Course Philosophy and Goals
In this course, I will strive to teach, rather than lecture. Thus adjustments will be made to the following outline, as not all the material fits into neat lectures. The object of the course is to gain an understanding of theoretical ecology, which I view as embodied in the formulation, solution, and interpretation of models. I feel that it easiest to get an appreciation for these steps by focussing on some of the simplest models, and therefore the first part of the course emphasizes 'classical' papers. I will supply exact details for the reading as we go on, and indicate a list of books on reserve for the course.
Course Requirements
There will be frequent homework assignments which will include all the aspects of theoretical ecology. There will be a take-home final exam. There is also a project required, with the subject area open, except that it must relate to theoretical ecology. An outline for the project is due on February 14, and the project is due in final form on March 15. The project will also include a 15 minute oral presentation (relatively ungraded) during finals week. Each component will count 1/3 of the final grade.
The project outline should give me enough information to provide feedback to you. There should be key references. I envision 2 kinds of projects: the development of a model or theoretical approach, or the synthesis of literature in an area of theoretical ecology. I will get more information to you.
Instructor: Alan Hastings, 3136A Wickson 2-8116 email:amhastings at ucdavis.edu
| Date | Title | Tentative Reading -- finalized through Feb. 5 | |
| Jan 10 | Introduction | Kareiva, P. pgs. 68-88 in Roughgarden et al., review of Gause's book | |
| Jan12 | Stability | Lewontin, Connell and Sousa | |
| Jan 17 | Time delays | May, Gurney and Nisbet | |
| Jan 19 | Age structure (density independent) | Leslie, Lotka | |
| Jan 26 | Two species Competition | Gause | |
| Jan 31 | Two species Predation (classical) | Gause | |
| Feb 2 | Host-Parasitoid
Models (classical) |
Nicholson-Bailey | |
| Feb 7 | Basic Epidemiology | Kermack-McKendrick, Anderson | |
| Feb. 9 | Spatial structure-intro | Huffaker,Hastings, Skellam | |
| Feb. 16 | Diffusion equation and spread | Levin, Kareiva, Okubo, Andow et al. , Shigesada et al. | |
| Feb. 21 | Chaos and complex dynamics | Hastings et al. ; Ellner et al | |
| Feb. 23 | Regime shifts |
TBA | |
| Feb. 28 | Integro-difference approaches | Kot et al., Hastings and Higgins | |
| Mar 1. | Bioeconomics |
TBA | |
| Mar 6 | Marine Reserves | Gerber et al; Hastings and Botsford | |
| Mar8 | Ecological Stoichiometry | TBA | |
| Mar.11 | |||
| Mar 13 | |||
| TBA | Oral presentations | ||
NOTE: Reserve books will be at Shields library, papers will be
typically sent to you as pdf's or web addresses