Caribbean Biodiversity BSC-4363,

Fall, 2006, F 2:00 – 4:45.  Room number: OE 222

 

 

Instructor:

Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega (ortegaj@fiu.edu - Room: OE-242 - Phone: x2080)

 

Invited Speakers:

            Dr. Walter Goldberg, Department of Biological Sciences, FIU

            Dr. Grenville Draper, Department of Earth Sciences, FIU

            Dr. Joyce Maschinski, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

 

Office Hours:

Mondays 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

 

TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE

Date

Activity

1 September

- Organizational meeting

8 September

- The geology of the West Indies (invited speaker Dr. Draper)

- The Caribbean environment: An introduction - Geography, Climatology and Biogeography

15 September

- The geology of Florida (invited speaker Dr. Draper)

- Island biogeography: An introduction

22 September

- Biogeography of the Caribbean basin

- Journal Club 1: Island biogeography patterns

29 September

- Exam 1

6 October

- Plant biodiversity of the Caribbean islands

- Ecology and vegetation of the Caribbean basin

13 October

- Marine environments: mangroves, sea-grasses, and corals (invited speaker: Dr. Goldberg)

20 October

- Plant biodiversity of South Florida (invited speaker: Dr. Joyce Maschinski)

27 October

- Vertebrates of the Caribbean islands

- Journal Club 2: Conservation of Antillean biodiversity

3 November

- Exam 2

10 November

- Veterans’s Day Holiday

17 November

- Caribbean biodiversity: The phylogenetic perspective

- Conservation biology of the Caribbean basin

24 November

- Thanksgiving Holiday

1 December

- Visit to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

8 December

- Course evaluation and presentations by graduate students

- Journal Club 3: Human utilization of natural resources

15 December

- FINAL EXAM,

3:30 – 6:15 PM

 

 

 

 

Course Description:

This one-semester, three-credit, undergraduate-level course is an introduction to the main issues concerning the evolution, conservation and diversification of the biota of the Caribbean Basin.  The course will have a journal club, one field trip, and lectures by the instructor and three invited speakers. It will give the students a general knowledge of the biodiversity patterns of the biogeographical region where South Florida is located.  This is one of the most fascinating and complex regions of the world.  Lectures will cover the origin of the Caribbean and the major climatic and geological events that have shaped its environment.  Some of the lectures also will give the students a general introduction on island biogeography using the Caribbean as an example.  We anticipate to have one visit to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (required for all the students).  Three journal club sections will be devoted to read some of the most classical and recent papers on Caribbean Biodiversity and its conservation.

 

Course Requirements:

            - The course is restricted to upper division majors in Biology or Earth Sciences or Environmental

      Studies

- Students are required to:

                  (1) Attend all class sections, including lectures from instructor and invited speakers. You

                           must be present at the beginning and end of each class section to be considered in

                           attendance.

                  (2) Arrive on time to class.  During the first five minutes we will record the names of the

                           students who come to class. The names of the students who came late to class will be

                           recorded  on a separate list.  We will not record the names of students who come more

                           than 20 minute late, therefore if you come to class more than 20 minutes late we will

                           consider that you did not attend this class.  We will follow a very strict policy

                           concerning punctuality for class attendance.

           (3) Email Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega their email address in the first two weeks of this

                           course (before September 8th). Students cannot use their relatives' or friends' emails.

                           They must use their own email accounts.  Students who do not email Dr. Francisco-

                           Ortega before September 8th will have a 5% drop in their first exam.

                    (4) Participate in the field trip. 

                    (5) Actively participate in the three journal club discussion sections.  I will keep track of

                           the students who participate in these discussions

 

Texts, Lecture Notes, and Class Organization:

- There is no text-book on Caribbean Biodiversity and its conservation.  Lecture notes are based

on several texts.  One of the main books which I will use in my lectures was published by CRC Press five years ago (this book IS NOT REQUIRED). The full reference is as follows:

 

            Woods, C. A.; Sergile, F.E. (Eds.) 2001. Biogeography of the West Indies. Patterns and

            perspectives. 2nd edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

 

            - We will have three guest speakers, and three "Journal Club Discussion Sections".  Research papers for

                  these sections will be available in the "Course Reserve" site of the library web page

                  (www.fiu.edu/~library).

