NOTE: AS OF TODAY (1/4/07) This is almost complete -- some readings may be changed/updated.
Instructor: Alan Hastings 2-8116 e-mail: amhastings@ucdavis.edu
Office hours: Tue. 1:30-2, Thurs 2:30-3:00 3136 Wickson and by appointment
Course Format: 2 lectures per week plus 1 hour discussion/computer lab period after lecture Tuesday
Texts: Population Biology: Concepts and Models by Alan Hastings & papers available from links below or will sent by e-mail
Link to archived mailing lists for class for winter 2007
Final (takehome): 25%
Term paper: 25%
I expect that after completing the course a student will have an understanding of the major conceptual issues in population ecology and the role of models in developing questions, and interpreting experimental results. Additionally, I expect that a student would be able to read critically a large portion of the papers involving models appearing in journals like THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. To achieve these goals, I will develop a number of mathematical tools in class.
I will use frequent homework assignments as an integral part of the course. Once per week we will meet in the computer lab. We will use excel spreadsheets that have been developed expressly for the course where you simply have to enter numbers into forms.
Term paper:
The term paper will be due on the last day of classes BY E-MAIL (NO EXCEPTIONS), March 13, and can be on any topic related to the subject of the course. The format will be either i) an original piece of work, ii) a critical review of a single paper (e.g. Menge 1995 in the reading), or iii) a synthesis of work in an area (e.g. MacCallum and Dobson 1995 in the reading). The paper should have a length of 10-15 double spaced pages. An outline will be due on Feb. 6. One way to get ideas is to look at recent issues of American Naturalist, Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology or other journals (see list at end of this page).
Any topic that is part of the course subject matter is fine. You will be expected to demonstrate a good understanding of the topic you pick, and to write well.
If you choose to do an original piece of work, you should either create and analyze a model or analyze data that explores some area of population biology.
It is important to remember that a critical review of a single paper will draw upon ideas and aspects outside the paper under consideration, and that you will have to explain clearly the ideas in the paper as well as how they fit into a larger context, and any potential shortcomings, as well as why the paper is important and or interesting.
For the synthetic review, your term paper needs to be something where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts -- you need to present new ideas that come from putting several papers together.
As noted, the examples above should give you an idea of how to get started.
The outline will not be graded, but is an opportunity for me to give you feedback (and prevent you from waiting to the last minute). I will send you an e-mail that you can respond to to provide the outline.
If you have any questions, do ask!
Tentative lecture outline for Environmental Science and Policy 121
WINTER 2007
| Date | Topic | READING in text by Hastings | Other Reading |
| JAN. 4 | Introduction/Exponential Growth | 1-16 | Kareiva, Peter |
| JAN. 9 | Age structure I. | 16-30 | |
| JAN. 11 | Age structure II. | 16-30 | Congdon, Justin D., Arthur E. Dunham, and R.C. Van Loben Sels |
| JAN. 16 | Age structure III. | 30-37 | Birch |
| JAN. 18 | Pop. genetics I. | 41-48 | Kettlewell(1955) in Real
& Brown
Roughgarden, pg. 17-25 |
| JAN. 23 | Pop. genetics II. | 48-68 | Roughgarden, pg. 26-64 |
| JAN. 25 | Pop. genetics III. | 68-73 | Stumpf and Hilde M. Wilkinson-Herbots |
| JAN. 30 | Pop. genetics IV. | 73-76 | Hamilton, W.D. and Robert M. May |
| FEB. 1 | Logistic Models I. stability, equilibrium points | 81-92 | |
| FEB. 6 | Logistic Models II. | 92-103 | Costantino et al., 1997 |
| FEB. 8 | Life histories I. | 107-110 | Cole (1954) |
| FEB. 13 | Life histories II. | 110-115 | Schaffer, William M. and Paul F. Elson |
| FEB. 15 | Two species models: Introduction. and Competition | 119-140 | Connell, Joseph H. and Wayne P. Sousa; Gause (browse through it)Park (1948) |
| FEB. 20 | Competition II. | 140-147 | Goldberg and Barton (1992) |
| FEB. 22 | Predation I. | 151-163 | Hassell & Anderson in Cherrett |
| FEB 27. | Predation II. | 163-178 | Luckinbill, Leo S |
| MAR. 1 | Parasites and Parasitoids and diseases | 181-188 | Lafferty
and Kuris (2002)
|
| MAR. 6 | Diseases | 189-199 | Keeling and Grenfell |
| MAR. 8 | WORK ON TERM PAPER AND FINAL | ||
| MAR. 13 | TERM PAPER DUE |
2. McCallum, Hamish and Andy Dobson. Detecting disease and parasite threats to endangered species and ecosystems. TREE vol. 10, no 5 May 1995.
3. Kareiva, Peter. Renewing the Dialogue between Theory and Experiments in Population Ecology. In: Roughgarden, J., R.M. May, S.A. Levin, eds. Perspectives in Ecological Theory, Princeton University Press (1989) (will be sent by e-mail).
4. Congdon, Justin D., Arthur E. Dunham, and R.C. Van Loben Sels. Delayed Sexual Maturity and Demographics of Blanding's Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii): Implications for Conservation and Management of Long-Lived Organisms. Conservation Biology, Volume 7, No. 4, December 1993.
5. Costantino, R.F., R.A. Desharnais, J.M. Cushing, and B. Dennis. Chaotic dynamics in an insect population. Science 275: 389.391
6. Michael P. H. Stumpf and Hilde M. Wilkinson-Herbots. 2004. Allelic histories: positive selection on a HIV-resistance allele Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 19, Pages 166-168
7. Hamilton, W.D. and Robert M. May. Dispersal in stable habitats. Nature Vol. 269 13 October 1977.
8. Schaffer, William M. and Paul F. Elson. The adaptive significance of Variations In Life History Among Local Populations of Atlantic Salmon In North America. Ecology (1975) 56: pp. 577-590.
9. Connell, Joseph H. and Wayne P. Sousa. On the Evidence Needed to Judge Ecological Stability or Persistence. The American Naturalist Vol 121, No. 6 June 1983.
10. Goldberg, D.E. and A. M. Barton. Patterns and consequences of interspecific competition in natural communities: a review of field experiments with plants. The American Naturalist Vol. 139, 771-801
11. Luckinbill, Leo S. The Effects of Space and Enrichment on A Predator Prey System. Ecology (1974) 55: pp. 1142-1147.
13.
14.L. C. Birch The Intrinsic Rate of Natural Increase of an Insect Population
Journal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 17, No. 1. (May, 1948), pp. 15-26.
15. Thomas Park Interspecies Competition in Populations of Trilobium confusum Duval and Trilobium castaneum Herbst
Ecological Monographs, Vol. 18, No. 2. (Apr., 1948), pp. 265-307.
16. Lamont C. Cole The Population Consequences of Life History Phenomena
Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 29, No. 2. (Jun., 1954), pp. 103-137.
17. Ottar N. Bjørnstad and Bryan T. Grenfell. 2001. Noisy Clockwork: Time Series Analysis of Population Fluctuations in Animals Science 27 July 2001; 293: 638-643
An interesting site with a course on population biology, run by Alexei Sharov
The following journals are available from JSTOR: (and newer issues might be available from the library).
The following are some other journals with recent issues available from the library
Ecological Modelling
Theoretical Population Biology
Trends in Ecology & Evolution