Skip over navigation

Course Offerings

Course Details

Fall 2010-2011
* EEB 321   No Pass/D/Fail

Introduction to Population and Community Ecology

Nathan C. Gregory

Lectures, precepts, and self-guided field work. We shall examine interactions of organisms, ecosystems, and biomes with their physical environment, e.g., temperature and dynamics of water and air. We shall explore the dynamics and regulation of single-species populations, followed by interactions between pairs of species, e.g., competition, mutualism, predation, parasitism, and herbivory. Finally, we shall consider the structure and dynamics of whole communities of plants and animals, including interactions with humans, e.g., dependence, exploitation, management, and conservation.

Sample reading list:
Molles, Ecology, 4th edition
Williams, The Nature Handbook
Kricher & Morrison, A Field Guide to Eastern Forests
Horn, Plain Talk About Research in Field Biology
Primary literature,
See instructor for complete list

Reading/Writing assignments:
About 75 pp. of reading per week. Formal written lab reports on 4 field projects, due every 2-3 weeks. These projects will be introduced at the beginning of lab period, and students complete the necessary field work during lab time or other time as weather and schedules permit. A term project: collected images or artifacts of 20 species of either birds or trees, with natural history notes and a short essay.

Requirements/Grading:
Mid Term Exam - 15%
Final Exam - 25%
Lab Reports - 25%
Term Paper(s) - 20%
Class/Precept Participation - 10%
Other (See Instructor) - 5%

Prerequisites and Restrictions:
EEB 211 or equivalent..

Other information:
The details of the course may change, but the spirit and general content are as described. In particular, the order of topics will generally follow the text, but will be modified to take advantages of seasonal observations outdoors near campus.

Schedule/Classroom assignment:

Class numberSectionTimeDaysRoomEnrollmentStatus
23559 L01 11:00 am - 12:20 pm T Th   McCosh Hall   60   Enrolled:36 Limit:32 Closed
23561 B01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm W   Guyot Hall   106   Enrolled:20 Limit:18 Closed
23563 B02 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm Th   Guyot Hall   106   Enrolled:16 Limit:24