Conservation Ecology

ZO 592
Dr. Nick Haddad, Associate Professor
120 David Clark Labs
Office Hours: T 12-1PM
Email: nick_haddad@ncsu.edu

Syllabus
Blackboard Vista

Guidelines for final paper
Evaluation criteria for proposals
Evaluation criteria for reviews


Date(s), Topic
Aug. 23, The ecology of conservation

Aug. 28, 30, Biodiversity and the Endangered Species Act
Readings: Sections 2-5 from the Endangered Species Act; Caughley (J. Animal Ecology 63:215)
[additional readings]

Sept. 4, 6, Population viability analysis I: Counts
Readings: Gerber et al. 1999 (Conservation Biology 13:1215-1219); Brook, et al. 2000 (Nature 404:385-7); Ellner, et al. 2002 (Conservation Biology 16:258-261); Brook, et al. 2002 (Conservation Biology 16:262-3)
[lecture notes] [additional readings]

Morris, W., D. Doak, M. Groom, P. Kareiva, J. Fieberg, L. Gerber, P. Murphy, and D. Thomson. 1999. A Practical Handbook for Population Viability Analysis. The Nature Conservancy, ISBN: 0-9624590-4-6. 133 pp. [download]

Special lecture, Sept. 6, Rob Dunn, 4-5, 101 D. Clark Labs

Sep. 11, 13, Population viability analysis II: Demographic
Reading:  Kelly and Durant 2000 (Conservation Biology 14:786-797), Brook 2000 (Conservation Biology 14:564-566), Kareiva, et al (2000) (Science 290:977-979) and related papers: Article 1 (Science 289:716-719) , Response to Article1 (Science 289:2281-2283 ) , Response to Article2 (Science 290:933-4) , Response to Kareiva (Science 291:939a)
[lecture notes] [additional readings]

Sep. 18, 20, Population viability analysis III: Metapopulation
Readings:  Lande 1988  (Oecologia 75:601-607), Wielgus, et al. 2007 (Conservation Biology 21:447-454)
[lecture notes]

Sep. 25, 27, Terrestrial reserve design
Readings:  Aung 2007 (Journal of Environmental Management 84:188-203), Simberloff, et al. 1992 (Conservation Biology 6:493-504)

Readings not required, but suggested: Beier and Noss 1998 (Conservation Biology), Haddad et al. 2000 (Conservation Biology), Noss and Beier 2000 (Conservation Biology)

[lecture notes] [additional readings] [more additional readings] [additional readings specifically on corridors]
       
Oct. 2, 4, Marine reserve design
Readings:  Allison, et al. 1998 (Ecological Applications), Worm et al 2006 (Science 787-790)
[lecture notes] [additional readings foodwebs] [additional readings marine reserves]

Special lecture, Oct. 4, Derek Aday, 4-5, 101 D. Clark Labs

Oct. 9, Midterm; one page abstract or outline of paper due

Oct. 16, 18, Conservation genetics   
Readings:   Westemeier, et al. (1998; Science 282: 1695-1698); overview, Kraaijeveld-Smit, et al. 2006 (Journal of Applied Ecology 43:360-5)
If population genetics is a new area for you, you may consider reading an overview paper Frankham, R.  1995.  Conservation genetics.  Annual Review of Genetics 29:305-327.
[lecture notes] [additional readings]

Special lecture, Tom Lovejoy, Oct. 22, 3-5, McKimmon Center

Oct. 23, 25, Invasive Species
Readings:  Foxcroft, et al 2007 (Conservation Biology 21:412-421); Parker and Gilbert 2007 (Ecology 88:1210-1224)
[lecture notes]  [additional readings]
 
Oct. 30, Nov. 1, Global climate changes
Readings: Houghton, et al. (1999, Science 285:574-578); Thomas, et al. (2004, Nature 427:145-148); and Hitch and Leberg (2007, Conservation Biology 21:534-9)
[lecture notes]  [additional readings]

Nov. 6, 8, Ecosystem services and management
Readings:  Balmford, et al. (2002, Science 297:950-953); Kremen (2005, Ecology Letters 8:468-479)
Suggested Reading:  Costanza, et al (1997, Nature 387: 253-260)
[lecture notes] [additional readings]

Special lecture, Nov. 8, Rob Colwell, 4-5, 101 D. Clark Labs

Nov. 13, 15, Restoration ecology and adaptive management
Readings:  Dobson, et al. (1997; Science 277:515-522), Beck, et al. (2001; Bioscience 51:633-641)
[lecture notes]

Nov. 20, Conservation and the human population, 1st draft papers submitted

Nov. 27, 29, Reserve portfolios, paper reviews due
Readings: Myers, et al. (2000; Nature 403:853-858), Wilson et al. (2007, Plos Biology 5:e223).
[lecture notes]


Dec. 2, 6, Presentations, final paper submission

There will be no final exam for this class





Additional Readings

Readings on monitoring and adaptive management:  Blaustein and Kiesecker (2002) (Ecology Letters 5:597); Tognelli (2005) (Biological Conservation 121:409)
[lecture notes]  [additional readings]

Readings on habitat loss and communities:  Meir, et al (2004) (Ecology Letters 7:615) plus analysis in the NY Times (No WebCT this week because of Fall Break)
[lecture notes]

Readings pollution and conservation: Likens (2004, Ecology 85:2355); Hames, et al. (2002, PNAS 99:11235); Scheffler, et al. (2001, Nature 413:591); and, though not required, an other recent short paper worth reading Schlesinger (2004, Ecology 85:2402)
[lecture notes]  [additional readings]