Difference between revisions of "Introduction to Conservation Biology"

Revision as of 22:19, 13 February 2009

EEB 2208: Spring 2009

This course will provide an introduction to the discipline of conservation biology. The first two-thirds of the course, will focus on the biological aspects of the discipline. Topics covered will include patterns of biodiversity and extinction, causes of extinction and population declines, techniques used to restore populations, landscape level conservation planning, and the role of conservation in protecting ecosystem services. The final third will cover the practical aspects of implementing conservation actions and will include lectures on conservation economics and conservation law.

**STOP PRESS (28 JAN 2009): BECAUSE THE UNIVERSITY HAS CANCELED CLASSES TODAY, I HAVE CHANGED THE SCHEDULE SLIGHTLY. THESE CHANGES AFFECT THE FIRST (GRADED) DISCUSSION PAPER, SO BE SURE TO CHECK THE SYLLABUS BELOW.**

Basic course information

Credits: 3

Instructor: Chris Elphick (office: BioPharm 300A , behind the elevator at the north end of the building) Email: chris.elphick [ AT ] uconn.edu

Teaching assistant: Trina Bayard (office: BioPharm 310) Email: trina.schneider [ AT ] uconn.edu

Your emails to us must contain the phrase "EEB 2208” in the subject line; emails received without that phrase, and especially those with a blank subject line, will probably get treated as SPAM and be deleted without being read.

Lecture: M, W 2:00-3:15 PM

Location: BPB 131

Pre-requisites: There are currently no prerequisites for the course, but it is aimed at students who are at least sophomores.

Text book: Essentials of Conservation Biology (R.B. Primack, 4th Edition, Sinauer) is strongly recommended reading. On exams I will assume that you have read this material and may ask questions (though not many) about topics that are not covered in lectures.

Research paper readings: In some lectures, I will provide supplemental readings from the primary research literature to augment the text book readings. These readings will be the subject of class discussions and graded in-class questions; they may also appear on exams. See the syllabus below for more information on when these discussions will occur and what is expected of you.

Optional reading that might be helpful: Other introductory textbooks that might be worth looking at for supplemental information are Fundamentals of Conservation Biology by Malcolm Hunter and Conservation Biology by Andrew Pullin. If you are interested in more advanced information, then look at Principles of Conservation Biology by Groom, Meffe and Carroll. Finally, if you are really interested in this topic, then you will be well served if you check out recent issues of the journal Conservation Biology (note that to read articles you will need to be connected to the UConn system).

Questions: Please ask lots of them! Class is much more interesting (for me and you) when people ask questions. If you send me questions over email, I will post them (anonymously) along with the answers on this web site (see below), so that everyone can benefit from the answers.

Office hours: I do not have fixed office hours because they inevitably do not work for someone. But, I will try to always be present for at least 15 minutes before and after each lecture to answer simple questions. I’m also happy to meet at other times by appointment. The best option is to email me, telling me (a) what you want to discuss and (b) when would be good times to meet (Mon, Tues, or Wed are best). The TA is also available to answer questions by email and by appointment.

My course objectives: In general, my goal is to provide you with a basic understanding of the scientific field of conservation biology and the application of science to solving conservation problems. If you are just taking this course out of general interest, then hopefully it will provide you with a sense of how the biological sciences can be applied and will give you a better understanding of the main issues in conservation biology. For those of you wishing to pursue a career in conservation biology, I hope that this course will give you a solid foundation on which to build with future courses (e.g., EEB 5310). If this is your goal, I’d also encourage you to check out EEB’s joint BS/MS program in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology. There are also links to good sites for finding internships and jobs (short-term and permanent) in conservation biology below.

Overall teaching philosophy: My primary goal is for you to learn and understand basic concepts and general ideas, rather than for you to learn lots of very specific facts (though to get an A or a high B, you will need to know plenty of details too). I will expect you to know examples relating to each major concept, so that you can relate the theory to practical, real-world situations. I won’t expect you to know, for example, exactly how many species have gone extinct in the last 500 years. But, I will expect you know approximately how many (i.e., whether it is closer to 6 or 20,000). The text book readings are intended to complement the lectures. My lectures will not repeat verbatim what is in those readings, and I will often use different examples or cover somewhat different topics. Both the lecture material and the readings, however, are important and could appear on exams.

Schedule of lectures and examinations (subject to change)

For a printable version of the syllabus click here (print double-sided to save paper!)

The schedule below describes the order in which we will cover material. Not every topic fits nicely into the time set aside for a lecture, so be prepared for us to start some topics a lecture early, and for others to take longer than the syllabus suggests.

For each lecture I will aim to post an outline ahead of time (linked to the topic titles in the syllabus below). Reading these notes before each lecture should help you to follow the material, and some people like to print them out so that they can spend more time listening and less time writing. These outlines, however, ARE NOT a substitute for coming to class, making your own notes, or doing the text book readings, and you should not expect them to include everything covered in class (e.g., none of the graphics will be in the web notes).

My advice is to look the notes over before class, make supplemental notes during the lecture, and then look over all the information again before the next class. Then, if there is anything that you do not understand, ask me about it at the start of the next lecture. In exams, you will be expected to know about all the things I talked about, not just the information in the web notes. Based on past experience, you can expect to drop at least a grade if you choose to rely only on the web notes.

