About the guy in front Conservation Biology BSC3052 About the guy in front About the guy in front About the guy in front About the guy in front • PhD 1994 in Switzerland Evolutionary genetics • 1994 move to Seattle Theoretical population genetics • 2003 move to Tallahassee Theoretical evolutionary genetics
About the guy in front About the guy in front • PhD 1994 in Switzerland • PhD 1994 in Switzerland Evolutionary genetics Evolutionary genetics • 1994 move to Seattle • 1994 move to Seattle Theoretical population Theoretical Population Genetics genetics • 2003 move to Tallahassee • 2003 move to Theoretical Evolutionary Tallahassee Theoretical Genetics evolutionary genetics Who are you Cell phones ����������� Class needs our undivided attention please turn off your cell phones and pagers mandatory first class attendance call Goals Website Learn about Conservation Biology and the related fields, such as Evolution and Ecology necessary to understand concepts and concerns http://www.csit.fsu.edu/~beerli/BSC3052 Learn to extract information from the primary literature Learn to present and summarize information
BSC3052 Syllabus Instructor: Peter Beerli, 150-T Dirac Science Library, BSC3052 email: beerli@csit.fsu.edu, phone: (850) 645 1324 Teaching assistant: Jean Burns 104 Conradi Conservation Biology email: burns@bio.fsu.edu phone: (850) 644-9822 Goals of this course: Learn about Conservation Biology and related fields, such as Evolution and Ecology necessary to understand concepts and concerns. In particular explore themes such as biodiversity, extinction, ecosystem management, restoration, environmental policies. Learn to extract information from the primary literature Learn to present and summarize information Course material : The main resources will be the following: http://www.scs.fsu.edu/~beerli/BSC3052/ . Parts of the website are password protected (it is on your first-day syllabus, or ask instructor). This website is a main instrument for this course and will contain an up-to-date syllabus, assignments, due dates, and other material. Slides for the This website will holds all important dates, such as due dates for homeworks and quiz dates, course will be available after the lecture and not before the lecture. Not all topics will be covered with slides, about half the course will be taught using the white board, the slides are typically used for figures and examples. I expect that you take notes in class, slides are not a replacement for your notes. all slides and study questions for each lecture once the lecture was given. The book Principles of Conservation Biology (tthird edition) by Martha J. Groom, Gary K. Meffe, C. Ronald Carroll, and Contributors . Articles from the primary conservation biology literature will be available from the website as links to PDF files. This page is also points to resources on the web. If you have difficulties printing these let me know when I assign the article and you can get a paper copy the next day. Office hours: I will not have a fixed office hour, just come and see me in my office anytime or send me an email to beerli@scs.fsu.edu to schedule an appointment. My office is in the Dirac Science Library, first floor, room 150-T. The entrance to the first floor in Dirac is near the parking garage, enter the building and then turn to the left. Jean � s Office hours are on Monday 10:30-12:00 in the Conradi building, room 104. Syllabus Tests : There will be 3 tests (TEST I, TEST II, FINAL EXAM). TEST I will test material presented during weeks 1 – 5, TEST II will test the material from week 6 – 10, the FINAL EXAM will cover weeks 1-14 with emphasis on weeks 11-14. The tests include material from the guest lectures. We will have study questions for each lecture online a couple of days after the lecture and (when there is time) answers to the study questions a couple of weeks Slides and Study questions later. Homework consists of reading the appropriate chapters in the book “Principles of Conservation Biology” by Groom et al. (as preparation for class), Important dates and written assignments: Summaries or reviews of papers from the primary conservation biology literature (2 pages double-spaced). The specific task for each Course materials assignment will be announced. Jean and I will pick 3 haphazardly chosen reports and grade them (40 points), every report turned in will earn 10 points for turning in on time. There will be a total of 9 discussion paper assignments, you can drop two (2) of the discussion paper assignments, turning in more than 7 assignments will still earn the 10 points turn-in bonus. Attendance for the paper-discussions are mandatory. Links to other