407_syl01

ESCI 407/507: FOREST ECOLOGY

SPRING QUARTER, 2024

Instructor: Dr. David Wallin; Office: ES342; Phone: 650-7526; e-mail: david.wallin@wwu.edu
Text: Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology by FS Chapin III, PA Matson and HA Mooney, 2nd Edition. Note: The library has the eBook version of this text. You can “check out” the ebook for the entire quarter, have it on your computer and access it even when you are offline. There is not limit on the number of students who can have the ebook checked out at the same time. You can take notes and add highlighting to this ebook. So, if you are OK doing your reading on a computer, this would mean that you could get the book at zero cost.
Additional readings as assigned: on reserve in a folder in the Huxley College Library.
(Click here to view the online bibliography)

Class Meeting: MWF 10:00, ES313
Lab Meeting Room: W or Th, AH05

NOTE: The lab WILL NOT meet during the first week of classes (April 2-5)

FIRST LECTURE WILL BE ON Wednesday, 4/3

You will need to complete the first lab (a computer lab) on your own during the first week of class Click here for information about the first lab) .

Office Hours: MTWF 11:00 - 12:00 (sign-up on office door) and by appointment.
Teaching Assistants:

Wednesday Lab: Jessica Scotten; Office hours TBD; Location TBD; email scottej@wwu.edu

Friday Lab: Kara Davis; Office Hours TBD Office Location: TBA; email:davisk59@wwu.edu

Prerequisites: The course requires a background in ecology. All students must have completed BOTH ESCI 325 and 340 or Biol 325 and 340 or equivalent courses at another institution. If you have not had these prerequisites, you should NOT take this class.

Student Learning Objectives: Upon completion of the course, students will have an understanding of the structure, function and temporal dynamics of forest ecosystems. They will also gain experience with basic forest inventory techniques and statistical methods for the analysis of these data.

Academic Policies: Western’s policies regarding academic honesty; disability and religious accommodations; ethical conduct with technology; equal opportunity; finals; medical excuse; and student conduct that are applicable to all students can be found here: https://syllabi.wwu.edu/

Note Regarding Writing Proficiency Requirements: This course meets the requirements of a WP2 class; that is, completion of this course counts for two of the three WP points required for graduation.

Grading	Undergraduates	Graduate Students
Mid-term Exam	30%	25%
Final Exam	30%	25%
Lab Reports: Click here for information about the lab	35%	35%
Attendance	5%	5%
Term Paper/Project Click here for information about this project	---	10%

ATTENDANCE? Really? Yup…..Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed that many people don’t show up for class. And I’ve also noticed that this has an impact on people’s grades. So, six times over the quarter, I’ll take attendance. You can miss ONE of these for any reason (illness, overslept, travel, etc.) with no penalty. But you will lose 1% for any additional classes that you miss beyond this. Dates that I take attendance will NOT be announced. On days when I take attendance, I’ll have a sign in sheet that you can initial. And if I catch you trying to initial for a friend who is absent, you will lose the full 5%.

Late Assignments: grades reduced by 5%/day if turned in late without a valid excuse (illness, family crisis, etc.). Assignments that are more than one week late will not be accepted without a valid excuse (illness, family crisis, etc.). NOTE: Due Dates exist for a reason. I don’t want you to fall behind. If you have a reasonable excuse for turning something in late (illness, family crisis, etc.), it is your responsibility to make me aware of this right away. Don’t come to me in week 9 and expect to be able to turn in a bunch of late assignment.

Reasonable Accommodation: Reasonable accommodation for persons with documented disabilities should be established within the first week of class and arranged through Disability Resources for Students: Telephone 650-3083; email drs@wwu.edu and on the web at http://www.wwu.edu/depts/drs/

Grading: A =93; A- 90-92; B+ 88-89; B 83-87; B- 80-82; C+ 78-79; C 73-77; C- 70-72; D+ 68-69; D 63-67 D- 60-62; F 0-59

The class will include three hours of lecture and four hours of lab per week. Some lecture and lab time may be used for discussion of assigned readings from the scientific literature.

Academic Dishonesty: There has been a substantial increase in the number of cases of Academic Dishonesty in recent years. For this reason, all faculty members have been instructed by the Registrar’s Office to provide students with explicit information about Academic Dishonesty. Briefly stated, lying, cheating and stealing will not be tolerated in any form. Actions of this type will result in severe consequences that could include a failing grade in the class and dismissal from the university. Hopefully, this does not come as a surprise to anyone. All students should review Appendix D, Academic Dishonesty Policy and Procedure Appendix D, Academic Dishonesty Policy and Procedure in the back of the University Catalog for a more detailed discussion of what constitutes academic dishonesty. For more information see the WWU Plagiarism Information Web Site.

Information about the Oregon State University salvage logging controversy from the spring of 2006:

The paper that started the controversy:

Donato, D.C., J.B. Fontaine, J.L. Campbell, W.D. Robinson, J.B. Kauffman and B.E. Law. 2006. Post-wildfire logging hinders regeneration and increases fire risk. Science 311:352 (20 January 2006) donato_etal_2006.pdf donato_etal_2006_sup.pdf (contains materials and methods and other supplemental material.)

Last updated: 3/8/23 (Check for updates of this schedule as the quarter progresses.)

TENTATIVE Lecture Schedule	Topic	Readings
Week 1: 4/3-5	Preface: Humans and the Forest	None
Week 2: 4/8-12	Preface: Humans and the Forest (continued) Part I: Context The Ecosystem Concept	Chapter 1, Vitousek et al. 1997, Noble et al. 1997 Optional Reading: New_Republic_ID.pdf
Week 3: 4/15-19	The Earth’s Climate System	Chapters 2 Optional Reading: tubtoys_ocean_circ.pdf
Week 4: 4/22-26	Geology and Soils	Chapter 3
Week 5: 4/29-5/3	Part II: Mechanisms Terrestrial Water and Energy Balance Carbon Input to Terrestrial Ecosystems Plant Carbon Budgets MID-TERM EXAM;Friday, May 3	Chapters 4, 5, 6
Week 6: 5/6-10	Decomposition and Ecosystem Carbon Budgets Plant Nutrient Use	Chapters 7, 8
Week 7: 5/13-17	Terrestrial Nutrient Cycling Trophic Dynamics	Chapters 9, 10
Week 8: 5/20-24	Species Effects on Ecosystem Processes Temporal Dynamics	Chapters 11,12 Optional readings RE plant defensive compounds: Harborne; Chap 3 IN: Plant defense against mammalian herbivory
Week 9: 5/27 – 31	Part III: Patterns Landscape Heterogeneity and Ecosystem Dynamics Changes in the Earth System	Chapters 13, 14
Week 10: 6/3-7	Part IV: Integration Managing and Sustaining Ecosystems	Chapters 15
Finals Week: 6/10-14	Final Exam: https://registrar.wwu.edu/calendars/finals

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