PLANT SYSTEMATICS
Spring 2008
(PBIO 309: call # 05116; PBIO 509: call # 05140)

Professor: Harvey E. Ballard, Jr. , Porter 406, (740) 593-4659
E-mail: ballardh@ohio.edu
Teaching Assistants: Chris Havran, Porter 408, (740) 593-4659; and Aliya Donnell, Porter 411, (740) 593-1128
TA Email-Havran: jh175704@ohio.edu
TA Email-Donnell: ad328507@ohio.edu
Lectures: MWF, 1:10-2:00pm, Porter 301
Labs: MW 2:10-5:00pm, Porter 301
Office hours: MW, 12:10-1:00pm; additionally by appointment
Required text: Gleason, H. A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, 2nd ed. [7th printing, 2004] New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY. Already ordered, and should be available in bookstores hopefully by beginning of class; other paper materials provided at no cost to you.
Other required item: 10X handlens, available at bookstores. A slightly twisted sense of humor, passion for caffeine or chocolate, and total devotion to plants (at least in class) are very valuable.

Policies--Expectations, Lecture_and_lab_attendance, Cheating

Coursework, Labs and Grading --Everybody, Grad students , Exam_review, Grading_scale

"La Policia son sus amigos" (A final word)

Course_topics

Course content and objectives
Systematics is the multidisciplinary field of recognizing, naming, characterizing, relating and classifying the biological diversity of life on earth. The applied end of systematics provides fundamental information on which all other sciences and much of human existence depend. Else, how could any other field proceed without initial reference to unique names for distinct entities, descriptions to distinguish those entities, a predictive system of classifying entities, and a suite of defensible methodologies for handling future unknowns?

In this course we will cover a number of theoretical topics concerned with plant systematics during the first two weeks, followed in the remaining eight weeks by an extensive survey of plant families and higher-level groups in the angiosperms (flowering plants). We will touch on ferns and fern allies and gymnosperms en route to the angiosperms. The 133 families will, in almost every case, represent groups occurring natively in southeastern Ohio. Lectures will characterize major features of each family and higher-level group, augmented by information on economically important taxa and their world distribution and ecology. The first few labs give you firsthand experience with "doing" systematics (including leaf and wood anatomy, palynology, phenetic analysis of morphological data, and phylogenetic analysis of DNA data). The remaining eight weeks of labs will introduce you to local genera of each family. A few labs will consist of local field trips. One afternoon/evening trip during Wednesday of 8th week to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus will permit us to see temperate and tropical genera in several important families; this will take place during a normal lab time and extend into the evening. I have scheduled a weekend "camping" trip at the chalet in the Edge of Appalachia Preserve system owned by The Nature Conservancy, during the weekend ending 9th week, to give us an opportunity to maximize your use of cumulative family and genus knowledge, and to hone your identification skills with that region's diverse flora. TNC staff will give us some special tours to study cool plant communities (including the spectacular prairies, rock glades and cliffs) and some of the region's famous rare plants.

Our examination of families and higher-level groupings will follow a widely accepted phylogenetic classification system based on molecular and other evidence. This will allow you a cumulative appreciation for evolutionary trends apparent as one moves "up the phylogenetic tree" from ancient to modern angiosperm groups. The "Diversity" course, PBIO 211, will provide adequate background for this course. But don't be surprised if you feel overwhelmed at first: systematics is a vast field, with a huge amount of memorization and the learning of new terminology. As much as, or more than, most other scientific disciplines, systematics is truly a new language to the uninitiated. Keeping up with new material and reviewing earlier material are absolutely essential tasks for you to succeed in the course and get the most out of it. You will be rewarded with exciting--even mind-boggling--glimpses into the enormous diversity reflecting 270,000-odd extant angiosperm species estimated on earth, and to gain a new appreciation for the great challenge of our time: to name, characterize, classify and understand this staggering diversity before human "civilization" destroys most of it.

• Punctuality at lectures and laboratories.
• Proper preparation for lecture and laboratory, and a display of enthusiasm and competence.
• Clear and organized presentation, and succinct answering of questions.
• Respectful treatment of individuals, acceptance of divergent opinions and belief systems, and willingness to admit when I am wrong or do not know something.
• Full leadership in classroom discussions and satisfactory introduction to and guidance of laboratory exercises.
• Well-balanced examinations to test your knowledge of major points without terrorizing you, dwelling on pointless trivia or providing meaningless "busy work".
• Interesting laboratories giving graduate students hands-on experience.
• Fair and objective grading of exams and papers.
• Adequate help outside of class, in office hours and other available appointment time.
• Expression of maturity and a sense of humor!

The expectations you should have of me run parallel--I should be punctual, well organized and properly prepared for class and lecture; respectful of your input, viewpoints and opinions; I should prepare reasonable and complete examinations and give you adequate help and time to study for them; provide a meaningful and rewarding laboratory experience; and grade fairly and give academic feedback to you often. If I'm not doing these things adequately, please let me know.

I will do my best to help you gain an appreciation for evolution by summarizing the wealth of information concerning plant systematics and assisting you in digesting it; by answering your questions and striving to engage your thought processes and engender enthusiasm from you about plant systematics. If both of us do our part, we'll both learn alot and we'll have a fun time sharing the course!

Lecture and lab attendance: Attendance at lecture (and lab if you're a grad student) is mandatory--you must attend regularly, unless you are desperately ill, or you or one of your family has died. As adults, I leave it up to you to show up regularly, as I don't take attendance. Your success on exams and quizzes will depend heavily on regular attendance in lectures and labs, without my policing you.

