Applied Ecology

University of California at Los Angeles - School of Public Health
Los Angeles, California
Instructor(s): Ambrose, Richard F.
Subject area: Natural Sciences
Department: Environmental Health Sciences
Course number: EHS 212
Year taught: 1999
Level: Graduate

Please note that the copyright for this syllabus is retained by the instructor.

Overview: Application of ecological theory and principles to solve environmental problems, including conservation biology, assessment of environmental impacts, and restoration ecology and mitigation of environmental impacts.

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Class meeting: Mon/Wed 3-5 pm

Course overview
The objective of Applied Ecology is to provide insight into how ecological theory and principles can be applied to solving environmental problems. Applied Ecology covers a variety of current environmental issues, roughly divided into three segments. The first segment provides a brief overview of approaches for assessing environmental impacts, with an emphasis on sampling design. The second segment covers restoration ecology and the mitigation of environmental impacts. The final segment covers conservation biology, focusing on scientific aspects of the biodiversity crisis, including analytical approaches to preserving species and communities and designing refuges.

Prerequisites
This course assumes knowledge of the basic ecological principles that provide the foundation for applied ecology, including population growth and dynamics, species interactions (such as competition and predation), community structure, and ecosystem dynamics. Only a very brief summary of these topics will be covered in class. Students without a firm ecological background will need to acquire a working knowledge of this material through additional reading; any good ecology textbook will suffice.

Reading
Required readings come from (1) the course reader (available in the Health Sciences Bookstore) and (2) the text (A Primer of Conservation Biology by Richard Primack). Class discussions often depend on the assigned reading, so it should be completed before class.

Grading
Grades will be based on midterm and final exams, and three short papers, with points allocated as indicated below.
Midterm exam 300 pts
Final exam -- 400 pts
Paper 1 -- 50 pts
Paper 2 -- 125 pts
Paper 3 -- 125 pts
TOTAL -- 1000 pts

Schedule
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Date	Lecture Topic	Reading
Apr 5	Introduction and Overview	.
Apr 7	Ecological processes Populations, Communities and Ecosystems	Vitousek et al. 1997 Optional: Ricklefs 1993
Apr 12	Environmental assessment Measurements (individuals, density, indices)	Karr 1991
Apr 14	Impact assessment Sampling design	.
Apr 19	Impact assessment Sampling designs for accidental impacts	Wiens and Parker 1995
Apr 21	Impact assessment Case study: San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Paper #1 due	Schroeter et al. 1993
Apr 26	Restoration and Mitigation Restoration ecology	Primack p. 202-211 Palmer et al. 1997
Apr 28	Habitat restoration Wetland restoration	Toth et al. 1995 Gibson et al. 1994
May 3	Mitigation Case study: San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station	.
May 5	MIDTERM EXAM	.
May 10	Conservation Biology Biodiversity and Threats to Biodiversity	Primack Ch. 1 Tilman 1996
May 12	Invasions and introduced species Paper #2 due	Primack Ch. 2
May 17	Extinction	.
May 19	Viable Populations Demographics, metapopulations	Primack p. 107-131 Gulve 1994
May 24	Endangered species conservation Case study: checkerspot butterfly	Murphy et al. 1990
May 26	Conservation strategies Reserves: Size, fragmentation, corridors Case study: spotted owl Paper #3 due	Primack p. 163-202 Murphy and Noon 1992
May 31	Memorial Day Holiday	.
Jun 2	Conservation strategies (cont.) Captive breeding, reintroductions, hatcheries	Primack p. 131-150
Jun 7	Ecological effects of global climate change	Vitousek 1994
Jun 9	Course review	.
Jun 18	FINAL EXAM: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CHS 41-235	.

Papers
Three papers will be required on a topic in applied ecology. Each paper will be short (3-5 pages), which makes careful organization and clear and concise writing particularly important. The papers' grades will be based on (1) understanding of topic, (2) critical thinking, and (3) good writing. IMPORTANT: there will be a 5-point penalty for each day a paper is late.
The first paper (50 pts) will be a literature review of a particular topic. The review topic can be one of those listed below or another topic chosen with the instructor's approval. The review should be a brief (3-page), well-written synopsis of at least 10 papers dealing with the chosen topic; the papers should be original research papers rather than review papers. Tables and figures from the original papers may be included as relevant (and do not count towards the 3-page limit). The papers being reviewed should be chosen because of their historical significance or current importance in advancing understanding in the field. The first paper is due on April 21.