 

            - Tables and Figures presented in class as overheads will also be available in the "Course Reserve" site of the

                  library web page.  Student will need to print these Tables and Figures before each class.  They will need to

                  be brought to each lecture

 

How to fail this course?:

Here are five good ways to fail:

                  (1) Miss two class sections without a doctor's note. The only three excuses to miss a class

                           are: jury duty, documented medical emergency, and death or extremely seriously

                           documented unexpected illness of a direct relative of the student. Documented excuses must

                           be provided to Dr. Ortega before the day of the final exam

                  (2) Coming more than 5 minutes late to five class sections

                  (3) Show up unprepared on the day of your exams

                  (4) Show up unprepared for the journal club sections

                  (5) Not coming to the required field trip

                  (6) Not actively participate in discussions during class/journal clubs/field trips

 

Class conduct:

We expect all students to behave as reasonable adults just like in any university classroom in any other school. It is important to have respect towards the instructor and fellow classmates. Inconsiderate, disrespectful, dishonest, or disruptive behavior, as the instructor or your fellow classmates perceive it, or as is described in the Student Handbook, is unacceptable for adults in this course. The instructors reserves the right to ask you to leave or have you removed if such behavior is present. Such behavior may bring about official disciplinary procedures as outlined in the Student Handbook. Please turn off your cell phones and beepers. Eating, and chatting are not allowed during class sections.

 

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTICE:

We expect all students to follow the directions outlined in this syllabus, announced in class, and distributed via email or computer mailing list, plus others.  We are not responsible for issues resulting from lack of knowledge due to students not checking these resources.  Also, not having access to these resources is not an excuse--Email not working, wasn't in class when an announcement was made, etc. ALL the important announcements of this course will be made at the beginning of class (first five minutes).  Many class announcements will not be posted on the web-page of this course.  This syllabus is subject to change, announcements made in class will have priority. Please be sure you do not come late as that you don't want to miss important announcements.  Students who have scholarships, or work, or are applying for jobs, or are in the army, or are in their last semester, or need to have a high grade because their future career plans will be evaluated based on their class performance ONLY.  All these extra-curriculum activities will not have any influence concerning their final grade.  An incomplete grade will delivered under VERY EXCEPTIONAL circumstances such as MAJOR unexpected health problem of the student or his/her family.

 

Cheating policy:

We will follow strictly the “Student Handbook” regarding cheating. Procedures for both formal and informal procedures can be found under the section “Academic Misconduct” in the “Conduct & Policies” chapter. Anyone caught cheating will be asked to leave the class, will be given an “F” for the course and a petition will be sent to Academic Affairs. I will go strictly by the University’s policy on this issue.

 

Grades:

Exams grades.-- Exams grades will be based on the scores from the two hour exams (100 points each), plus the final (100 points).  The final exam will be semi-comprehensive:  We will focus on material in the latter part of the semester, but will feel free to ask you questions which require concepts and information from throughout the semester.  Exams will represent 65% of the final grade.

 

            Grading will be as follows:

                          A = 269 – 300 points (= 90 – 100%)

                        B+ = 260 – 268 points (= 87 – 89%)

                          B = 251 – 259 points (= 84 – 86%)

                         B- = 239 – 250 points (= 80 – 83%)

                        C+ = 230 – 238 points (= 77 – 79%)

                          C = 221 – 229 points (= 74 – 76%)

                         C- = 209 – 220 points (= 70 – 73%)

                          D = 179 – 208 points (= 60 – 69%)

                           F = < 208 points (< 69%)

 

Class participation grades.-- It is expected that students actively participate in the three journal club sections. Regular class attendance and punctuality will have an impact on the final grade (15% of the final grade) of this course.  Class participation will be evaluated, discussion of relevant course topics during regular classroom/field section will have a positive impact in the final grade (20% of final grade).  Class participation will be monitored by the instructor.

 

Graduate students evaluation:

- Exam: 25%

- Class participation: 15%

- Class Attendance and Punctuality: 10%

- Biodiversity essay (minimum 5,000 words, maximum 20,000 words, excluding references, including Tables   

       and Figure Captions): 25%

- Student oral presentation (20 minutes + 5 minutes for questions): 25%

 

Exams: The exams will be based on all the material taught or discussed during classes and the field trip. This material includes lectures from instructor, guest speaker lectures, graduate student presentations, journal club sections, content of videos that might be shown in class or field trip, and field trip activities. Each exam will be based on multiple choice questions and/or short essay questions.

 

The day of the exam: Please bring two sharpened #2 pencils with erasers to all exams. All other materials will have to be placed at the front or back of the class, so it is best not to carry anything to the room on exam day. You must sign your exam. It will be turned in when you are finished. No one can leave unless they have returned the exam. You may write on the exam. When you are finished, you must return ALL materials given to you during the test whether filled out or not. No talking is allowed. Cheating will be dealt with seriously and severely. Grades will be posted on the board located outside Francisco-Ortega's office OE242. Students can check their exams, but exams will not given back to the students.

 

ARRIVING LATE TO AN EXAM: (Please read this carefully as we will follow a very strict policy on this issue) If you arrive to an exam more than 30 minutes late, or after the first person finishes the test (whichever comes first) you will not be allowed to take the exam.

