Difference between revisions of "Introduction to Conservation Biology"

Revision as of 17:12, 10 April 2008

EEB 208 (2208): Spring 2008

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.

Basic course information

Credits: 3

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

Teaching assistant: Vanessa Boukili (office: 219 BioPharm) Email: vanessa.boukili [ AT ] uconn.edu

Your emails to us must contain the phrase "EEB 208” 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: Bio & Phys 131

Text book: Essentials of Conservation Biology (R.B. Primack, 4th Edition, Sinauer) is required reading. On exams I will assume 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 your participation in the discussions will be graded. 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, 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). TA is also available 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 310). 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 on the course web site.

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, knowing the details is important 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 (though I will expect you to know 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 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 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). 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 a grade if you choose to rely only on the web notes.

** Means that there is important supplemental reading from the primary literature that we will discuss in class (yes, you really do need to read it as I will be picking people in class to talk about the paper). Links to the relevant papers can be accessed by clicking on the ** below on the syllabus. 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 will help you to do well in this course.

Please note that these lecture notes are intended for students in EEB 208 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 at http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/student_conduct.html.

Conservation biology in the news

I'll post links to news articles relating to the course here.

9 Apr. New York Times. As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation Program. (An article about changes in the largest program to provide conservation benefits on agricultural lands in North America.)

8 Apr. New York Times. Hermaphrodite Frogs Found in Suburban Ponds. (Results from a study conducted in Connecticut and presented on campus last week.)

4 Apr. New York Times. Bug-Eating Bats Help Plants, Studies Say. (New research on ecosystem services, with relevance to agriculture.)

4 Apr. BBC News. Global warming 'dips this year'. (A good article on data interpretation and uncertainty - points out how small changes due to normal variation should be interpreted carefully in light of long-term larger-scale trends.)

4 Apr. BBC News. Why do people steal birds' eggs? (Sent in by a student - a different form of overkill.)

1 Apr. BirdLife International (press release). Global swarming – flight of the Penguins. (One species' response to climate change.)

1 Apr. The New York Times. As Fight for Water Heats Up, Prized Fish Suffer. (More on how warming temperatures exacerbate the conflict between farmers and endangered fish due to water scarcity.)

1 Apr. BBC News. Hope over Tasmanian Devil cancer. (Another example of disease affecting a rare species.)

31 Mar. The New York Times. Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird? (An opinion piece by an ornithologist ... and the first person to hire me to study birds!)

30 Mar. The Economist. Racing to hug those trees. (Forest protection moves into the private sector.)

30 Mar. The Economist. Shellshock. (An article on the some of the unexpected repercussions of ecotourism in the Galapagos.)

30 Mar. The Economist. Fair game now. (More on the removal of Rocky Mountain wolves from the U.S. Endangered Species Act list.)

26 Mar. BBC News. New 'battle of Midway' over plastic. (Want to know where a lot of the world's plastic garbage ends up?)

25 Mar. New York Times. Bats Perish, and No One Knows Why. (A story about bat die-offs in New England.)

24 Mar. New York Times. Link to Global Warming in Frogs’ Disappearance Is Challenged. (New information in the debate over causes of amphibian declines.)

23 Mar. New York Times. Anger Over Culling of Yellowstone’s Bison. (An example of the limitations of reserves - relevant for next week's lectures.)

19 Mar. New York Times. A Bid to Lure Wolves With a Digital Call of the Wild. (Using behaviour to monitor wolves.)

19 Mar. New York Times. In a Warmer Yellowstone Park, a Shifting Environmental Balance. (Climate change, invasive species, endangered species, national parks, all in one article!)

19 Mar. BBC News. Leakey backing for elephant cull. (A highly controversial topic, that we'll return to for the last discussion paper.)

