This course involves 4 hours per week of classroom instruction and four hours per week of laboratory activity or field trip. Classroom work will include lectures and tutorials, and is integrated with textbook and scientific journal readings. Field trips and laboratory activities complement and enhance understanding of the theory content of the course.
Introduction to Ecology
- The scientific method
- Ecology and the levels of the Biosphere
- Ecology, evolution and adaptation
Biotic and abiotic aspects of the environment
- The physical environment
- The biotic environment
- Populations, communities and ecosystems
- Terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems
- Biomes
Energy flow and nutrient cycles
- Food chains and trophic levels
- Food webs
- Ecological efficiency
- Nutrient cycling and regeneration
Life history theory
- The principal of allocation
- Life-history trade-offs
- Phenotypic plasticity
- Senescence
Evolution of sexual reproduction
- Sex ratios
- Female choice and mating systems
- Sexual selection
Social behaviour
- Costs and benefits of social behaviours
- Kin selection and altruism
- Game theory and cooperative behaviour
- Parent-offspring conflict
- Evolution of eusociality
Population ecology
- Density and dispersion
- Estimation of population density
- Exponential and logistic growth
- Age structure and life tables
- Density-dependent and independent factors
- Metapopulations
Predation, parasitism and herbivory
- Adaptations of predators (parasites, herbivores) and prey (hosts, plants)
- Prey location, selection, capture and assimilation
- Predator avoidance, escape and defence
- Predator-prey population dynamics
- Functional and numerical response
Competition
- Interspecific and intraspecific competition
- Competitive exclusion
- Resource partitioning
- Exploitation and interference competition
- Logistic model and competition
Coevolution
- Reciprocal evolutionary response
- Coevolution in antagonistic interactions
- Coevolution in mutualistic interactions
Community ecology
- Community structure
- Food webs
- Abundance-diversity indices
- Ecological succession
Biological diversity & conservation biology
- Global patterns of biological diversity
- Species area-relationships
- Island biogeography theory
- Metapopulation theory
- Ecological theory and the design of ecological reserves
Environmental issues and resource management
- Environmental impact assessments
- Persistence and toxicity of pollutants
- Integrated pest management
- Toxic waste, acid rain, air pollution
- Global warming
Field techniques
- Soil analysis
- Plant/animal identification
- Quadrat/belt transect analysis
- Lake/stream analysis
- Intertidal sampling
Upon completion of this course, the student will:
- Be able to describe the biotic and abiotic components of terrestrial, marine and fresh water environments.
- Be able to describe the flow of energy through ecosystems with reference to trophic levels and ecological efficiency.
- Understand the cycling of nutrients through ecosystems.
- Be able to demonstrate how an evolutionary ecology approach can be used to analyze life histories, sexual reproduction, sex ratios, mate choice, and social and altruistic behaviour.
- Be able to describe population structures, growth and the factors that limit the distribution and abundance of populations.
- Understand the various interspecific interactions including competition, predation, and mutualism and related evolutionary responses.
- Be able to describe community structure and the dynamics of community organization and change including the process of ecological succession.
- Be able to use general principles of ecology to analyze human impacts on ecosystems.
- Understand the principles of field sampling and be able to conduct field research using a variety of sampling techniques.
- Be able to interpret field results, perform simple statistics and write reports.
- Research and write a major report on an ecological topic, and communicate the results in an oral presentation and/or poster.
| Class Tests & Assignments | 10-20% |
| Lab & Field Trip Reports | 10-20% |
| Term Project | 10-20% |
| Midterm Examination | 20-30% |
| Final Examinations | 25-35% |
| Total | 100% |
Smith, R.L. & Smith, T.M. (2001) Ecology & Field Biology, sixth edition (or current edition). Benjamin Cummings, Pearson Education, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
OR
Ricklefs, R.E. (2001) The Economy of Nature, fifth edition (or current edition). W.H. Freeman and Company Publishers, New York, NY, USA
OR
A current ecology text, as specified by the instructor.