The second paper (125 pts) will be a detailed critique of one of the key papers included in the literature review. The purpose of this paper is to develop your skill in using your knowledge of a subject to identify the strengths and weaknesses of original research on that subject. You should focus your critique on: (1) adequacy of the methods and analyses used (e.g., adequately described methods, experiments appropriate and well controlled, no confounding factors, adequate sample size, pseudoreplication absent or accounted for, statistical tests appropriate, etc.), (2) validity of the results, and (3) validity of the conclusions, including whether they were properly supported by the results. This paper, which should be 3-5 pages long, is due on May 12.

The third paper (125 pts) will be a synthesis of your knowledge and understanding of your chosen topic. This paper must be more than a simple literature review (which you will already have done in Paper 1), although it should include at least a brief historical overview of the problem, and should place the topic in the context of applied ecological problems. The paper should build on the literature and critiques of the first two papers to present an intelligent overview of the state of knowledge in the area. Various approaches are acceptable. For example, you could (1) highlight a few recent papers as being especially critical for the advancement of research in the field and discuss their significance and how they are likely to influence our future understanding of the field; (2) evaluate the methodological approaches currently being used in the field and discuss what you think are the most promising approaches (and why); (3) identify the most rewarding future directions for research in the topic area and discuss why this is so. This paper, which should be 5 pages long, is due on May 26.

Format and style
To the extent applicable, style should follow the Instructions to Authors of Ecology or Ecological Applications. (The instructions are found at the back of a current issue or at http://esa.sdsc.edu.) The style for reference citations must follow these instructions. An example of the style for journal articles is given below; see the Instructions for other types of citations.

In text:
(Ambrose 1995), (Ambrose and Swarbrick 1993), or (Ambrose et al. 1996).

In Literature Cited section:
Ambrose, R.F. 1994. Mitigating the effects of a coastal power plant on a kelp forest community: Rationale and requirements for an artificial reef. Bulletin of Marine Science 55: 694-708.

Possible Paper Subjects or Topics
Development of biotic indices for assessing pollution effects, biotic integrity, etc.
Pollution indicators (lichens, sentinel species, biomarkers, etc.)
Measurements of ecosystem health
Distribution, source and impacts of pollutants in the marine environment, rivers, etc.
Effects of XXXX on YYYY. Examples include:
Effects of oil spills on marine mammal populations, intertidal communities, or wetlands
Ecological effects of environmental contaminants (e.g., metals, pesticides, other chemicals)
Ecological effects of environmental estrogens, endocrine disrupters, etc.
Effects of fishing (or particular fishing technologies, such as bottom trawls or gill nets) on fish stocks or marine ecosystems
Evaluation of restoration techniques for wetlands, lakes, rivers, prairies, etc.
Assessing the success of habitat restoration (for wetlands, lakes, rivers, prairies, etc. as a whole, or for particular components such as birds, amphibians, plants, etc.)
Application of new technologies (remote sensing, GIS, stable isotope analysis, etc.) to applied ecology
Threats to biodiversity, including habitat destruction, deforestation, overharvesting, etc. This could be on a global or regional scale, or focused on a particular habitat, such as old-growth forests or coastal sage scrub.
Ecosystem functions of biodiversity (stability, productivity, etc.)
Habitat fragmentation
Extinction
Genetic aspects of conservation biology
Strategies for reducing the introduction of nonindigenous species through ballast water
Effectiveness of habitat corridors for conservation
Establishing priorities for managed areas (e.g., gap analysis)
Effectiveness of head-starting marine turtles compared to nest protection, turtle-exclusion devices (TEDs), or other management strategies
Ecological consequences of reintroducing wolves to the Yellowstone area
Design and evaluation of protected areas (including marine no-take areas)
Ecological effects of global warming, including effects on productivity, shifts in competitive abilities of different species (C3 vs. C4 plants), distributional shifts, extinctions, etc.
Ecological techniques for mitigating global warming (fetilizing the ocean, growing trees, etc.)
The effectiveness of fish hatcheries for restoring or maintaining marine fish stocks.

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This document was last modified on 12/29/99 12:34:23 PM

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