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Home , Plant ecology

BOT 431 – Fall 2013 Syllabus

Lecture Instructor Dr. Lisa Krueger Office: Brehm Hall, Rm. 239 Office Phone: 731-881-3171 E-mail: [email protected]

Office hours: My office hours will be 3-5pm on Monday and Wednesday and 1-3pm on Thursday, or by appointment. You may always contact me by e-mail.

Required Text and Other Materials The text book for the course is:

Gurevitch, J., S.M. Scheiner & G.A. Fox. 2006. The Ecology of 2nd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc.

Any additional material required for the course will be posted on Blackboard (utm. blackboard.com).

Course Format BOT 431 is a 3 credit hour course designed to introduce students to the relations of plants to their environment with emphasis on and biotic factors influencing their structure, growth, behavior, and distribution. The course consists of three one-hour lectures per week. Prereq: BIOL 130-140

Objectives Upon completion of this course, you should have a basic understanding of: • The different definitions and levels of ecological study • How plant and morphology can affect plant species abundances and distributions. • Interactions among plants, between plants and other organisms, and between plants and their environment • The consequences of these interactions on structure and development in plants • How plants contribute to functions and processes • Characteristics used to classify from the local to global scale • How local, regional, and global climate affect the and distribution of plants • The role of humans and plants in global change • How to critically analyze scientific papers

Policies Attendance and class etiquette You are responsible for all lecture material, even if it is not in the text, so attendance to all lectures is strongly recommended. The lectures form the basis for examinations, and experience has shown that attendance in lecture correlates with grades earned in the course. Ignorance of an announcement made in class is not an acceptable excuse for failure to meet a course requirement.

Tardiness will not be tolerated. The instructor reserves the right to dismiss students who arrive late to class. In addition, inappropriate talking during class is not acceptable and and will result in dismissal from class

Electronic devices The use of cell phones/blackberries during class time is prohibited. This includes both texting and talking on the phone. Please turn off all cell phones before coming to class. Laptops may be used in class for note-taking only (i.e. no checking e-mail, internet surfing, Facebook etc.). No electronic devices will be allowed during exams with the possible exception of hand-held calculators. Students will be asked to leave the class who fail to comply with this policy.

Make-up exams Students should make every effort to attend all exams. Make-up exams will only be given if a student has a valid and verifiable reason for missing the exam (ex. serious illness, death in immediate family). What constitutes a valid excuse is left to the discretion of the professor. If possible, students should notify me before the date of the scheduled exam. If this is not possible, written (not by e- mail) or verbal verification will be required from an outside source (physician, parent/guardian) with knowledge of the situation within 2 class periods of the absence to be deemed valid. Written notices should have the appropriate contact information listed for later verification. Make-up exams must be taken within 48 hours of the missed exam. If the student has an excused absence but is unable to take a make-up exam before this time, the percentage received on the final examination by that student will be recorded for the missed exam (applicable for one exam only). If an exam is missed for an un-excused reason, a grade of 0 will be recorded and used in the calculation of the final grade. Make-ups may differ in content and format from exams given during the scheduled class period.

Academic dishonesty If you have not done so yet, please read the section on Academic Dishonesty in the Student Handbook. Enrollment at UTM assumes binding agreement with the university’s policy of academic honesty. All exams and written assignments completed in class or outside of class are to be completed individually unless you are informed otherwise. Academic dishonesty in any form (e.g. cheating or plagiarism) will not be tolerated and will result in an F for the course and notification to the appropriate authority.

Special accommodations Students eligible and requesting academic accommodation are required to contact the Disability Student Services in the Student Success Center to obtain a letter of accommodation. These arrangements should be made during the first two weeks of the semester.

Reading Assignments The text is a fundamental part of this course. Reading assignments for each lecture period are listed within the schedule. Students are expected to read the assigned material before the topics are covered in class. Lectures and reading assignments will overlap to some extent, but some information may be present in the reading that is not addressed in lecture and vice versa. Students are responsible for both lecture and reading material on the exams.

