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INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Lyn Branch Office: 312 Newins-Ziegler Hall CONSERVATION BIOLOGY -- WIS 4554, Fall 1999 Phone: 846-0564 Office Hours: Monday, 2:00-2:45 PM; Wednesday, 2:00-2:40 PM. Also, I will be available to meet with students after class on Wednesday afternoons (see me before or after class to schedule) and at other times by appointment. TEACHING ASSISTANT: Susan Walker(Office hours - Monday and Wednesday, 10-12, 421 Carr Hall). I'm usually at 421 Carr Hall, so if you need to arrange another time, send me an email and we'll try to find a time that is good for you to come by. LECTURE: Monday and Wednesday, 6th period (12:50-1:40), CSE E222 DISCUSSION SECTIONS: Wednesday, periods 8-9 (3:00-4:55), FAB 103 COURSE TEXT: Meffee, G. K. and C. R. Carroll. 1997. Principles of Conservation Biology. Second Edition. Sinauer Press. COURSE OBJECTIVES: -- Provide students with an overview of 1) major problems in conservation of biological diversity and 2) applications of biological principals (derived from a variety of disciplines, such as population genetics, biogeography, and community ecology) to preservation of this diversity. -- Give students 1) an introduction to some research and management tools used in Conservation Biology and 2) an appreciation of the linkages of conservation problems across biological scales (genes to ecosystems) and geographical scales (local to global). -- The course should be FUN! _______________________________________________________________ GRADING: A (90% or greater), B+ (85%-89%), B (80%-84%), C+ (75%-79%), C (70%-74%) Date Points Sept. 22 AM Journal articles 50 Oct. 6 PM First mid-term exam 200 Nov. 10 PM Second mid-term exam 200 Nov. 22 AM Summary of current affairs 50 Dec. 1 PM Term paper (optional) (200) Dec. 15 Final exam (5:30-7:30 PM) 250 Optional term paper: 200 points If you do the optional term paper, your grade will be averaged over 950 points. If you omit the term paper, your grade will be averaged over 750 points. See attached handout for description of paper. Term papers are due no later than the Wednesday, Dec. 1 afternoon class. Exams: total 650 points Midterm exams will be designed to be completed in approximately one hour. However, these exams will be given during the Wednesday afternoon class (8-9 periods in FAB 103), so that almost 2 hours are available. The final exam is scheduled for December 15 (5:30-7:30 PM). This exam will emphasize material after the second midterm, but also will include broad concepts from previous sections. Journal articles: 50 points Conservation Biology is one of the most rapidly growing fields of science. In this field, as in other disciplines, one of the best ways to keep informed of new ideas, development of new tools, etc. is to read scientific journals. The Marston Science Library has numerous journals that are related to conservation biology. Two of the most important are Conservation Biology (the journal of the Society of Conservation Biology) and Biological Conservation. These journals are also a great place to get ideas for the types of programs in which you would like to participate once you leave UF. For this exercise, examine 3 issues (or more if you are motivated!) of these two journals and read the most interesting article that you find in each issue (You may choose any 3 issues of Conservation Biology and Biological Conservation; however, include at least one issue of each journal in the 3 issues.). On 1-2 pages (total for 3 articles), report the following information for each of the 3 issues: 1) the title of the article that you found most interesting, 2) the authors of this article, 3) the institution with which the authors are associated (e.g., University of Montana, the Environmental Protection Agency, etc.), 4) the journal title, volume, and page numbers, and 5) 2-3 sentences about why you found this article particularly interesting. The list of journal articles will be turned in during class on the morning of September 22. NOTE: Please do not wait until just before the deadline to look at the journals or you could have competition with 50 other students! Current affairs: 50 points Each student is expected to collect 5 newspaper clippings during the course of the semester that illustrate "real-life" examples of points covered in class. For each clipping you will prepare 