Capstone Course: Organisms to Ecosystems
BI491B Spring 2007
Meeting Times and Location:
Tuesday 1:00-4:00 Megerle Science Bldg 421
Instructor:
Dr. Brian Palestis
Megerle Science Bldg 417
718-390-3237
bpalesti@wagner.edu
www.wagner.edu/faculty/bpalesti/
Office Hours: Tues 10-12, Wed 2-4
Course Description:
This course addresses recent advances in research and concepts in organismal biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. Students will give lectures and lead discussions on specific topics after conducting library research. Each lecture will cover background information and give an in-depth review of the general topic. Recent, peer-reviewed papers will be discussed the following week, on a more specific area of the same topic.
Lecturers must hand out general outlines of their talks to the class. For the discussions, all students (including the leader) must bring in a recent scientific paper on one of the topics being discussed, that they have read. All students will also read review papers, distributed by the instructor, prior to discussion. The leader must provide a brief outline of the review paper that refers to his/her primary article and includes potential discussion questions or issues to get the discussion started.
Learning goals addressed are as follows: 1) skills of listening, writing, and speech that enable effective communication and self-expression 2) competency in scientific reasoning and quantitative analysis, which promotes critical thinking and problem solving 3) knowledge of skills in a chosen field of study, which provide both the proficiency and flexibility to achieve career goals
Grading:
Lectures 30%
Discussions led 15%
Primary articles 10%
Written critique of primary article 10%
Exam 20%
Class Participation 15%
Make-up exams will only be given with a doctor’s note or a letter from Academic Advisement.
Attendance is required. You are expected to be an active participant in all class discussions. (i.e. attendance alone is not sufficient). Evaluation of presentations and participation will be based on several criteria (see attached grading form).
Incompletes require completion of at least 70% of the work at a passing level.
This course adheres to the published policy on Academic Honesty. A violation of academic honesty (plagiarism, copying answers on tests, etc.) may result in a referral to the Academic Honesty Committee and a failing grade for the course.
Class schedule
Jan 23 Introduction
Jan 30 Lectures: Recent studies of human evolution (fossils, genetics,
comparisons with nonhuman primates)
Feb 6 Discussion: Recent studies of human evolution
Feb 13 Lectures: Darwinian Medicine, Cognitive ecology, Sexual
selection & the brain
Feb 20 No class – Presidents’ Day
Feb 27 Discussions: Darwinian Medicine, Cognitive ecology, Sexual
selection & the brain
Mar 6 Lectures: Behavioral endocrinology of mating systems and
parental care, Ecology of stress hormones, Endocrine disrupters
Mar 13 Discussions: Behavioral endocrinology of mating systems and
parental care, Ecology of stress hormones, Endocrine disrupters
Mar 20 Lectures: Tree of life, Mass extinction, Cambrian explosion
Mar 27 Discussions: Tree of life, Mass extinction, Cambrian explosion
Spring Break
Apr 10 Lectures: Life in the deep sea, Ecosystem services, Invasive
species
Apr 17 Discussions: Life in the deep sea, Ecosystem services, Invasive
species
Apr 24 Lectures: Ecology of GMO’s, Responses of organisms to global warming, Restoration ecology
May 1 Discussions: Ecology of GMO’s, Responses of organisms to global
warming, Restoration ecology
May 8, 2:40 Critique due, Exam
Topics and Review Papers
(R & M refers to relevant sections in Rose & Mueller text from BI334)
Human Evolution
Recent studies of human evolution: fossils
Finlayson, C. 2005. Biogeography and evolution of the genus Homo. Trends in
Ecology and Evolution 20: 457-463. (+ R & M Chpt. 21.3-21.7, fig. 2.11c)
Recent studies of human evolution: genetics
Finlayson, C. 2005. Biogeography and evolution of the genus Homo. Trends in
Ecology and Evolution 20: 457-463. (+ R & M Chpt. 21.5-21.9, 5.7)
Recent studies of human evolution: comparisons with nonhuman primates
Gagneux, P. 2004. A Pan-oramic view: insights into hominoid evolution through
the chimpanzee genome. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 571-576.
(+ R & M Chpt. 21.1-21.2, fig. 19.8a)
Darwinian medicine
Williams, G.C. and R.M. Nesse. 1991. The dawn of Darwinian medicine.
Quarterly Review of Biology 66: 1-22. (+R & M Chpt 22, 21.11, 7.10-7.12,
1.20, 4.25, 9.9)
Ecology, hormones, and the brain
Cognitive ecology
Healey, S. and V. Braithwaite. 2000. Cognitive ecology: a field of substance?
Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15: 22-26.
Sexual selection and the brain
Jacobs, L.F. 1996. Sexual selection and the brain. Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 11: 82-86. (+R & M 19.9)
Behavioral endocrinology of mating systems and parental care (+R & M 19.8, 19.10)
Ketterson, E.D. and V. Nolan Jr. 1994. Hormones and life histories: an integrative
approach. In Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology. L.A. Real, ed.,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 327-353.
Ecology of stress hormones
Wikelski, M. and S.J. Cooke. 2006. Conservation physiology. Trends in Ecology
and Evolution 21: 38-46.
Endocrine disrupter pollutants
McLachlan, J.A. and S.J. Arnold. 1996. Environmental estrogens. American
Scientist 84: 452-461.
Evolution of biodiversity
Recent advances in understanding the tree of life
Doolittle, W.F. 1999. Phylogenetic classification and the universal tree. Science
284: 2124-2128. (+ R&M 2.6-2.8)
Mass extinction
Eldredge, N. 1998. Evolution, extinction, and humanity’s place in nature. In
Scientists on Biodiversity. New York: American Museum of Natural History. pp.
51-55. (+ R&M 6.18-6.19, 17.4, 17.8)
The Cambrian explosion
Carrol, R.L. 2000. Towards a new evolutionary synthesis. Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 15: 27-32. (+ R&M 6.11, cover, fig 2.11a)
Life in the deep sea
Little, C.T.S. and R.C. Vrijenhoek. 2003. Are hydrothermal vent animals living fossils? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18: 582-588.
Conservation biology
Ecosystem services
Foley et al. 2005. Global consequences of land use. Science 309: 570-574.
Biology of invasive species
D’Antonio, C.D, L.A. Meyerson, and J.S. Denslow. 2001. Exotic species and
conservation: research needs. In Conservation Biology: Research Priorities for
the Next Decade. M.E. Soulé and G.H. Orians, eds., Washington, D.C.: Island
Press. pp. 59-80. (+ R&M 17.10)
Ecology of genetically modified organisms (+ R&M 10.16)
Marvier, M. 2001. Ecology of transgenic crops. American Scientist 89: 160-167.
Responses of organisms to global warming (+R&M 16.1, 16.5)
Schlesinger, W.H., J.S. Clark, J.E. Mohan, and C.D. Reid. 2001. Global
environmental change: effects on biodiversity. In Soulé and Orians, pp. 175-223.
Restoration ecology
MacMahon, J.A. and K.D. Holl. 2001. Ecological restoration: a key to
conservation biology’s future. In Soulé and Orians, pp. 245-269.