 

MAKE-UPS: In order to qualify for a makeup there must be a valid and document-able excuse approved by the instructor. The instructors will not approve excuses that are within the student's control (e.g., not enough time to study, headache, car wouldn't start, family problems, I had to go for a job interview, I had to attend a professional conference, the alarm clock did not work, bus came late, I had to work the same day of the exam, I had a conflict with my job-schedule, I had a flat tire, I did not wake up early, traffic was terrible, I had a police ticket because my driving, etc.). Plan to come earlier than usual for the day of the exam.  Students who simply do not show up for the exam will not be allowed to take a makeup exam. Makeup exams are long essays, not multiple choice.  Examples of unacceptable excuses: poor performance, common cold, family problems, psychological problems, transportation problems, and etc. Examples of acceptable excuses: documented medical emergencies, death of members of immediate family, and jury duty. No makeup exams will be given, except under very exceptional health, personal and family conditions. A car accident will be accepted as an excuse only if the student provides a police report. Police tickets because bad driving are not accepted as excuses. The only evidence that I will accept for a car accident is a police report.  Car accident reports from gas stations, car repair garages, etc. will not be considered as valid justification. Students who simply do not show up for the exam will have an F grade in this exam.

 

The day of the exam we strongly recommend the students to come to FIU on Friday morning long before the time of the exam. Students must plan well in advance their schedule for the exam day; it is their responsibility to be sure that the day of the exam they will not face any conflict with other activities and that they can be in FIU at least two hours before the exam.  If the student cannot fulfill this requirement because he/she has conflicts with other personal/professional activities then the student should not register for this course.  The main reason why the course is offered in the afternoon is to be sure that students have plenty of time to come to the exam.

 

IMPORTANT COURSE MATERIAL

Journal club papers:

      22 September: Island biogeography patterns:

            1.- Schoener TW, Spiller DA, Losos JB 2001 Natural restoration of the species-area relation for a

                  lizard after a hurricane. Science 294: 1525-1528.

            2.- Schoener TW, Spiller DA, Losos JB 2004 Variable ecological effects of hurricanes: the

                  importance of seasonal timing for survival of lizards on Bahamian islands. Proceedings of the

                  National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 101: 177-181.

            3.- Spiller DA, Schoener TW, Losos JB 1998 Impact of a catastrophic hurricane on island

                  populations. Science 281: 1525-1528.

 

      27 October: Conservation of Antillean biodiversity:

            1.- Knapp CR 2001 Status of a translocated Cyclura iguana colony in the Bahamas. Journal of

                  Herpetology 35: 239-248.

            2.- Knapp CR, Malone CL 2003 Patterns of reproductive success and genetic variability in a

                  translocated iguana population. Herpetologica 59: 195-202.

 

      8 December: Human utilization of natural resources:

1.- Malakoff D 2001 Reserves Found to Aid Fisheries. Science 294: 1807-1809.

2.- Mumby PJ, Edwards AJ, Arias-González JE, Lindeman KC, Blackwell PG, Gall A, Gorczynska MI,

      Harborne AR, Pescod CL, Renken H, Wabnitz CCC, Llewellyn G 2004 Mangroves enhance the

      biomass of coral reef fish communities in the Caribbean. Nature 427: 533-536.

            3.- Roberts CM, Bohnsack JA, Gell F, Hawkins JP, Goodridge R. Effects of Marine Reserves on

                  Adjacent Fisheries Science 294: 1920-1923.

 

 

List of Caribbean Islands:

CARIBBEAN BASIN:

                          1.- Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cayman Islands)

                          2.- Cuba

                          3.- Hispaniola

                          4.- Puerto Rico

                          5.- Jamaica

                          6.- Lesser Antilles (Virgin Islands, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda,

Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia,

 St. Vincent, Grenada, Islands of Northern Venezuela including the

Dutch Antilles)

                          7.- Leeward Islands: The most westerly and northerly of the

Lesser Antilles. From North to South (from the Virgin Islands to Marie Galante Island

  8.- Windward Islands: The most southernly and Westerly Arc of the

Lesser Antilles. From North to South (from Dominica to Grenada).

Barbados, Trinidad, Tobago, and the islands situated north of the

Venezuelan Coast are usually not considered part of this chain of

islands

                          9.- Virgin Islands

                        10.- St. Kitts

                        11.- Nevis

                        12.- Antigua

                        13.- Barbuda

                        14.- Montserrat

                        15.- Guadeloupe

                        16.- Dominica

                        17.- Martinique

                        18.- St. Lucia

                        19.- St. Vincent

                        20.- Grenada

                        21.- Barbados

                        22.- Tobago

                        23.- Trinidad

                        24.- Cayman Islands