Course Grade Your grade will be based on your cumulative performance on the following:

Total points 3 Lecture Exams (100 pts each) 300 3 Homework assignments (25 pts each) 75 Journal Article Critique 50 Final Exam (cumulative) 200 Total 625

Letter grades will be assigned according to the percentage of total points earned (i.e. Percentage = (points earned/600)*100)

90-100% = A 80-89.9% = B 70-79.9% = C 60-69.9% = D Below 60% = F

Exams Lecture exams will be given during the lecture period on the dates noted in the schedule (unless your instructor informs you otherwise). Exams will cover materials discussed in class along with all assigned reading material. The final exam will be cumulative. No exam grades will be dropped.

Journal Article Critique Each student will select an article describing an experiment on a topic relating to plant ecology from a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Review articles or meta-analyses are not acceptable article selections. After reading the article each student will write a 2-page critique paper based on his/her article. The critique will include the following: (1) a summary of the experiment and 2) an evaluation of the study and the article. Further instructions concerning this assignment will be provided later in the semester.

Homework Assignments Several homework assignments will be given during the semester. Some will require you to use quantitative skills to answer questions relating to plant ecology while others require you to delve deeper into some topics discussed in class. Further instructions concerning these assignments will be provided later in the semester.

All assignments are due at the start of class on the due date listed in the schedule (unless the instructor states otherwise). An assignment will decrease by a letter grade for each day it is late.

Tentative Schedule (Subject to change)

Reading Date Topic Assignment M, Aug. 26 Introduction to Plant Ecology Ch. 1 W, Aug. 28 Introduction to Plant Ecology Ch. 1 F, Aug. 30 Ch. 2 M, Sept. 2 No Class W, Sept. 4 Photosynthesis Ch. 2 F, Sept. 6 Water Relations & Energy Balance Ch. 3 M, Sept. 9 Water Relations & Energy Balance Ch. 3 W, Sept. 11 , Nutrients & Belowground Interactions Ch. 4 F, Sept. 13 Growth & Reproduction Ch. 7 M, Sept. 16 Growth & Reproduction Ch. 7 W, Sept. 18 Plant Life Histories Ch. 8 F, Sept. 20 Plant Life Histories Ch. 8 M, Sept. 23 Community Properties Ch. 9 W, Sept. 25 EXAM #1 F, Sept. 27 Community Properties Ch. 9 M, Sept. 30 and Other Interactions Ch. 10 W, Oct. 2 Competition and Other Interactions Ch. 10 F, Oct. 4 Herbivory Ch. 11 M, Oct. 7 Herbivory Ch. 11 W, Oct. 9 Plant Pathogen Interactions Ch. 11 F, Oct. 11 Ch. 12 M, Oct. 14 No Class W, Oct. 16 Disturbance Ch. 12 F, Oct. 18 Succession Ch. 12 M, Oct. 21 Abundance, Diversity & Rarity Ch. 13 W, Oct. 23 Invasive Species Ch. 13 F, Oct. 25 Ecosystem Processes Ch. 14 M, Oct. 28 EXAM #2 W, Oct. 30 Ecosystem Processes Ch. 14 F, Nov. 1 Ecosystem Processes Ch. 14 M, Nov. 4 Communities in Landscapes Ch. 15 W, Nov. 6 Communities in Landscapes – CRITIQUE DUE Ch. 15 F, Nov. 8 Ch. 16 M, Nov. 11 Landscape Ecology Ch. 16 W, Nov. 13 Climate and Physiognomy Ch. 17 F, Nov. 15 Climate and Physiognomy Ch. 17 M, Nov. 18 Climate and Physiognomy Ch. 17 W, Nov. 20 Ch. 18 F, Nov. 22 Biomes Ch. 18 M, Nov. 25 EXAM #3 W, Nov. 27 No Class F, Nov. 29 No Class M, Dec. 2 Global Change Ch. 21 W, Dec. 4 Global Change Ch. 21 F, Dec. 6 Catch-up Day / Review for Final FINAL EXAM: Fri., Dec 13, 7:45-9:45am