19 Mar. BBC News. High hopes for EU shark proposals. (More on big fish.)

12 Mar. BBC News. Tiger numbers 'halve in 25 years'

9 Mar. The Economist. Use them or lose them. (A potentially controversial editorial linked to the article listed below.)

9 Mar. The Economist. Call of the wild. (The interplay between conservation, trade in wildlife, regulations and economics are all discussed here - real world conservation at its most complicated.)

9 Mar. BBC News. Tentative steps to whaling peace. (The latest on the whaling debate.

9 Mar. BBC News. Gorilla rangers' execution threat. (More on the effects of civil strife on the conservation of endangered species.)

9 Mar. The New Yorker. Big Foot. (This article barely touches on conservation biology, but is relevant to climate change.)

9 Mar. MSNBC. Elusive bird spotted near Papua New Guinea. Species thought extinct rediscovered; Beck’s petrel not seen for 80 years (An encouraging article, again, thanks to the student who pointed it out.)

4 Mar. Newsweek. Extinction Trade. Endangered animals are the new blood diamonds as militias and warlords use poaching to fund death. (This depressing article, sent in by a student, describes the connections between war, genocide, and endangered species protection. Note, especially, that the US is considered to be the world's 2nd largest market for illegal wildlife trade.)

1 Mar. New York Times. In Tennessee, 2 Endangered Groups Meet by Chance. (I'll talk about whooping cranes in the lecture on captive breeding in a couple of weeks.)

29 Feb. New York Times. Logging in Congo River Basin Imperils Sea Turtles Very Far Downstream. (Another example of terrestrial habitat loss affecting species found far away.)

27 Feb. BBC News. Small signs of a whaling compromise. (Since we talked about whaling and by-catch today, here's an article that mentions both.)

26 Feb. New York Times. Coral Reefs and What Ruins Them (An article about coral reefs, the loss of which I discussed in the last lecture.)

26 Feb. New York Times. Human Shadows on the Seas. (Another article on the world's oceans.)

26 Feb. BBC News. Grey wolf 'no longer endangered' (We'll talk about wolves as an example of a reintroduction program later in the course.)

26 Feb. BBC News. S Africa to allow elephant cull. (We'll also talk about elephants later on in the course.)

24th Feb. The Economist. A poison Pill (New research on pollution of lakes that is linked to the release of oestrogen from birth control pills.)

24th Feb. The Economist. Sour times (Recent research on the acidification of the world's oceans, which is linked to carbon emissions.)

19 Feb. The Economist. The unkindest cut. (An interesting article on the interactions among conservation, economics and politics in west Africa, that relates both to the last lecture and to several topics covered later in the course.)

18 Feb. BBC News. Hammerhead in need of protection. (A good example of endangerment due to overkill.)

15 Feb. BBC News. Map shows toll on world's oceans. (Information on a new study on human impacts on the world's oceans.)

15 Feb. BBC News. 'Record year' for butterfly site. (This article is about the specialist butterfly I mentioned in class this week, with more details on the "ant adoption" story.)

13 Feb. Current Biology. Biodiversity: Climate Change or Habitat Loss — Which Will Kill More Species? (A short paper on a topic that came up in our climate change discussion.)

13 Feb. Atlantic Monthly. Among the pandas. (This article and the follow-up letters it provoked - which I can't find on-line - relate to the lecture on captive breeding.)

8 Feb. BBC News. 'Ocean thermostat can save coral'. (An article on new research on coral deaths, which we'll talk about later in the course.)

1 Feb. BBC News. 'Bizarre' new mammal discovered. (An example of the ongoing discovery of new species.)

31 Jan. BBC News. Climate 'could devastate crops'. (This article is not really about conservation biology but it relates to the last lecture.)

31 Jan. BBC News. 'Doomsday' seeds arrive in Norway (Again, not really about conservation biology, but we will talk about the use of seed banks for conservation later in the semester.)

29 Jan. New York Times. The Preservation Predicament. (This article relates to reserve networks.)

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: What will the second test include?

