Taught at the University of Georgia research center in the San Luis Valley of the Monteverde region in Costa Rica, this course will present an overview of plant ecology and conservation centered on the unique tropical cloud forest ecosystem that surrounds the field camp. The course will address issues that range in scale from the local to global. Assuming a modest background in the biological sciences, we will explore basic topics in plant biology to provide an overview, and then develop topics in areas such as tropical biology, ecology, conservation science, and international conservation initiatives that include important contributions locally in Costa Rica.
Prerequisites:
One semester of biology, ecology, or environmental science
Learning outcomes:
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Explain the complexity and diversity of the “tropics”
Give examples of threats to conservation of tropical ecosystems, and the strategies being used to mitigate these threats
Identify scientists’ methods for understanding tropical ecosystems through observations, experimentation, and the application of theories and models
Apply contemporary evolutionary and ecological theories to tropical systems
Integrate course content in hands-on, independent research
Method of presentation:
Lecture, Lab, Field
Required work and form of assessment:
Research project and presentation (50%)
Coursework and weekly lab write-ups (30%)
Quizzes on weekly readings (10%)
Active participation in discussion and labs (10%)
content:
Week 1. Introduction to tropical plant biology, cloud forest flora, an overview of paleoecology and how the past informs our understand of both the present and future, and data collection and management, including research project design, vegetation sampling, and basic data analysis. Students will also choose a project from among several potential research projects to independently pursue for the duration of the course.
Week 2. Introduction to tropical ecology covering topics such as how plants interact with each other and with other organisms like pollinators and fungi, how biological diversity is measured from genetic to global scales, and how such interactions and the environment produce the unique ecology of cloud forests.
Week 3. Introduction to conservation biology and policy, focusing on threats to plant diversity as a result of land use transformations and rapid environmental change, the challenges of conservation and how partnerships from local to global can advance conservation goals.
Week 4. Further discussions on conservation issues, finalize projects, students present their research results.
Required readings:
Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives on the Origins of Tropical Diversity. D.W. Schemske. Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology pps 163-173.
Evolution in the Tropics. T. Dobzhansky. (1950) American Scientist 38:209-21.
What Shaped Tropical Biotas as We See Them Today? T.C. Whitmore. Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology pps 69-73.
Angiosperm biogeography and past continental movements. P.H. Raven and D.I. Axelrod. (1974) Annals of the Missouri Botanic Garden 61:539-61, 637-57.
Plant/Animal Interactions and Community Structure. B.A. Loiselle and R. Dirzo. Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology pps 269-278.
Ecology, Flowering Phenology and Hummingbird Pollination of some Costa Rican Heliconia species. F.G. Stiles. (1975) Ecology 56:285-301
Human Impact and Species Extinction. R. Dirzo and R.W. Sussman. Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology pps 703-711.
The Ties That Bind. D. Reed. (1997) Nature 388:517-518.
The Land Flora: a Phototroph-Fungus Partership? M.-A. Selosse, and F. Le Tacon. (1998) TREE 13:15-20.
Where Does Biodiversity Go From Here? A Grim Business-As-Usual Forecast and a Hopeful Portfolio of partial solutions. P.R. Ehrlich* and R.M. Pringle. (2008) PNAS 105:11579–11586.
Current Perspectives in Plant Conservation Biology. D.J. Coates and K.W. Dixon. (2007) Australian Journal of Botany 55:187–193
Taught at the University of Georgia research center in the San Luis Valley of the Monteverde region in Costa Rica, this course will present an overview of plant ecology and conservation centered on the unique tropical cloud forest ecosystem that surrounds the field camp. The course will address issues that range in scale from the local to global. Assuming a modest background in the biological sciences, we will explore basic topics in plant biology to provide an overview, and then develop topics in areas such as tropical biology, ecology, conservation science, and international conservation initiatives that include important contributions locally in Costa Rica.
One semester of biology, ecology, or environmental science
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Lecture, Lab, Field
Week 1. Introduction to tropical plant biology, cloud forest flora, an overview of paleoecology and how the past informs our understand of both the present and future, and data collection and management, including research project design, vegetation sampling, and basic data analysis. Students will also choose a project from among several potential research projects to independently pursue for the duration of the course.
Week 2. Introduction to tropical ecology covering topics such as how plants interact with each other and with other organisms like pollinators and fungi, how biological diversity is measured from genetic to global scales, and how such interactions and the environment produce the unique ecology of cloud forests.
Week 3. Introduction to conservation biology and policy, focusing on threats to plant diversity as a result of land use transformations and rapid environmental change, the challenges of conservation and how partnerships from local to global can advance conservation goals.
Week 4. Further discussions on conservation issues, finalize projects, students present their research results.