impact our region’s carrying capacity [K] for that species. (Mike H)

03-5. Provide an interesting illustration of how intraspecific social behavior appears to affect components of population growth in non-human animals.

(LEAD?)

03-6. Discriminate how metapopulation dynamics can be affected by patch size, isolation and artificial synchronization across local [sub-]populations.

(LEAD?)

03-7 Evaluate whether the behavioral ecology of human populations is more like that of chimpanzees or of bonobos. (LEAD?)

03-8. Interpret the ecological meaning and significance of the age pyramid for a certain population (e.g., non-human species or a nation like Botswana or Poland).  (LEAD(s)? [there may be more than 1])

04 Session: Species Interactions (Part IV) | 04Plan

04-1.  Distinguish the terms and systems of equations for 2 sets of these species interactions: competition, predator-prey, herbivore-plant, parasitism, commensalism, mutualism and/or symbiosis. (Kathryn H.)

04-2.  Demonstrate how potential outcomes of inter-specific competition may vary with climate change or spatial gradients in environmental conditions. (Danielle)

04-3.  Describe how predators and prey may regulate one another’s population sizes. (Dr. Dann, with assist from Amber)

04-4.  Argue whether or not mutualism is as significant as either competition or predation in its effects on population dynamics.

(LEAD?)

04-5. Illustrate co-evolution as a result of inter-species interactions, including traits that each species evolved in order to “stay ahead” in this interaction. (Matt)

04-6. Compare and contrast the ecological effects of predation and parasitism on the "victim" population. (LEAD?)

04-7. (student selected: should be pertinent to what we've learned, interesting to you, and informative for your peers.)

04-8. (student selected: should be pertinent to what we've learned, interesting to you, and informative for your peers.)

04-9. (student selected: should be pertinent to what we've learned, interesting to you, and informative for your peers.)

Session 05: Demonstrate Learning via Journal02 and Mid-Term

Session 06: Community Ecology (Part V) | 06Plan

06-1. Explain how one could characterize and interpret the structure of an ecological community in terms of species richness (S) and evenness, relative abundance, dominance (D), diversity (1/D), composition , (e.g., keystone spp.,  similarity), organizational (food web) and physical structure (including both vertical structure and zonation).  (Chp 16) (Kathryn H.)

06-2. Argue the relative importance of competition vs. mutualism vs. the null model as the most important process organizing ecological communities/ecosystems. (Be sure to define your terms and include reference to diffuse and/or indirect interactions, as appropriate.) (Chp 16 and Boucher et al. 1982) (LEAD?)

06-3. Identify 4 processes that shape the patterns of community structure in terms of fundamental and realized niches (Chp 17) (GR)

06-7. Illustrate the ecological impact of a keystone species on the community. What sorts of interspecies interactions appear to support its role as a keystone species?  Matt 6-7 MA

07 Session: Ecosystem Ecology (Part VI) | 07Plan

07-1. Distinguish how matter and energy are transformed by various components of an ecosystem (abiotic, autotrophs, heterotrophs in grazing and detrital food chains). (GR)

07-2. For a given ecosystem type, recognize ecosystem services [providing for human well-being] as well as human factors impairing or threatening those services. (Chp. 2 of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2003 + either Fischlin et al., 2007 [Sect 4.1-4.4] OR Sklarew et al., 2006 [video!]) (LEAD?)

07-3 Summarize key factors and processes influencing decomposition and nutrient cycling[*] at both microbial and ecosystem scales in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. (Ch 21-22) [* = Including both gaseous and sedimentary biogeochemical cycles] (LEAD?

07-4. Describe the ecosystem structure, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services of freshwater wetlands. (Kathryn H.)

07-5. Describe the role of nutrients in the formation of coastal 'hypoxic zones.' How might the presence or absence of substantial oyster reefs affect this process? Matt 7-5

07-6. (student selected)

08 Session: Biogeographical Ecology (Part VII) | 08Plan

08-1. Illustrate how 4+ abiotic factors influence the relative abundance of trees, shrubs and grasses across at least two biomes. (Ch. 23) (LEAD?)

08-2. Compare and contrast how artificial nutrient enrichment is likely to affect vertical patterns of life in any two of the following: a lake, a river, an estuary, a coral reef, the open ocean. (Ch. 24) (LEAD?)

08-4. Describe how and why species diversity (or species richness) may vary across 2 organizational OR spatial OR temporal scales (i.e., don't describe more than 1 type of scale). (Ch. 26) (LEAD?)

08-5. (student selected)

08-6. (student selected)

09 Session: Human Ecology (Part VIII) | 09Plan

Chapter 27. Population Growth, Resource Use, and Sustainability

09-1. Argue the relative merits and drawbacks of conventional vs. "sustainable" means for obtaining one ecosystem service discussed in our text or readings. (Ch. 27, IPCC 2007, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) (LEAD?)

09-2. Provide a reasoned argument for which of the 4 MEA scenarios do you consider most likely over the next 50 years? (Ch. 27, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) (GR)

09-3. Reviewing McKibben's argument (in the box to the right) a generation ago, that "we are at the end of nature," provide a well-reasoned 21st C. counterpoint to his perspective. (Be sure to demonstrate your ecological wisdom!) (LEAD?)

09-4. How might we address Pauly (1990s) concern regarding Malthusian overfishing using what we now know about intra- and/or inter-species interactions? (LEAD?)

09-5. (student selected)

Chapter 28. Habitat Loss, Biodiversity, and Conservation

09-6. Formulate a brief habitat conservation plan of you own design (not an external source's) to protect a vulnerable [VU] or endangered [EN] species of your choice from the IUCN Red List. (Ch. 28) (JL) Jennifer-9-6-Giant Panda

09-7. Summarize the case made by EO Wilson (2001) in The Future of Life, both his concerns and proposed solutions, then augment this with an pertinent and well-informed idea of your own. (Wilson 2001) (LEAD?)

09-8. Describe how the reintroduction of an animal may be necessary to reestablish a declining species' population. (KH)

09-9. Argue for or against whether loss of biodiversity adversely affects our daily lives. Matt 9-9.

09-10. (student selected)

09-11. Based on your understanding of the ecologically organizating effect of abiotic factors and and of climate change processes, explain how you expect a sizable increase in atmospheric CO2 [vis pre-Industrial levels] to affect the landscape, terrestrial ecosystems and non-human populations in your own community. (Ch. 29; IPCC 2007; [VA] Governor's Commission on Climate Change 2008 [pp. 4-7]; Maryland Commission on Climate Change 2008 [Chp. 2]; Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments 2008 [Chp. 2];  and others) (LEAD?)

10 Session: Ecological Showcase Symposium | 10Plan

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