A: Everything since the material covered on the first test, up to (but not including) metapopulations, could be on the test (i.e., includes all of lecture 17, except for parts 3B and C in my on-line notes). (CSE, 1 Apr ... no joke)

Q: For the letter, I know that the news article must be from this year, but does the scientific (peer-reviewed article) have to be from this year as well?

A: No. Only the news article has a time restriction. The science article can be from whenever you want as long as it is relevant to the position you take in the letter. (CSE, 31 Mar)

Q: For unavoidable reasons I have to miss class today. I do realize we have a discussion article today, and I do not want to miss that, but I was wondering if it would be at all possible for me to write a paper on the article to so that I do not loose credit if I am called upon.

A: As noted at the start of the class, I do not do extra credit. To change that rule for certain individuals and/or part way through the course would be unfair to other students. Because I know that people sometimes have to miss a lecture, however, I have put in place mechanisms for people to make up additional points (e.g., by participating in discussions even when not called upon, or by giving especially thoughtful and surprising responses on the writing portions). These mechanisms are described in the relevant documents posted on the web site. Also, if your conflict allows you could just come for the first 2 minutes (sit at the back so you disrupt the lecture when you leave) and still do the writing portion. (CSE, 26 Mar)

Q: I am curious about what exactly we are writing about for our essays I understand that we expressing our opinion about an issue about conservation biology, but are we trying to convince the state representative, or member of congress, to give funding for that cause? Or are we just suppose to inform this person about the issue, and suggest that something should be done about it, such as more researchers told to work on the cause.

A: You can write about whatever you want as long as it meets the guidelines. The specific issue, or the approach you take, does not matter and is not something that I will base grades on (unless the topic is not within the realm of conservation biology). What I am primarily looking for is how well you can take a current issue in conservation biology, research it so that you understand the relevant science, and then relate that science to the decisions that policy makers (politicians, land managers, etc.) have to make. In other words it is largely a test of how well you take the things I'm teaching in lecture and relate them to the broader world. A secondary issue is how well you can explain the scientific concepts to someone who is not a specialist (which is one of the best tests of how well you understand them yourself). (CSE, 26 Mar)

Q: I would like to use the The Wildlife Society's 2004 report on current and future ecological changes in North America caused or intensified by global warming as my 'scientific research literature'. Please let me know if this is OK, seeing as it is not an article from a peer-reviewed journal but instead a report based on a collection of studies and scientific observations?

A: Since the requirements ask for a peer-reviewed paper that is what I must insist on. That said, I do not expect people to use only one piece of science in researching their topic - and the people who do best usually use a range of sources. The requirement to turn in an abstract from a peer reviewed article is simply a bare minimum requirement to show me (a) that you understand what a peer reviewed article is, and (b) that you did at least some background research on the topic. The report that you mention would be a very good one to use for your letter, and I doubt you'll have trouble finding something relevant to hand it to meet the requirements, e.g., by following up on some of the peer-reviewed articles cited in the report. (CSE, 21 Mar)

Q: Is the article that we were supposed to read for March 26th the one that we are supposed to read for the next lecture?

A: There is no paper to read for the next lecture (i.e., the one on 19th March). The article for the 26th March should be read for the 26th March. The only change in the discussion readings is that I have replaced the reading originally planned for 28th April with a different (shorter) one, which we will do on 30th April. The information currently on the web site is correct. (CSE, 18 Mar)

Q: I'm having trouble accessing papers via the VPN. Can you help?

A: Go to the VPN web site and enter your netID and password. The page you come to should have a shaded bar with the words "Network Connect" on the left and "Start" on the right. Click on the "Start" button. This will connect your computer to the network. You can ensure you are connected by looking for the little padlock symbol in the tool bar bottom right on your desktop (near where the clock is). Once you do this, you should be able to access all of the papers directly from the course web site. If these instructions don't work, call UITS. Note too, that the full citations for the discussion papers are given at the start of the notes for the relevant lecture. (CSE, 18 Mar)

Q: I am reading the paper over and over again and I am still having problems understanding the paper as a whole. Maybe it is my english or maybe it is the way I read it. It was harder without the set of questions next to me.

