Important Information About the First Midterm

The 1st Midterm Exam for BIOL 1404 will be at 6 PM on Tuesday February 12th.

Where you go to take the exam depends on your last name-

A - Q   will take the exam in LH 100
R - Z   will take the exam in Rm 101 in the Biology Building.

Remember
- you may not use your books or notes
- the test will consist of 50 multiple choice questions (we will provide the scantron)
     - please try very hard to fill out the scantron correctly!!!!!
- there is no retest for this midterm
- there will be no BAC forms attached to the exam.  Instead
  a) I will post what I think are the correct answers on the bulletin board outside LH 100 prior to to class on WEDNESDAY morning
  b) you can turn in any concerns you have about test questions prior to 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon
  c) the BAC will meet to discuss the exam at 4PM on Wednesday

Cool Ecology Video From Kruger Park in South Africa

A past BIOL 1404 student sent me a link to this video. It seems like almost everything that we have talked about so far in BIOL 1404 is going on in this video. The highlight of my biology life was visiting Kruger Park when I was about 13 (how sad to peak so young). I saw lots of amazing animals, but I didn't see anything like this. This video keeps getting better so watch it all the way to the end. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Global Carbon Cycle and Climate Change

Human activity, including burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and burning trees, has altered the global carbon cycle. This alternation of the global carbon cycle is the proposed cause of global climate change (global warming).

Obviously, global climate change is a very imporant issue facing us today. If you are alive and paying any attention, then you probably know that there is some disgreement out there about (1) whether global warming is occuring, (2) if it is occuring is it a natural occurence or is it caused by humans, and (3)what should we as individuals and a society do about these issues. As I mentioned in class, it is very important that you understand what components of the debate are facts and what components of the debate are based on mathematical models or other forms of argument. I think that it is important that you should be able to explain to other people why scientists will never be able to conduct the experiment that will nail down whether or not humans are causing global warming (we have only one earth).

I think that it is important for you to have access to good information. Here are some links to what I consider to be some of the best and most reliable sources of information about this topic. Although some of these articles go into much more detail than are required for this class you should know where to find reliable information about this topic.

Further Reading

Carbon cycle- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Carbon_cycle

Global warming- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Global_warming

Global warming Frequenty Asked Questions- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Global_warming_frequently_asked_questions

Climate change FAQ- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Climate_change_FAQs

Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change_%28IPCC%29

IPCC Assessment for Policymakers- http://www.eoearth.org/article/IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report%2C_Working_Group_I%3A_Summary_for_Policymakers

If you would like additional information about global climate change then you can take a look at a presentation I developed for another class.

Global Carbon Cycle and Global Climate Change
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/C6iDTujQlIh73C

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- diagram the global carbon cycle
- discuss how humans have altered the global carbon cycle
- discuss how the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide varies annually
- discuss the proposed relationship between human caused changes in the global carbon cycle and global warming
- discuss alternative causes of global warming
- discuss the experiment that would be required to determine whether or not human activity is the cause of global warming
- articulate and defend their own personal view of how they intend to deal with the global warming issue

Ecosystem Ecology

NOTE:  This material WILL be included on the First Midterm


Ecosystem ecologists focus on the flow of energy and the cycling of nutrients through the ecosystem.

Further Readings

Ecosystems- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecosystem

Ecological energetics- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecological_energetics

Nitrogen cycle- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Nitrogen_cycle

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- diagram and discuss the flow of energy through an ecosystem
- diagram, discuss the causes of, and discuss some of the implications of the enegy pyramid
- diagram nitrogen cycle within an ecosystem
- discuss the factors that influence the rate of flow from dead bodies to the soil and discuss the implications of differences in this rate

Community Ecology- The Portal Experiment

Lecture Video- http://mediacast.ttu.edu/Mediasite/Play/7feddd71db3e46eaa48d3bd62f4b50e71d?catalog=4dc7289a-d3e0-4ae5-8fdc-5b86c027a06b


Here are some photos from the research site in Portal, Arizona. For more information about the research project at Portal you can look at their website at
http://portal.weecology.org/

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- distinguish between direct and indirect, positive and negative effects
- describe the experimental design that Dr. Brown and his colleagues used to study exploitative competition between desert rats and rodents
- discuss the "search the the missing indirect positive effect of rodents on ants" and how that dilema was solved
-discuss why and how the outcome of studies of interactions between organisms can vary over time
- discuss the way that the ecological community responded when they learned the importance of long term studies
- discuss how indirect interactions lead to one of my favorite phrases "the world is complicated"