Cheating: Don't even think about it. Give yourself plenty of time to study for the exams, participate fully in the grad project (particularly if you're a grad student), and put yourself out with lecture exams and lab quizzes.

Coursework, Labs and Grades
Everybody: Everyone will take 3 exams, the third one being the non-comprehensive final. Each exam covers roughly one third of the term's lecture material, and each counts 100 points. I will provide students with numerous questions ranging from 5-20 points; students must answer a core set of questions worth 50 points and then may select their favorites from other questions, for a total of 100 points.

I will provide a photocopy of the syllabus and my first Powerpoint lecture. On the first day of class I will also give you a CD with all the Powerpoint lectures for the course, the syllabus, and a spreadsheet "study aid". Before each lecture, you should open up the Powerpoint file and print out slides in the "handout" format, and bring the printout to class to annotate with information as I proceed through each lecture.

Everybody also participates in the labs. Each of the 5 lab quizzes will generally cover two weeks of lab material, and are worth 30 points each, for a total of 150 points. Plant material for each lab will be carried over to the following lab, but NOT to subsequent labs, owing to the limited refrigerator and classroom space. All students are required to enter their observations and illustrations of plant genera and families from the labs into a lab "notebook" (more like a journal). The notebook will be turned in at the end of the last week of class and will receive up to 50 points.

Completion of the 3 exams (totaling 300 points), 5 lab quizzes (totaling 150 points) and lab notebook (totaling 50 points) fulfills the undergraduate requirements for PBIO 309, bringing the total possible for undergraduates to 500 points.

Grad students: Graduate students (= all who signed up for PBIO 509) must accomplish one additional feat beyond the exams and quizzes: production of a "virtual monograph" of the family Fagaceae in Ohio. Each graduate student will "adopt" approximately 5 species of the family (19 species plus several rare hybrids). I will train you in the use of a number of invaluable databasing, imaging and morphological trait software programs to accomplish this. The cornerstone of the "digital monograph" will be database records of collections, which you will create in the powerful BRAHMS (Botanical Research and Herbarium Management Software) program as part of an established "Ohio Flora" database system. In that you will input label information from Bartley Herbarium collections for each taxon you are responsible for. I will also show you how to use the report function to summarize ecological and phenological information, output those as well as specimen citation lists, and create distribution maps of each taxon for the state. Throughout the quarter, we will capture images of habit and other key features for as many species as we encounter, and you will link these and other available images to taxon records. You will code morphological traits for each taxon into the DeltaAccess software program, which you will use to generate automated species descriptions (placed in BRAHMS fields). Your last step will be to export the trait matrix to a third program, Navikey, that will provide an interactive online key. At the quarter's end we will assemble the components into a series of linked HTML webpages and upload them, plus the interactive key, to a server and as a digital website on the Fagaceae of Ohio for public use. Each graduate student will receive up to 100 points for their contributions to the group project. Undergraduates interested in participating voluntarily in this project are welcome to join us.

Grad students therefore fulfill their course requirements with 3 exams (totaling 300 points), 5 quizzes (totaling 150 points), lab notebook (totaling 50 points), and the group student project (100 points), for a grand total of 600 points.

Exam review:  I will hold a formalized exam review session on one of the evenings during the week before each exam, scheduled to suit the greatest number of people. But I will also be available to everyone during office hours and by appointment throughout the term.

Grading scale:

%	Letter Grade
92-100	A
90-91	A-
88-89	B+
82-87	B
80-81	B-
78-79	C+
72-77	C
70-71	C-
68-69	D+
62-67	D
60-61	D-
<60	R.I.P.

Contrary to the above, I am here to help you--to get through the course and enjoy the process. I want you to learn the material and appreciate it with the enthusiasm and wonder that I do! If you are having difficulties with the material itself, come see me as soon as you encounter problems, or call or e-mail me and set up a time to go over material at your and my earliest convenience. Waiting until the day before an exam is weeks too late! For simple, single questions, call or e-mail me; for complex questions or several questions, we'll schedule an appointment.

I am concerned that you have a worthwhile experience here at OU in spite of any personal or academic roadblocks you might have to face along the route, both during and beyond the Plant Systematics course. Please feel free to meet with me to discuss PBIO courses, plant biology or systematics and evolution generally, academia, or personal issues impacting on your ability to negotiate this course or your degree program. Or just join me over a cup of coffee or tea to discuss the fate of the world! I may or may not have answers or experience for particular problems (although you might be surprised at the issues I've had to work through myself). Nevertheless, having a concerned "ear" available when you need it is always comforting, and can be very helpful.

I also utilize my contacts around the country and the world, in various institutions and agencies, to help set up employment and internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. I keep abreast of graduate botany programs and faculty in my areas of interest. I'm happy to write letters of recommendation and make phone calls or send letters on your behalf--if you are a decent student!

Course Topics 

Schedule consists of 27 in-class lectures; 15 in-class labs; 3 local lab field trips; an afternoon/evening trip to Franklin Conservatory in Columbus; and a Friday afternoon-Sunday early afternoon camping trip to Hocking Hills State Park. NOTE: Material studied during Franklin Conservatory trip and Hocking Hills camping trip will be on lab quizzes. Attempts will be made to bring material back and make it available in subsequent labs, but students are strenuously encouraged to participate in both out-of-town trips to ensure they get optimal exposure to plant materials and experience. Course introduces 133 plant families, almost all native to (and well represented in) southeastern Ohio. Number of families covered during each lecture/lab is noted in parentheses following name of the order or other higher-level group.

To download the extensive 8x14" Excel spreadsheet of family characteristics, click here.

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