1) a one-paragraph (typed) description explaining the relevance of the article to principles of conservation biology, and 2) a short evaluation (one paragraph) of whether the public was appropriately informed by this article (e.g., Was accurate information provided? Did the article present a fair assessment of the issues, or was it strongly biased?). These will be turned in during class on November 22. Extra credit: The University of Florida is one of the most outstanding centers in the USA for the discipline of conservation biology. Faculty and students from many departments are conducting research on "cutting-edge" conservation issues and participating in the development of conservation strategies at the local, national, and international levels. There are many opportunities for you to learn about conservation biology outside of class. One important resource is seminars given in a variety of departments (e.g., Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Zoology, Botany, Center of Latin American Studies, etc.). Up to 15 points extra credit will be given for attendance at these seminars, 5 points per seminar. These points will be added to your total points for the course. Numerous seminars will be announced in class. To receive credit for attending a seminar, you must prepare a one page summary (typed) with the following information: 1) subject of the seminar, 2) name of the speaker, 3) date and location of the seminar, 4) a summary of key research questions (or hypotheses), methods, and conclusions, and 5) a summary of how this seminar topic relates to conservation biology. All summaries of seminars must be given to the instructor at the beginning of a class period no later than December 6. ____________________________________________________________ C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FOLLOWING ARE OPTIONAL READINGS You can find the journals and books for these articles in the Marston Science Library by looking up the call numbers in LUIS. Topic: WHY PRESERVE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY? Gibbons, A. 1993. Where are 'new' diseases born? Science 261:680-681. Quotes from article: "They may come out of the forest when the forest is cleared for economic development." "environmental changes probably account for most emerging diseases". This is a very interesting article! Textbook: Chapter 2. Conservation values and ethics. Topic: EXTINCTION PROCESSES Shaffer, M.L. 1991. Population viability analysis. pp. 107-118 in Decker, D.J., M.E. Kransy, G.R. Goff, C.R. Smith, and D.W. Gross (eds.) Challenges in the Conservation of Biological Resources. A Practitioner's Guide. Westview Special Studies in Natural Resources and Energy Management. Topic: VULNERABILITY TO EXTINCTION Burke, R.L. and S.R. Humphrey. 1987. Rarity as a criterion for endangerment of Florida's fauna. Oryx 21:97-102. Topic -- GENETIC DIVERSITY and DRIFT Vrijenhoek, R.C. 1989. Population genetics and conservation. Pp. 89-98 in Western and Pearl (eds.). Conservation for the 21st Century. Lacy, R.C. 1987. Loss of genetic diversity from managed populations: Interacting effects of drift, mutation, immigration, selection, and population subdivision. Conservation Biology 1(2):143-158. (One of the best articles on interactions of drift, immigration, population subdivision, and other aspects of genetics of interest in conservation) Theberge, J.B. 1981. Considerations in wolf management related to genetic variability and adaptive change. Pp. 86-89 in Carbyn, L. N. (ed.). Wolves in Canada and Alaska. Canadian Wildlife Service Report Series 45. Shields, W.M. 1981. Genetic considerations in the management of the wolf and other large vertebrates: an alternative view. Pp. 90-92 in Carbyn, L. N. (ed.). Wolves in Canada and Alaska. Canadian Wildlife Service Report Series 45. Topic -- INBREEDING/OUTBREEDING Packer, C., A.E. Pusey, H. Rowley, D.A. Gilbert, J. Martenson, S.J. O'Brien. 1991. Case study of a population bottleneck: Lions of Ngorongoro Crater. Conservation Biology 5(2):219-230. (Interesting case study. Cited in your text.) Templeton, A.R. 1986. Coadaptation and outbreeding depression. Chapt. 6. In Soule, M. (ed.). Conservation Biology. The science of scarcity, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Mass. (The other side of the coin....can outbreeding be a problem?) Topic -- EFFECTIVE POPULATION SIZE Reed, J.M, P.D. Doerr, and J.R. Walters. 