Community Ecology

Required Readings

Community Ecology- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Community_ecology

Competition- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Competition

Interspecific Competition- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Interspecific_competition

Exploitative Competition- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Exploitative_competition

Predation- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Predation

Mutualism- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Mutualism

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- define competition, exploitative competition and interference competition

- identify and explain examples of exploitative and interference competition from a variety of environments

- define predation (narrow and broad sense), herbivory, and parasitms

- identify and explain examples of predation, herbivory, and parasitism from a variety of environments

- identify examples of morphological and behavioral adaptations that animals have to help capture their food

- identify examples of morphological, biochemical, or behavioral adaptations that animals have to protect them from predators

- identify and explain examples of mutualisms from a variety of habitats


Past Test Questions (answers at bottom of post)

In the southeastern United States, a weedy plant called Kudzu has caused a great deal of problems. Because Kudzu has such high growth rates it is able to rapidly overgrow buildings and other plants.

1. Which of the following would best describe the ecological relationship between Kudzu and a species of pine tree that is commonly overgrown by Kudzu?
(a) mutualism
(b) parasitism
(c) exploitative competition
(d) herbivory
(e) none of the above

Answer- 1. c

Human Population Growth

Lecture Video: http://mediacast.ttu.edu/Mediasite/Play/52d8d4c10b014322accd92829c7c5c991d?catalog=4dc7289a-d3e0-4ae5-8fdc-5b86c027a06b


I have spent a lot of time trying to convince you that exponential growth is an unrealistic model of population growth. Interestingly, human populations have experienced exponential-like growth. How can this be?

What makes humans different from other species?

In other species per capita birth rates and per capita deaths rates are density dependent. However, as human populations have increased there has been no corresponding decline in per capita birth rates or increase in per capita death rates. What makes humans different from other species?

Humans have the ability to alter their environment so that they can avoid the density dependent effects on birth and death rates. 1) Humans have increased food production by improvements in agriculture (e.g., irrigation, fertilization, mechanized farming, genetically improved crops). 2) Humans have been able to decrease death rates by improvements in medicine and public health (things as simple as not pooping in the water you drink helps a lot!). 3) Humans have elimnated most human predators (ocassionally, someone gets killed by a shark or a mountain lion).

Where is human population growth occuring?

The rates of human population growth are not the same in all regions. Today, human populations are increasing in size much faster in developing countries (e.g., Mexico, other countries in Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia) than they are in developed countries (e.g, USA, Canda, Western Europe). The figure at the top of this post shows the patterns of population growth in developed and developing nations.

Thus we see that populations are increasing most rapidly in the countries that are least able to deal with a rapidly increasing population. See "Population Challenges-The Basics" that can be downloaded from the Population Institute's website.
http://www.populationinstitute.org/population-issues/index.php

Human Population Growth Problem?

There is a great deal of debate about whether increasing human populations are a problem or not, and if they are what should be done about it. Unfortunately, we don't have time to discuss this issue in very much detail in class. My personal opinion is that we have too many people consuming too many resources and the last thing that we need are billions more people living on the planet. This is an issue that I am always intersted in talking more about if you would like to chat.

Further Reading

The section on Human Population Growth in your textbook is quite good.

Also see the article "Human Population Explosion" from the EoE.
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Human_population_explosion

Both of these contain a good discussion of the "demographic transition".

Really Cool Video

Here is a link to a YouTube video on "World Population" The first minute and a half or so is a little boring, so you can skip over it if you wish. However, I think the animation showing when and where human population growth has been occuring is really cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BbkQiQyaYc

Powerpoint Presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/human-population-growth-16369173

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- describe patterns of human population growth in developed and developing nations

- discuss some reasons why the pattern of population growth in humans is so different from that in other species

- describe the demographic transition

- discuss their own personal view of human population growth.

Past Test Questions (answers at bottom of post)

1. In developing countries, why have per capita birth rates not decreased as human populations have increased in size?
(a) because we have increased rates of food production
(b) because of the improvements in education of women
(c) because of improvements in medical care
(d) a and c
(e) a, b, and c

2. Why do some people consider the high growth rates of human populations in developing countries to be of concern?
(a) because many people are born into conditions that do not provide them enough food
(b) because many people are born into conditions without clean water and adequate sanitation
(c) because increasing population sizes have led to increasing habitat destruction
(d) a, b, and c
(e) none of the above

answers- 1.d, 2.d