The symbol ** in the "Reading" column means that there is important supplemental reading from the primary literature that we will discuss in class (and, yes, you really do need to read these articles as I will randomly pick people in class to answer questions about them). Links to the relevant papers can be accessed by clicking on the **. These links might not work if you are not using a computer that connects to the UConn network. It is possible to connect your home computers to the network by going to this site and signing in using your netID.

In the syllabus I have also noted special lectures (in green) that will take place on campus this semester and that are at least loosely connected to this course.

Because conservation biology is a fast-moving field, with the latest research constantly changing, all of my course notes are updated annually. Links to the documents in the syllabus below will work as soon as each set of notes is updated - usually this will be a day or so before the relevant lecture.

* Questions about exam rescheduling MUST be directed to the Dean of Students Office: 486-3426.

Please note that these lecture notes are intended for students in EEB 2208 at The University of Connecticut, and may not make sense in other contexts. If, however, you are not a UConn student and they are useful to you, please use them - but kindly let me know first if you intend to use them for anything more than your own on-line reading. If you find errors, please let me know that too.

Academic rules and conduct

All students should be aware of the guidelines on academic integrity contained in the Student Conduct Code. The Conduct Code is available here.

Conservation biology in the news

Recent news articles that relate to the topics covered in this course are posted on a separate page, here.

FAQs

If people send me questions about things that affect everyone I will post the questions (anonymously) and my answers here. Please check here before emailing me to make sure I haven't already posted an answer.

Q: I am currently enrolled in the EEB 2208 class but it is not showing up on huskyCT. Is there anyway we could make it show up?

A: Sorry, but I don't use HuskyCT. You shouldn't need it for this class. For general questions about the HuskyCT systems, I'd suggest that you try the help line info on their log-in page.

Q: I am having problems getting to the info about the class, I am a Mac user and it does not let me log in! I have been trying to get my Mac wired to the UConn system with no success. I did try from home and still not good.

A: You shouldn't need to log in to anything to access the course web site. The EEBedia site, does have a log in button - but logging in is not necessary if you just need to view the content - which should be accessible from any machine connected to the web. The only parts of the web site's content that would require a log-in are the ten papers that we will discuss in class (identified on the syllabus by ** in the "Readings" column). To get to these from an off-campus computer you would first need to log-in to the VPN (log-in shouldn't be needed if you are on campus). Instructions on how to do this log-in are given just above the syllabus.

Q: I dont know if its just me but im a mac user and i cant open any of your notes but the first one. it says Not Found The requested URL /eebedia/images/d/dc/EEB2208_04_biodiversity.pdf was not found on this server. can you help me??

A: If you only looked at the web page after the first lecture, then the problem is just that I had only posted the first set of notes at that time. As noted immediately above the syllabus (the red text), I usually post notes a few days before the lecture to enable me to ensure that they're up to date, and account for any changes in the lectures. Links for future lectures will remain broken until I put up the notes. Try looking at the page right now (refresh the page first to ensure you're looking at the current version - that might be your problem). You should be able to access notes for the first 4 lectures. After that the links will be broken, but the notes will appear before the lecture. I hope to get a few more sets of notes posted today. I don't think that being a Mac user should make any difference, and I've never heard of any Mac-specific problems with any part of the web site in past years. <FOLLOW-UP: THIS PROBLEM WAS SOLVED SIMPLY BY REFRESHING THE BROWSER>

Q: I wanted to let you know that i am having difficulties trying to access the pdf discussion file we are supposed to read before class. I did sign into VPN, and i still could not access the file you wanted us to read. I was wondering if you could attach the pdf file in an email.

A: One of my goals with this assignment is to ensure that you are able to access peer-reviewed literature on your own. You will need to do this for assignments throughout the course, and I won't be able to always do it for you. Without more information on the problem you had I can't easily determine how to help you.

I'd suggest that you start by exiting your browser completely, then go to the vpn site and sign in (you need to do the sign in, then click the "start" button on the right, then wait while the computer connects). If the problem is that you can't connect, call the UITS help center as I won't be able to help you work this problem out. Once you've connected, return to my class page. Most papers should be accessible directly simply by clicking on the two red stars. In some cases you might go to a page with just the abstract - if this happens there should be a link to a pdf somewhere on the page.

If none of this works, then you can simply look the paper up when you are on campus (e.g., in the library or a computer lab) as none of the stuff described above should be necessary on campus - the links should all work without need for the vpn. If all else fails, you can always look up the paper versions of the journals which are all in the library.

Q: Are we supposed to read the extinction rates discussion paper or is that pushed back to Wednesday?

A: The paper is for Monday 9th, as stated on the web site. For future reference, always follow the web site - any changes will be posted there. I will also notify you by email if there are any changes that relate to assignments (using whatever email address you have in Peoplesoft).

General student help

Counseling and mental health services: 486-4705 (24 hours).

Alcohol and other drugs services: 486-9431.

Dean of Students Office: 486-3425.

Other information

For information about EEB's Joint B.S./M.S. degree program in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology click here

For information about the Society for Conservation Biology click here

For information on jobs in conservation biology click here

For information on jobs in wildlife biology click here