1988. Minimum viable population of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Journal of Wildlife Management 52(3):385-391. Topic-- CONSERVATION GENETICS (summary) Nunney, L. and K.A. Campbell. 1993. Assessing minimum viable population size: demography meets population genetics. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 8(7): 234-239. Haig, S.M., J.R. Belthoff, and D.H. Allen. 1993. Population viability analysis for a small population of red-cockaded woodpeckers and an evaluation of enhancement strategies. Conservation Biology 7(2):289-301. (a genetically based PVA) ------------------------------------------------------------------ THE FOLLOWING ARE OPTIONAL READINGS You can find the journals and books for these articles in the Marston Science Library by looking up the call numbers in LUIS. Topic: WHY PRESERVE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY? Gibbons, A. 1993. Where are 'new' diseases born? Science 261:680-681. Quotes from article: "They may come out of the forest when the forest is cleared for economic development." "environmental changes probably account for most emerging diseases". This is a very interesting article! Textbook: Chapter 2. Conservation values and ethics. Topic: EXTINCTION PROCESSES Shaffer, M.L. 1991. Population viability analysis. pp. 107-118 in Decker, D.J., M.E. Kransy, G.R. Goff, C.R. Smith, and D.W. Gross (eds.) Challenges in the Conservation of Biological Resources. A Practitioner's Guide. Westview Special Studies in Natural Resources and Energy Management. Topic: VULNERABILITY TO EXTINCTION Burke, R.L. and S.R. Humphrey. 1987. Rarity as a criterion for endangerment of Florida's fauna. Oryx 21:97-102. Topic -- GENETIC DIVERSITY and DRIFT Vrijenhoek, R.C. 1989. Population genetics and conservation. Pp. 89-98 in Western and Pearl (eds.). Conservation for the 21st Century. Lacy, R.C. 1987. Loss of genetic diversity from managed populations: Interacting effects of drift, mutation, immigration, selection, and population subdivision. Conservation Biology 1(2):143-158. (One of the best articles on interactions of drift, immigration, population subdivision, and other aspects of genetics of interest in conservation) Theberge, J.B. 1981. Considerations in wolf management related to genetic variability and adaptive change. Pp. 86-89 in Carbyn, L. N. (ed.). Wolves in Canada and Alaska. Canadian Wildlife Service Report Series 45. Shields, W.M. 1981. Genetic considerations in the management of the wolf and other large vertebrates: an alternative view. Pp. 90-92 in Carbyn, L. N. (ed.). Wolves in Canada and Alaska. Canadian Wildlife Service Report Series 45. Topic -- INBREEDING/OUTBREEDING Packer, C., A.E. Pusey, H. Rowley, D.A. Gilbert, J. Martenson, S.J. O'Brien. 1991. Case study of a population bottleneck: Lions of Ngorongoro Crater. Conservation Biology 5(2): 219-230. (Interesting case study. Cited in your text.) Templeton, A.R. 1986. Coadaptation and outbreeding depression. Chapt. 6. In Soule, M. (ed.). Conservation Biology. The science of scarcity, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Mass. (The other side of the coin....can outbreeding be a problem?) Topic -- EFFECTIVE POPULATION SIZE Reed, J.M, P.D. Doerr, and J.R. Walters. 1988. Minimum viable population of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Journal of Wildlife Management 52(3):385-391. Topic-- CONSERVATION GENETICS (summary) Nunney, L. and K.A. Campbell. 1993. Assessing minimum viable population size: demography meets population genetics. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 8(7): 234-239. Haig, S.M., J.R. Belthoff, and D.H. Allen. 1993. Population viability analysis for a small population of red-cockaded woodpeckers and an evaluation of enhancement strategies. Conservation Biology 7(2):289-301. (a genetically based PVA) ________________________________________________________________ The University requires that the following statement appear in all course syllabi: University Policy Statement -- A Pledge for Students: "I understand that the University of Florida expects its students to be honest in all of their academic work. I agree to adhere to this commitment to academic honesty and understand that my failure to comply with this commitment may result in disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the University."
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