Lecture: M-W-F 8:30-9:20 McClure 209
| Jon Horne | |
| Office: | CNR 18 |
| Office Hrs: | Mon, Wed 9:30-11:00 a.m. |
| Thur 10-11 a.m.; 2 - 3 p.m. | |
| Other times by arrangement | |
| Phone: | (208) 885-9440 |
| email: | horn8262@uidaho.edu |
Teaching Assistants:
| Tim Smyser | |
| Office: | Phinney 414 |
| Office Hrs: | Tuesday: 2:30-3:30 pm |
| Thursday: 11:30-12:30 pm | |
| Phone: | 885-4343 |
| email: | smys9459@uidaho.edu |
| Ethan Ellsworth | |
| Office: | CNR 107 |
| Office Hrs: | Th 8:30 -11:00 |
| Fri 9:30 - 10:30 | |
| Phone: | 885-7742 |
| email: | ethanellsworth@hotmail.com |
What should you expect from Fish and Wildlife Population Ecology?
Ecology - "the scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms" (Krebs 2001:2)
WLF 448 provides an introduction to the scientific study of fish and wildlife populations with particular emphasis on studying the factors and processes influencing their distribution and abundance. Students will study the growth and regulation of populations, competition, predation, and methods of estimating population parameters. We will use mathematical, statistical, computer, and modeling tools extensively so you will gain great familiarity with the power and potential of these tools. Skills in the use of these tools will be invaluable wherever your professional career takes you after graduation.
To instill a basic understanding of the theoretical principles of population dynamics.
To stimulate an interest in doing sound research in your field of interest.
To acquaint the student with findings of classic studies, works of current investigators in the field and the literature in which these works are reported.
To develop your quantitative skills and mastery of statistical methods, computer software and simulation tools.
Bookhout, T. A., editor. 1994. Research and management techniques for wildlife and habitats. Fifth ed., rev. The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, Md. 740pp. This is a required text for wildlife majors and strongly recommended for everyone.
Cushing, D. H. 1981. Fisheries biology: a study in population dynamics. Univ. Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wis. On reserve at library.
Krebs, C. J. 2001. Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance. 5th ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA. 695 pp. (required text)
Wakeley, J. S., editor. 1982. Wildlife population ecology. Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, University Park, Pa. On reserve at library.
Students are responsible for all material discussed in class and the labs and it will be subject for examination. This includes material presented by myself and the T.A., by students during discussion periods, or by guest lecturers.
All chapters assigned in the text are subject to examination. Emphasis will be placed on concepts and examples that illustrate the principles.
Outside readings will be assigned periodically and are subject to examination. These will be available on reserve in the library. Do not wait until the last week before an exam to read these as you might not get a chance to read it if you wait too long. Take notes. Try to summarize the major points of each reading to be certain that you understood it.
There will be three comprehensive one-hour tests, worth 100 points each. The final will be comprehensive and is worth 100 points.
For the most part, I will not lecture out of Krebs or the assigned readings but you are responsible for knowing this material as well.
You will only be responsible for the math covered in class or lab.
Mid-semester grades will be based on your grade received on the first exam and problem sets graded to that time.
Appealing test grades - Students will have up to three school days to request a grade change. Please write a brief note explaining why the question should be regraded, why the answer is correct, etc. I reserve the right to regrade the entire exam.
Do not miss a test. Make arrangements ahead of time if it is absolutely essential. Make-up exams will be tough!.
The purpose of the semester project is to give each student experience in designing, carrying out and reporting results of a population study. The project may be done individually or with one other student. A more detailed description of project requirements, organization, grading, etc. are provided in the project page. The proposal for the project will be worth 50 points and is due 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3. The final report will be worth 100 points and is due 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1. For each day that the proposal or final report is late, 5 points will be deducted from the respective grade up to a maximum of one half the points
The purpose of the laboratory is to give you experience in the quantitative aspects of population ecology, which are essential both for understanding the dynamics of populations and for managing populations. You will receive weekly assignments worth 20 points each. The lab will also be used for discussion and review sessions.
COMPUTER ACCOUNTS
Each student must set up a Novell-Network account so that you can store your work on the computer system, read any announcements and assignments that we post, search for literature relevant to your project, and communicate with the Teaching Assistants and myself. If you don't already have an account, you can set one up by visiting the Help Desk in the Administration Building.
COURSE OUTLINE
This lists the tentative schedule for lecture material, examinations, etc. The outline serves as the entry point for more detailed outlines for each lecture topic. You should visit this page regularly and print out the detailed topic outlines for your use.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consult this announcement page regularly for announcements of important information, helpful suggestions for projects and lab problems, etc.
COURSE DIRECTORIES/FILES See K:\…....\Class\Wlf\448\2004
All of the software and data that we will use in labs is stored on this directory of the shared K: drive that you can access in any lab on campus. In addition all of the lecture presentations are under a directory called …\Lectures
Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – Policy on Plagiarism
“A fundamental goal of education is to produce students who can evaluate ideas – both analysis and synthesis – and who can produce significant original thoughts. Plagiarism is simply repeating words or thoughts of other people, without adding anything new. Therefore, submitting a plagiarized paper – in addition to the wrongful conduct – does not demonstrate the level of understanding and skill that an educated person is reasonably expected to have.” (R. B. Standler. 2000. Plagiarism in colleges in USA. http://www.rbs2.com/plag.htm
“Plagiarism means using another’s work without giving credit. You must put others’ words in quotation marks and cite your source(s) and must give citations when using others’ ideas, even if those ideas are paraphrased in your own words.” (http://sja.ucdavis.edu/sja/avoid.htm)
“Plagiarism is a form of theft. Taking words, phrasing, sentence structure, or any other element of the expression of another person’s ideas, and using them as if they were yours, is like taking from that person a material possession, something he or she worked for and earned.” (J. Cochran, Wake Forest University, http://www.guilford.edu/original/ASC/TWZ/define.html)
“Note that the intent of a plagiarist is irrelevant. It is no defense for the plagiarist to say “I forgot.” Or “It is only a rough draft.” Or “I did not know it was plagiarism.” (R. B. Standler. 2000. Plagiarism in colleges in USA. www.rbs2.com/plag.htm)
Plagiarism violates the University of Idaho code of academic conduct. The departmental policy is consistent with the UI policy, regulation O-2, “Consequences for academic dishonesty may be imposed by the course instructor. Such consequences may include but cannot exceed a grade of “F” in the course.”
Some potentially useful web sites (in addition to those cited above):
http://www.wiu.edu/users/miwrite/wiu/citation.htm Citing electronic texts
http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/plagiarism.htm Examples of what is and is not plagiarism
http://www.its.uidaho.edu/english/comp/plagiarism.htm UI English Department site
http://www.plagiarized.com/index.shtml Commercial site for detecting plagiarism
http://www.canexus.com/eve/index.shtml Site for tracking down plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious issue. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Even a sentence or two plagiarized in a long document is inexcusable. If you are uncertain about how to cite sources, or have other questions about potential cases of plagiarism, visit with your course instructor prior to handing in an assignment.
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