sites Essay on a topic connected to Conservation Biology (for example on the management of a specific endangered species [Florida panther, Grizzly bears], a local environmental threat [Everglades,...]) with an annotated bibliography with at least 5 papers from the primary scientific literature (no webpages! [the citations MUST come from published peer-reviewed journals]). I expect that the essay has at least 5 pages (double-spaced) and About the instructor each annotated citation has at least half a page (doublespaced). More details about the essay are discussed in class. Grading : The grades are on the A-F scale. The grades will be assembled using two in-class tests (100 points each), the FINAL EXAM (100 points), the discussion assignments (4 ungraded summaries turned in, each 10 points; 3 graded summaries, each 10+40 points; total 190 points), and the essay (110 points). A total of 600 points will be distributed into the A-F grade scale. I will use the participation record during class for rounding. Under some circumstances, I will take the liberty (1) to adjust the grade scale downward, so that fewer points are needed to get a passing grade, and (2) give plus and minus grades. Hom Week Topic Guest Tests e 1 Intro History 2 Basics Library Luesebrink We use this book: 3 Biodiversity, Extinction 4 Biodiversity, Conservation genetics x 5 Conservation genetics x Principles of Conservation Biology, 6 Evaluation Population viability analysis Test 1 Third Edition 7 of threat Population viability analysis x Martha J. Groom, Gary K. Meffe, and C. Ronald 8 Species invasion, Metapopulations x Carroll 9 SPRING BREAK Publication Date: August 5, 2005 699 pages, 369 illustrations 10 Manage Habitat fragmentation x 11 Exploitation Jue x 12 Ecosystem management James Test 2 13 Protected areas Oetting x 14 Restoration x 15 Law and Politics, Sustainable Develop. Essay Final Homework Written assignments Discussion papers: Write a summary of a paper and discuss its finding So much to do, so little time: It is tempting to Total of 8 discussion assignments: 7 need to be turned in wait with assignments until 2am of the due Randomly chosen 3 will be graded day, but ... Write an essay with an annotated bibliography Choose a conservation biology related topic: management of an Grant and I will not be able to produce a printed copy of the endangered species, restoration of a damaged landscape, “Is reading assignment during Sunday night. recycling worthwhile?”, ...... Think ahead and print the PDF before Monday Find at least 5 relevant articles from the primary literature (NO websites) You will need some time to read the paper, to think about it, and also to write it. Annotate each article with a short summary and why you chose the article for your essay. Use the Discussion Paper Assignment Intro sheet to make sure that you don � t forget some important points.
The web and other temptations Questions? Do not copy from the web or your friends You are here to learn, � stealing � is a poor learning style Several websites advertise large lists of prefabricated term-papers, a search on such sites or google most often reveal the real source. FSU has a tough policy on plagiarism About Journals, Review and Citation How to control quality? Conservation Biology
Why do we need Conservation biology? Threats to nature • we might get along without caring about other life forms on this planet. • But ... The human time bomb Paul Ehrlich
The human time bomb Emergence of public awareness Rachel Carson. 1962 Paul Ehrlich Influence of DDT on wildlife, birds Her book resulted in a public outcry and finally DDT got banned in the US 1972 http://www.rachelcarson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=homepage Conservation Biology Michael Soulé Michael Soule “I think a lot of scientists come to conservation biology because they’re compelled to. They can’t stand aside and be an objective observer of the death of nature.” –1999 High Country News Guiding principles of conservation biology Evolution is the basis that unites all of biology. Conservation biology Conservation biology should not fix the status quo but should guarantee that populations and species can continue to adapt to environmental change, The ecological world is dynamic and most often not the applied science of at equilibrium. Conservation based on a static view of ecology and evolution maintaining the earth � s will be less effective than acknowledging that environments and interactions can change. biological diversity Human presence must be included in conservation planning. No area is isolated from the surroundings
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