Population & Community Ecology (Botany/Microbiology/Zoology 671

Course Structure and Grading: There will be two 50-minute and one 100-minute class meetings each week. Approximately 75% of the meetings will be devoted to lecture and discussion of ecological concepts, and to computer modeling exercises designed to enhance understanding of ecological models and general principles. The other 25% will involve class discussion of journal articles led by instructors or small groups of students. Readings include two textbooks on population and community theory, and journal articles from both the classical and contemporary literature in the field. Journal articles will be typically be available from the MU Library website, www.lib.muohio.edu. Those articles that cannot be accessed online will be posted on the course Blackboard site. Modeling exercises will utilize R, an open source language. If you wish to download R for use on your own computer, see instructions on the Blackboard site. Grades will be based on two exams during the semester, one final exam, a group assignment, and participation.