A: The most important thing to remember is that I'm not expecting you to understand every detail of the paper (often I don't understand every detail!). Scientific papers are simply hard to read, even for scientists. But the only way one gets better at it, is by reading more of them. If you can figure out the basic question, the basic (bottom-line) result, and what the evidence is that supports this result (which usually means, what the figures mean) then you've got most of what I'm looking for. If you can go further and see how the stuff in the paper connects with the other things I talk about in lectures, or in your other classes, then that's even better. The reason why I've stopped giving the questions ahead of time, is because I want everyone to start thinking about the types of questions I'm likely to ask - which should help you figure out the types of questions it would be good for you to ask yourself when you're reading a piece of scientific research.

Part of my reason for having students read primary literature is for you to learn about research in conservation biology. But another big reason is to show you that you can learn to read this stuff, and get useful information out of it - because if you can do that for research papers on conservation biology, you will be able to do it for research papers in other areas that may affect you in the future ... and this can be helpful in lots of ways. For example, when my kids or other family members get sick, I can go to the medical literature and read about their illnesses, the drugs that are being recommended etc. I have no medical training, and I don't understand all the physiological and biochemical details of the papers, so I still need to rely on the original researchers to some extent. But, my background in reading the science literature means that I can usually figure out the bottom-line stuff that matters when I'm talking to a doctor. (CSE, 27 Feb)

Q: Can you please email me the discussion questions?

A: Since quite a few people couldn't make the lecture, here are questions: •What was one of their goals? •Name another. •What criteria identified important sites? •What species were included? •How do current endangerments compare to past extinctions? •What does Fig 2 show? •How well did they address potential biases? •How do these results relate to the graph of bird extinctions since 1500 I showed you last time? •What is the take-home message? Please note, however, that I will not be putting up questions in advance for future discussions. (CSE, 18 Feb)

Q: Are the materials from the discussion papers on the exam?

A: Yes, material from the discussions may be on the exam. More generally, see my comments about the exam below, and elsewhere on this site. (CSE, 18 Feb)

Q: The notes for the next lecture are not posted yet. Could you post them?

A: The rate at which I get the notes posted depends entirely on all the other things I have to do, but I will do my best to post them at least a day or two before the relevant lecture. (CSE, 18 Feb)

Q: I had a question about species that were considered evolutionarily distinct. Is that the same as saying a species is rare?

A: Evolutionarily distinct is not the same as saying they are rare. It means that they are distantly related from other species. See notes for topic 4. (CSE, 11 Feb)

Q: Do you have study guides? Also, if possible, can I see a sample exam so that I know what to expect?

A: The lecture notes really are the study guide - they pull out the things from the text book that I consider most important. All of the material in lectures and notes is important to know. This does not, however, mean that the other information in the text book is unimportant, just that relatively few questions will be drawn just from that material. I can't really narrow it down any more without essentially telling you what is going to be on the exam - which would defeat the purpose of having an exam. Also, I believe that one of the things you are here to learn is how to organize information for yourself, so I am loathe to do too much of the work for you (though I'd be happy to help by suggesting ways to do this yourself).

I can say that you should use common study practices to help you decide what to study most. E.g., topics that I spend a lot of time on, and points that I reiterate multiple times, tend to be things that I think are especially important - and am therefore most likely to ask questions about. Likewise, terms that are in bold face in my notes or the lectures are concepts you should understand and be able to define.

Also, I can tell you that I am most interested in you knowing general concepts rather than specific details, but that knowing the details as well is what distinguishes between an average grade and a good one. An example of general concepts (i.e., C-level) from the lecture of biodiversity patterns is that there are millions of species, most have not been described, and that there is uncertainty over the exact number. For higher grades, I'd expect you to know more details (e.g., that the number is probably between 5 and 30 million, but that it could be higher). Students getting As would be expected to know most of the details presented (e.g., where the numbers come from, all the reasons why there is uncertainty, and so on), plus evidence that they can go beyond simply repeating the factual information that I present and apply the concepts to new circumstances.

