Plant Ecology and Lab [Web-CT link]

BOT 5605/4993 and 5605/4993 L - Spring 2007

lecture:  Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 - 10:45 am in ECS 145

lab:  every other Friday (or nearly so!) 9 am - 3:15 pm [see schedule below lecture syllabus]   meeting in OE 169 and various field sites

 

Dr. Suzanne Koptur
Dr. Steve Oberbauer

T.A. Roxaneh Khorsand
OE 232, ph. 305-348-3103
HLS 214
OE 271, ph. 305-348-3415
office hrs W 9 - noon
office hours W 1-4
office hrs M 1-3 
kopturs@fiu.edu
oberbaue@fiu.edu

Course Description

This course will examine the ecology of plants at different levels: individual, population, and community.  Our focus will be on the interactions of plants with eachother, with other organisms, and with their environment.  A general background in ecology is assumed (Prerequisite: PCB 3043, a general ecology class, or permission of instructor).  Basic principles and foundations of the field will be considered as well as current research. Readings will come from a textbook (see syllabus that follows) and articles from the literature to expand the topics.  Lectures will be interspersed with discussion activities to maximize student participation in the learning process.
There will be two exams during the semester and a final exam.  Lecture grades will be determined as follows: each exam 25% and class participation 25%.  Lab grades will be based on participation in activities (50%), writeups of selected labs (30%), and oral presentations on selected labs (20%).  Students will work on data collection and analyses together; primary responsiblity for writeup and presentation will be decided by mutual consent (each student must be in charge of at least one lab writeup and its presentation).

Course Policies

You are expected to be on time to class, and to stay the full period. You are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty. Any student found in violation of these standards will earn an automatic F and be reported to the Deans Office, no exceptions made. In accordance with FIU's policy on academic honesty, as set forth in Section 2.44 of the Academic Affairs Policies and Procedures Manual (http://academic.fiu.edu/docs/aapolicies.htm), it is expected that students in Plant Ecology will not submit the academic work of another as their own. Additional discussion of academic honesty and integrity may be found in the Manual of Student Conduct. 

Lecture Schedule

required textbook: Gurevitch, J., S.M. Scheiner, and G.A. Fox. 2006. The Ecology of Plants (2nd ed.). Sinauer Associates, Inc. Sunderland, Massachusetts.

 




date/day

topic

text
9 Jan T
Introduction
1
11 Jan R
Photosynthesis and light
2
16 Jan T
Water relations
3
18 Jan R
Soil and nutrients
4
23 Jan T
Processes of Evolution
5
25 Jan R
Outcomes of Evolution; Habitats, plant adaptations, life forms 
6
30 Jan T
Vegetative reproduction and sexual reproduction
7
1 Feb R
Plant breeding systems
7
6 Feb T
SK in DC - Exam 1
8 Feb R
Plant Life Histories; seeds and seedlings
8 
13 Feb T
Community Properties 
9
15 Feb R
Competition and other interactions
10
20 Feb T
Herbivory and plant pathogen interactions 
11
22 Feb R
catch-up and review [SK last lec]
11
27 Feb T 
Disturbance [SFO first lec]
12
1 Mar R
Disturbance
6 Mar T
Succession
12
8 Mar R
Diversity and rarity
13
13 Mar T
Ecosystem Processes
14
15 Mar R
Exam 2
20 Mar T
spring break - no class
22 Mar R
spring break - no class
27 Mar T
Communities in landscapes
15
29 Mar R
Landscapes, metapopulations, fragmentation
16
3 Apr T
Climate
17
5 Apr R
Biomes
18
10 Apr T
Global Diversity
 19
12 Apr R
Paleoecology
20
17 Apr T
Global change
21
19 Apr R
Catch-up and Review
24 Apr T
Final Exam - 9:30 - 10:45 am

Lab Schedule -

Students will participate in six labs, working in groups. Labs will be written up as a group, with different students taking primary responsibility for analysis and presentation of results (written and oral). 
recommended lab textbook: Ambrose, H.W. III and K.P. Ambrose. A Handbook of Biological Investigation, sixth edition.  Hunter Textbooks Inc. ISBN 0-88725-266-4.

12 January - Introduction and planning, (1) Greenhouse competition experiment setup
26 January - (2) Variation in leaf size - (3) Defoliation effects on leaf size I (simulate hurricane damage/defoliation)  (4) Herbivory and inducible defenses of native plants I (levels of damage and artificial herbivory) - FIU preserve and/or natural area (save and freeze samples for later chemical analyses)
9 February - (5) Pollination syndromes and floral rewards - natural area
23 February - (1 con't) Competition (above and below ground) - FIU greenhouse & labs
9 March - (4 con't) Herbivory and inducible defenses II (measure damage on exptl & controls, collect leaves for chemistry) - natural area
                    (6) Secondary chemistry of native plants (frozen samples) - labwork at FIU
30 March - (3 con't) Defoliation effects II (measure leaf size in replacement leaf cohorts) - natural area
13 April - final presentations, write-ups due

Learning Outcomes

Students completing the lecture course will attain familiarity with the ecology of plants around the world, with special attention to plants of south Florida and tropical environments.  Students will be able to understand the many environmental forces that determine the occurrence of species, various forms of the plant body, and the performance and reproductive success of plants in different situations.  Our textbook and lectures will highlight recent advances in research as well as historic studies that have laid the foundation of this important but relatively recent field of biological science. 
Students completing the lab will gain experience in field and lab research in plant ecology, be able to collect and analyze data, and interpret findings in written and oral presentations.  They will succeed in working in teams, monitoring the growth of experimental plants, and measuring the outcome of manipulative experiments in the field.  All these skills will prepare them for future work in natural areas management, research, or teaching in science.