WLF 448: Fish & Wildlife Population Ecology

Fall 2004

This page is always under construction: Check it regularly

Datea	Topicb, c	Required Readings
Aug 23	Course Information	Krebs 2001: 2-15 Gulland 1988: 383-396 Bookhout 1994: 215-216
Aug 25	Introduction to Population Ecology ECOLOGY AND SCIENCE I.  Scientific Investigations	Hilborn and Mangel 1997:12-21 Guthery 2004
Aug 27	Knowledge, Prediction and Understanding Philosophy and Methods of Science	Lakatos 1978:1-7
Aug 30	Modeling in Fish and Wildlife Pop. Ecology
Sep 1	Scientific Writing Course Project References	Krebs 32-104 Cushing 1981:49-70
Sep 3	INTRODUCTION TO POPULATIONS I. Introduction to Populations   What is a population?   Hierarchical aggregations of individuals	Weins 1997
Sept. 6	No class - Labor Day
Sep 8	Other terms for groups of individuals   Methods to determine level of aggregation   Population characteristics and processes   Uses of population dynamics   Early population demographers and their ideas   References
Sep 10	POPULATION DISTRIBUTIONS I. Ecological Theory of Population Distributions Niche Dynamic Relationships Through Time Factors Limiting Distributions   References	B. Van Horne 1983
Sep 13	II. Estimating Distributions
Sep 15	Static Distributions
Sep 17	Static Distributions (cont.)
Sep 20	Guest Speaker Chris Caudill  Metapopulations: Source-sink dynamics
Sep 22	Exam I Review Session
Sep 24	EXAM I
Sep 27	Distributions though time
Sep 29	POPULATION ABUNDANCE I. Population Parameters: Density/Abundance	Krebs 116-132
Oct 1	Line Transects and Variable Circular Plots	Bookhout 215-253
Oct 4	Mark-recapture
Oct 6	Mark-recapture cont.
Oct 8	Removal methods
Oct 11	Sampling Strategies
Oct 13	Aerial surveys
Oct 15	Indices of Population Abundance/Density	Gibbs 220-232 (in Boitani and Fuller 2000)
Oct 18	II. Population Parameters: Natality, Survival, Movements Estimating Natality	Krebs 128-130
Oct 20	Estimating Survival Continuous Survival Function
Oct 22	Survival in Discrete Stages/Intervals
Oct 25	EXAM II (Note: Review Session Oct 21, 6:00 in CNR 108)
Oct 27
Oct 29	Guest Speaker: Bob Ruesink Retired director of US Fish and Wildlife Service in Idaho
Nov 1	Estimating Movements: Immigration, Emigration
Nov 3	III. Population Structure PROJECT PROPOSAL DUE	Krebs 133-154
Nov 5	III. Population Structure (cont.)	Zheng and Mathisen 1998 NAJFM 18(4):872-885 Inseason forecasting of Southeastern Alaska pink salmon abundance based on sex ratios and commercial catch and effort data
Nov 8	POPULATION DYNAMICS I. Population Growth Unlimited Limited	Supplemental reading: Krebs 157-172
Nov 10	Stochastic processes
Nov 12	Competition Case Study (ocelots and bobcats) II. Competition
Nov 15	Lotka-Volterra
Nov 17	III.  Determining the Importance of Competition Case Study (Stream fish in Oklahoma)
Nov 19	IV. Predation   Snowshoe hare
Nov 22-26	FALL RECESS - NO CLASS
Nov 29	IV. Predation   Theoretical Models
Dec 1	Limitation and Regulation of Prey Populations
Dec 3	EXAM III (Note: Review Session Dec 1, 5:00 in CNR 108)
Dec 6	PROJECT REPORT DUE (In Class)
Dec 8	ADDITIONAL TOPICS Guest Speaker: David Roon Genetic Approaches to Studying Fish and Wildlife Populations
Dec 10	Guest Speaker: Mike Scott Recovery of Imperiled Species
Dec 13	FINAL EXAM (comprehensive): 7:30 - 9:30 a.m. (Lecture Hall)

 

^a Dates of lecture topics/exams are approximate. Depending on class participation and interest, more or less time may be spent on a particular subject. Exam dates may change in accordance with class progress.

^b To view or print lecture notes (handouts), click on the main topic heading. The second-level headings are bookmarks to specific information contained within that particular lecture topic. Caution: do not just print out the main-topic pages; also look for links to additional material such as tables, figures, examples, etc.

^c Some topics will not be covered in lecture or will be reviewed only briefly. In most cases, information on these topics will be presented in assigned readings, handouts, or laboratory sessions. Furthermore, the lecture notes provided here are not comprehensive, i.e., you must attend lecture and lab to get all the information. You are responsible for information presented in lecture and lab, as well as information from assigned readings, handouts, and class discussions.

References For Required Readings:

Bookhout, T. A., editor. 1994. Research and management techniques for wildlife and habitats. Fifth ed., rev. The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, Md.

Gulland, J. A.  1988.  Fish population dynamics, 2nd edition.  John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York.  (on reserve at CNR Copy Center)

Guthery, F. S.  2004.  Commentary: the flavors and colors of facts in wildlife science.  Wildlife Society Bulletin 32:288-297. (on reserve at library)

Hilborn, R. and M. Mangel.  1997.  The ecological detective.  Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.  (on reserve at library and CNR Copy Center)

Krebs, C. J. 2001. Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance. 5th ed.  Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.  695 pp. (required text)

Lakatos, I.  1978.  The methodology of scientific research programmes.  Cambridge University Press, New York, New York, USA.  (on reserve at CNR Copy Center)

Van Horn, B.  1983.  Density as a misleading indicator of habitat quality.  Journal of Wildlife Management 47:893-901.  (on reserve at CNR Copy Center)

Revised: 25 August 2011