Ecology is the
field of studying organisms in their environment (oikos
= home), and understanding their interactions with their biotic
and abiotic worlds.
Physiological ecology, to paraphrase one of my professors, Dr. Boyd Strain of Duke University, is the science of 'understanding the physiological [and structural] strategies that allow a plant to live where it lives'.
Deciphering these plant strategies
can help up understand how plants can be so successful and yet
are sessile organisms that can't walk away when the going gets
tough. Plant processes such as establishment, growth, competition,
and reproduction are ultimately linked back to physiological processes,
integrated over time. Physiological plant ecology is inherently
an interdisciplinary field that draws on biology, physics, chemistry,
geology and atmospheric science to understand plant strategies
of "coping".
KJB's bio, lab, and research information is here>> http://ecophys.plantbio.ohiou.edu/. KJB is a member of the Ecological Society of America, which has a fantastic Physiological Ecology subchapter. Check out the ESA-Ecophys webpage for internships, jobs, grad schools, teaching and reasearch information!
KJB's favorite ecophysiology journals: Tree Physiology, Plant, Cell and Environment, Oecologia, Trees, Functional Ecology, Global Change Biology, The New Phytologist, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Journal of Experimental Botany. I also recommend the ISI Web of Science as an excellent search engine, which also interfaces with EndNote, a required tool for the grad students that take this class (provided in the PBIO computer lab). For older literature searches (pre-1995) look to jstor.org.
Teaching Assistant: TBA
Class meeting times:
Lectures = Tuesday and Wednesday - 800-900am; _____ Porter Hall
Lab = Tuesday 100-600pm (rain or shine); the first hour of this
will be lecture; ____ Porter Hall
Required Textbook: TBA
One journal article per week from the primary literature will also be required reading. This weekly paper will be presented by a student, who will also lead the discussion of the paper and the topic at hand. Both undergraduates and graduates are expected to present a paper.
Lecture Expectations:
3-3.5 hours of lecture per week; 0.5 - 1.0 hour of discussion
based on the week's paper from the primary literature. Papers
will be selected from an instructor-provided list.
Undergraduates -- Your grades
will be based on:
(50%) 8 labs
(45%) 2 exams (midterm, cumulative take-home final;
both total to 45% of your grade)
(5%) Class participation in paper discussion/presentation.
Graduate Students -- Your grades will be based on:
(50%) 7 labs (grad students can select one to drop)
(35%) 2 exams (midterm, cumulative take-home final;
both
total to 35% of your grade)
(10%) 15-20 page (10 point font double spaced) paper, written
as a review.
You
will identify a topic by the beginning of week four of the quarter
and discuss it with KJB.
Your
paper generally should contain the following:
*
title
*
context: why is this topic interesting?
*
history of idea
*
review of research in this area, this can be organized by framing
each part in a question
*
conclusion, and identification of future areas of research
*
bibliography with a minimum of 15 references, and you must
use EndNote!
(5%) Class participation in paper discussion/presentation.
Lab Expectations:
4 hours of lab per week; this will often be outside - dress appropriately!
Many of our labs will be at the OU LandLab (Ridges) so if you
are late we leave without you.
Results from labs will be synthesized
in laboratory reports
(See Lab Report format)
Lab reports will be due one week after lab in the morning's
lecture!
There will be eight labs in this course. We will collect data and work as a group,
but it will
be expected that you write your lab reports individually.
LAB TOPICS - subject to change
1. Climate data analysis. - Presenting and analyzing trends in climate data, interpretation of climate data relative to plant ecophysiology.
2. Microclimate: Radiation I. Measuring light dynamics. Point versus spatially integrated data.
3. Microclimate: Radiation II. Effects of canopy architecture on light dynamics.
4. Microclimate: Temperature, humidity, wind.
5. Water Relations: Pressure bomb, leaf anatomy, porometry, soil moisture
6. Photosynthesis, Respiration, NPP.
7. Photosynthesis and Fluorescence.
8. Leaf anatomy, nutrition, and pigments.
LAB WRITEUP
PROTOCOL:
Each lab report should contain the following elements - but remember to keep it simple! Your job is to convey the contents in as concise a manner as possible, and these reports are designed for you to gain practice at this skill. Reports should be typed and data graphed using Excel or SigmaPlot. A typical length for this assignment would be ~4 pages, 1.5-line-spaced.
1. - Title and Purpose of lab (1-2 sentences)
2. - Experimenters. Who were the persons collecting data? On what date? Where?
3. - Questions or hypotheses that you are investigating
4. - Methods. Be THOROUGH but as breif as possible. Make sure you include: study site, organism, experimental design, identify what features were measured, and your statistical approach. Make sure you include the technical model and make of instruments if any are used. See a typical publication to get an idea of this section.
5. - Results. Data should be presented either graphically or in tables. The instructor or TA will provide suggestions on data presentation. In many cases statistical analyses will not be expected, but will be welcome if you decide to include them. Simple regression analyses will be utilized.
6. - Synthesis. THIS SHOULD
BE AT LEAST ONE PAGE. What were your conclusions? Did the experimental
data help you address your questions/hypotheses? Were there any
experimental problems or issues? What interesting experiments
would build well on the one just completed (i.e., where to go
from here?).
Here is the 2003 schedule, but it will give you an idea of what we'll do in Spring 2005:
last modifed
by KJB, 15 Dec 2004