Introduction: Gradients as Ecological Tools, revisited
 
   Lectures in Ecology will review material covered in BIO 182, reminding students of the gradient and the causes of climatic and ecological variation with elevation. This module will extend beyond material presented in BIO 182 with two quantitative exercises. First, students will use weather station data to calculate potential evapotranspiration (PET, Penman equation) and will compare PET, mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and vegetation type along the CHM Gradient with climate and life zones that occur globally, so that they understand how well the CHM Gradient represents a slice through some of the major temperate ecosystems of the world. Second, students will analyze data from permanent vegetation plots and arthropod pitfall traps using diversity and evenness indices (Southwood 1978) built into a Biodiversity Excel worksheet provided to them.

 

Thematic Modules
 
   All students in General Ecology will participate in the following 5 thematic modules designed to expose them to the process of science as a hypothesis-driven, active, and quantitative endeavor. While these modules have been designed by faculty, students will be asked to keep a journal of spin-off questions and ideas to which they can refer when they advanced to more specialized ecology courses in which they will be expected to develop their own hypotheses and research projects.

Module #1: Ecological Stress
 
Module #2: Ecotones and Global Change
 
Module #3: Dominant and Keystone Species
 
Module #4: Climate and Carbon Balance
 
Module #5: Biodiversity and Ecosystems
 
Technology Synthesis Module