SLIDE 3 BSC3052 Conservation Biology This website will holds all important dates, such as due dates for homeworks and quiz dates, all slides and study questions for each lecture once the lecture was given. This page is also points to resources on the web. Syllabus Slides and Study questions Important dates Course materials Links to other sites About the instructor
BSC3052 Syllabus Instructor: Peter Beerli, 150-T Dirac Science Library, email: beerli@csit.fsu.edu, phone: (850) 645 1324 Teaching assistant: Jean Burns 104 Conradi email: burns@bio.fsu.edu phone: (850) 644-9822 Goals of this course: Learn about Conservation Biology and related fields, such as Evolution and Ecology necessary to understand concepts and concerns. In particular explore themes such as biodiversity, extinction, ecosystem management, restoration, environmental policies. Learn to extract information from the primary literature Learn to present and summarize information Course material: The main resources will be the following: http://www.scs.fsu.edu/~beerli/BSC3052/ . Parts of the website are password protected (it is on your first-day syllabus, or ask instructor). This website is a main instrument for this course and will contain an up-to-date syllabus, assignments, due dates, and other material. Slides for the course will be available after the lecture and not before the lecture. Not all topics will be covered with slides, about half the course will be taught using the white board, the slides are typically used for figures and examples. I expect that you take notes in class, slides are not a replacement for your notes. The book Principles of Conservation Biology (tthird edition) by Martha J. Groom, Gary K. Meffe, C. Ronald Carroll, and Contributors. Articles from the primary conservation biology literature will be available from the website as links to PDF files. If you have difficulties printing these let me know when I assign the article and you can get a paper copy the next day. Office hours: I will not have a fixed office hour, just come and see me in my office anytime or send me an email to beerli@scs.fsu.edu to schedule an appointment. My office is in the Dirac Science Library, first floor, room 150-T. The entrance to the first floor in Dirac is near the parking garage, enter the building and then turn to the left. Jeans Office hours are on Monday 10:30-12:00 in the Conradi building, room 104. Tests: There will be 3 tests (TEST I, TEST II, FINAL EXAM). TEST I will test material presented during weeks 1 – 5, TEST II will test the material from week 6 – 10, the FINAL EXAM will cover weeks 1-14 with emphasis on weeks 11-14. The tests include material from the guest lectures. We will have study questions for each lecture online a couple of days after the lecture and (when there is time) answers to the study questions a couple of weeks later. Homework consists of reading the appropriate chapters in the book “Principles of Conservation Biology” by Groom et al. (as preparation for class), and written assignments: Summaries or reviews of papers from the primary conservation biology literature (2 pages double-spaced). The specific task for each assignment will be announced. Jean and I will pick 3 haphazardly chosen reports and grade them (40 points), every report turned in will earn 10 points for turning in on time. There will be a total of 9 discussion paper assignments, you can drop two (2) of the discussion paper assignments, turning in more than 7 assignments will still earn the 10 points turn-in bonus. Attendance for the paper-discussions are mandatory. Essay on a topic connected to Conservation Biology (for example on the management of a specific endangered species [Florida panther, Grizzly bears], a local environmental threat [Everglades,...]) with an annotated bibliography with at least 5 papers from the primary scientific literature (no webpages! [the citations MUST come from published peer-reviewed journals]). I expect that the essay has at least 5 pages (double-spaced) and each annotated citation has at least half a page (doublespaced). More details about the essay are discussed in class. Grading: The grades are on the A-F scale. The grades will be assembled using two in-class tests (100 points each), the FINAL EXAM (100 points), the discussion assignments (4 ungraded summaries turned in, each 10 points; 3 graded summaries, each 10+40 points; total 190 points), and the essay (110 points). A total of 600 points will be distributed into the A-F grade scale. I will use the participation record during class for rounding. Under some circumstances, I will take the liberty (1) to adjust the grade scale downward, so that fewer points are needed to get a passing grade, and (2) give plus and minus grades.
We use this book:
Principles of Conservation Biology, Third Edition
Martha J. Groom, Gary K. Meffe, and C. Ronald Carroll
Publication Date: August 5, 2005 699 pages, 369 illustrations
Week Topic Guest
Hom e
Tests
1 Intro History 2 Basics Library
Luesebrink
3 Biodiversity, Extinction 4 Biodiversity, Conservation genetics x 5 Conservation genetics x 6 Evaluation Population viability analysis Test 1 7
Population viability analysis x 8 Species invasion, Metapopulations x 9 SPRING BREAK 10 Manage Habitat fragmentation x 11 Exploitation Jue x 12 Ecosystem management James Test 2 13 Protected areas Oetting x 14 Restoration x 15 Law and Politics, Sustainable Develop. Essay Final
Homework
Discussion papers: Write a summary of a paper and discuss its finding Total of 8 discussion assignments: 7 need to be turned in Randomly chosen 3 will be graded Write an essay with an annotated bibliography Choose a conservation biology related topic: management of an endangered species, restoration of a damaged landscape, “Is recycling worthwhile?”, ...... Find at least 5 relevant articles from the primary literature (NO websites) Annotate each article with a short summary and why you chose the article for your essay.
So much to do, so little time: It is tempting to wait with assignments until 2am of the due day, but ...
Written assignments
Grant and I will not be able to produce a printed copy of the reading assignment during Sunday night. Think ahead and print the PDF before Monday You will need some time to read the paper, to think about it, and also to write it. Use the Discussion Paper Assignment Intro sheet to make sure that you dont forget some important points.