Spring Semester, 2007

Credit hours: 3

Meeting Location and Time: LS-132, T-Th, 12:30-13:45

Instructor: Professor Chun-Ta Lai

Office: PS 143

Email: lai@sciences.sdsu.edu

Phone: 619-594-0678

Office hours: T-Th 14:00-15:00, Wed 10:00-12:00, or by appointment

Course Description: This course will develop the principles of ecosystem ecology, examining factors that control fluxes and stocks of elements (carbon, water and nutrients) within terrestrial ecosystems. Findings from recent research are given as examples to illustrate how ecosystems respond and feedback to climate change. Human-induced climate change will be discussed within the context of scientific evidence.

Course Objectives: After taking this course, students should be able to:

- explain basic concepts and principles of ecosystem ecology

- analyze the relationship between ecosystem organisms and environment: what are the factors that control cycling of elements in terrestrial ecosystems?

- understand interactions between biotic and abiotic (physical) processes: what are positive and negative feedbacks?

- differentiate natural and human-induced climate change

- give examples that demonstrate effects of climate change on Californian ecosystems

- apply the analytical skills learned from this course to dissect complex problems

- appreciate uncertainties associated with predicted ecosystem change

- enhance ability of critical thinking and learn how to effectively synthesize useful information

Textbook: Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology, FS Chapin III, P Matson, H Mooney, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2002.

Course Prerequisites: Biol 201A, 201B, 354

Course Outline (tentative; final lecture topics are subject to minor changes)

Week	Date	Lecture Topic	Reading Chapter
1	18-Jan	Introduction to ecosystem concept	1
2	23-Jan	Climate – global patterns & variability	2
	25-Jan	Microclimate	2
3	30-Jan	Energy balance	4
	1-Feb	Terrestrial water cycles/Plant water use	4
4	6-Feb	Soils: guest lecture by Prof. David Lipson	3
	8-Feb	Carbon I: Input to terrestrial ecosystems	5
5	13-Feb	Review section 1	1-5
	15-Feb	Exam 1	1-5
6	20-Feb	Carbon II: Controls on production	5
	22-Feb	Carbon III: Controls on production (con’t)	6
7	27-Feb	Carbon IV: Ecosystem carbon balance	6
	1-Mar	Decomposition I	7
8	6-Mar	Decomposition II	7
	8-Mar	Plant nutrient use I	8
9	13-Mar	Plant nutrient use II	8
	15-Mar	Review section 2	5-8
10	20-Mar	Exam 2	5-8
	22-Mar	Nutrient cycling I	9
11	27-Mar 29-Mar	Spring break, no classes
12	3-Apr	Nutrient cycling II	11
	5-Apr	Ecosystem tools: Stable isotopes	handout
13	10-Apr	Species and community effects	12
	12-Apr	Temporal variability	13
14	17-Apr	Global biogeochemical cycles	15
	19-Apr	Climate change
15	24-Apr	Review section 3	9-15
	26-Apr	Exam 3	9-15
16	1-May	Ecosystem sustainability: guest lecture by Prof. Walt Oechel	16
	3-May	Final project – Powerpoint presentation
17	8-May	Final project – Powerpoint presentation

Grading

Grading will be based on performances on three midterm examinations and one final project. Midterm exam questions will come from lecture materials and textbook reading. Exams will be 75 min long, and take place in the lecture room (LS 132). Each exam will cover material presented since the previous exam. Exam questions may require quantitative and analytical analyses taught in lectures. Towards the end of the semester, students will be asked to prepare a final project that includes a 15-min group presentation and a written term paper based on their choices of selected topics. The total points earned determine your final grade, according to the breakdown of points below:

1. Examination 1 (100 pts, 20%)

2. Examination 2 (100 pts, 20%)

3. Examination 3 (100 pts, 20%)

4. Final project (total 200 pts, 40%): including a summary (25 pts), a PowerPoint presentation (100 pts) and a 2-page written paper (75 pts).

Grading scale (out of a total 500 pts) A: 500-450 pts, B: 450-400 pts, C: 400-350 pts, D: 350-300 pts, F: <300 pts

Course materials: Blackboard (http://blackboard.sdsu.edu/) will be used for electronic posting of lecture outlines as pdfs, grades and other materials, including this syllabus. Course announcements will be made during lectures, by emails or on Blackboard, whichever is most convenient.

Lecture Attendance: Lecture attendance is strongly encouraged! You need to come to the class for lecture notes, which will help you learn and prepare for exams. Note that lecture outlines posted on the Blackboard are not lecture notes. Come to the class, join the discussion and you may be surprised at your own creative thinking!

Office hours: I have set aside five hours each week to meet with individuals to discuss questions related to classroom materials or anything else. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the office hours – I am here to help you learn!

Missing exam policy: If you have to miss an exam, you must let the instructor know before the end of the day of the exam. To document an excusable absence, you must provide evidence that your absence was the result of a serious, unavoidable problem.

Regrade request policy: Questions regarding grading will be considered only if your request is received within one week of the day on which test results are returned to you.

Reading: For most effective learning you should read the assigned chapter from the textbook before each lecture. I will cover the topics in the textbook as much as possible including those that are very important but only briefly introduced in the textbook.

Final project and presentation: Students are requested to participate in one group presentation, which focus on issues of broad interest to the general public and related to the topics taught in this course. PowerPoint presentation will take place during the final two lecture meeting times. Students will work as a group for a chosen topic but each student must present to the class during a 15-minute period, including 5 minutes for questions and discussion. Groups will want to review and synthesize information from recent articles in scientific journals, newspapers and magazines to give an informative presentation and lead discussions on the selected topic. However, presentation should be based upon information from reliable sources with correct citation. I expect students to given appropriate credits to ideas from others (group members, published articles and textbooks).

Each individual will require submitting a two-page written paper plus a summary of less than 300 words as part of the final project. Final written papers should be submitted in PDF format via emails and received by May 12, 2007. Submission after deadline will not be accepted.

Student responsibilities: Please review the syllabus carefully regarding course content and grading policies if you decide to take this course. Students are expected to maintain professional behavior in the classroom setting according to the Standards for Student Conduct specified in the California Code of Regulations. Cheating is rarely an issue in ecology courses; however, please note that University regulations concerning plagiarism and cheating will be strictly enforced.

Dropping: If you decide this is not the course you want to take, the last day to drop is February 7, 2007.