As noted on the syllabus I will post sample exam questions next week. (CSE, 7 Feb)

Q: I was just wondering if the tests are going to come just from the lecture notes, or if you will take additional information from the book. You seem to be following the book well, so I didn't know if anything else would be on the tests. Or is the book just for our reference?

A: Most questions will come from my lectures, but I view anything that is in the lectures, the notes on the web, or the text book readings as being something that I could ask about. There will be a lot of overlap between these three things, but the overlap will not be complete (i.e., I will talk about things in lecture that are not in the book, and there are things in the book that I will not spend a lot of time on in lecture). Text book readings/figures that I mention in class or in the web notes are especially likely to be the subject of questions. (CSE, 7 Feb)

Q: Are your PowerPoint presentations available on-line?

A: No.

Q: There's lots of stuff presented in the readings and lectures. How do I now what is most important?

A: The simple (though, admittedly, not too helpful) answer is that it is all important. If I didn't think it was important, I wouldn't include it in the class. But, you can generally assume that things that are given more space in the readings or more time in lectures (e.g., things I go over more than once) are more important. Also, terms that are highlighted (bold face) in the text or in my notes are terms that you should be able to define and (if appropriate) provide examples for. (CSE, 29 Jan)

Q: I'm having trouble finding the link on our course website for the first discussion paper. What should I do?

A: There is a red double asterisk just to the right of the listed reading for the lecture. Just click on that and it will take you to the paper. If you're not at a UConn machine you'll have to sign in through the VPN to get access. Just above the syllabus there is a link to the site where you sign in (using your netID). If you can't work out how to get in through the VPN, there is contact information for help on the site that my link takes you to. (CSE, 27 Jan)

Q: Do you know how comparable the content is between the previous edition of the text book and the current?

A: The editions are similar but a lot of things are updated in the 4th edition (it is a fast moving field), along with some bigger additions/changes. You can probably do OK with the 3rd edition, but you might miss some details and find yourself a bit out of date. The readings posted on the web site also will not match because the page layout has changed a lot. My recommendation is that the 4th edition is better, but if money is tight you will not suffer badly with the 3rd edition (though you might suffer a bit). (CSE, 24 Jan)

Q: How much of the text book do I really have to read?

A: If your goal in this class is to really learn a lot about conservation biology, then reading the text book carefully is a very, very, good idea. It is current and well written and students usually say that they like it and find it helpful. It also covers things that I won’t have time for in lecture, and will help you understand the things I do cover.

If your goal is just to pass the course, you can probably get by without reading it all, but it will definitely hurt your grade if you take this approach. On the exams I nearly always include a couple of questions that are only covered in the readings, so if you see something that doesn’t seem familiar from lectures, this would be why. Likewise, on exams I often ask for examples of things, and the book is loaded with examples – so reading it will give you more options for answers to give in exams than if you just have the ones I mention in class. (CSE, 24 Jan)

Q: I have to miss a day when there is a discussion paper. Can I make-up the written assignment?

In almost all cases the answer is “no”. The only exceptions are when you have a documented medical issue or bereavement, or if you meet the criteria laid out in the Provost’s Statement on Absences from Class, Missed Work, Student Activities (distributed 23 Jan 2008): “Examples include participation in scholarly presentations, performing arts, and intercollegiate sports, when the participation is at the request of, or coordinated by, a University official. Students involved in such activities should inform their instructor in writing prior to the anticipated absence and take the initiative to make up missed work in a timely fashion.” But, you really must meet all of these criteria and you must also be able to provide independent (i.e., not written by you) documentation that you were asked to participate in the event on behalf of the university and that you actually attended the event. (CSE, 24 Jan)

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