BIO 229: FIELD BIOLOGY/FIELD ECOLOGY
(3 Credits)

Course Time:

Instructor:

COURSE INFORMATION

Goals & Objectives:

Rainforest Ecology Topics include:
1.Introduction to geography, weather patterns and life zones of Honduras
2.Tropical botany: plant morphology and forest characteristics.
3.Introduction to neotropical mammals.
4.Introduction to neotropical birds.
5.Introduction to neotropical arthropods:
6.Evolutionary ecology.
7.Herbivory in the rain forest.
8.Community structure and competition.
9.Biodiversity - why the tropics are so special.
10.Pollination ecology and nectar feeding.
11.Seed dispersal and frugivory.
12.Principles of predation and anti-predator behaviour.
13.Introduction to neotropical herpetology.
14.Vocal communication in the forests.
15.Life history studies - general principles and a focus on rainforest birds.
16.Breeding strategies.
17.The impact of deforestation.
18.Conservation of the rain forests.

Marine biology topics include:
1. geology and ecology of coastal Honduras
2. marine ecology
3. coral reef ecology, incl. Zonation and intertidal zonation
4. grassbed ecology,
5. taxonomy of vertebrates and invertebrates of coral reefs, lagoons, and tidal flats,

Learning Objectives:
1.to gain an understanding of the ecology of rainforests and to learn about the rainforest community and the biology of its organisms
2. to observe rainforest biodiversity and seek examples of important interactions
3. to learn about the natural history of prominent rainforest organisms
4. to develop an appreciation of the factors in the conservation and management of rainforests
5. to conduct a small investigative project of rainforest ecology
6. to learn about the basic concepts of marine ecology

Active participation in all aspect of the course is expected, including field work and keeping of a field journal, participation in evening discussions and labs. You are expected to do some pre-departure reading of a marine-biology related topic of your choice (and if time permits) present your topic to the class.

Journal/Notebook
All participants will be expected to keep a journal/notebook to record
(1) personal observations & commentary (optional),
(2) natural history observations, and
(3) investigative questions, data, analysis of data, and conclusions obtained during the field trip.
Famous naturalists like Darwin and Wallace kept exceedingly detailed notes, and of course, they published their experiences as books. Rainforests are full of interesting and wonderful things, but they are quickly forgotten if not recorded. You will be expected to devote at least an hour each day to journal entries. Each day you will be expected to make an observation of some biological phenomenon that catches your attention. After recording these observations, you will seek to determine if anything is known about what you observed (library & reference books). Then you will consider what of interest might be studied. What interesting questions does your observation raise? What would you do to initiate study of such a phenomenon? Thinking like a biologist takes practice.

Investigative studies will be recorded in your journals. The nature of the question, your ideas about solving the problem or answering the question, your actual approach, the data you collected, your analysis of the results, and the conclusions reached will all be recorded in a neat orderly manner. Each item journal entry will be titled with date & time noted. Personal commentary, natural history observations, & investigations will be kept as separate entries.

Examples of journal entries (taken off the internet)
12 June. AM - Food (a personal commentary entry)
The food continues to be very different than I expected, but everything tastes OK. Black beans & rice! Can you believe they serve them for breakfast too? New fruits & vegetables at every meal, The most interesting new food so far has been yucca or yuca (yew-ka)? Apparently there are 2 unrelated plants with very similar names & it causes confusion. This is cassava & it looks and tastes something like a potato.

12 June, 8:08 am - Tree iguana (a natural history entry)
A large tree iquana, (Iquana iquana - hard to remember!) is perched on a branch just to one side and above the suspension bridge. He is huge, maybe 1.5 m long, nose to tail. He was raising and bobbing his head displaying a huge colored flap of skin under his chin & throat. This flap is called a dewlap, & males use it to display to attract females & guard territories from other males. Otherwise he doesn't seem to move much. Wonder when they eat? Do they move around & eat at night, returning to a display perch by day? Or do they have such a low metabolism that they just don't do much? Maybe observations tonight will tell. Can we estimate a territory by looking at the spacing of the iguanas in the tree canopies?

12 Dec, 10:05 am - Tree gap investigation 1. (a research note)
Why are tree gaps important in rainforest ecology? Obviously they let in light & light is important for plants. But how much more gets in? We will use a light meter to measure sunlight intensity in the open and then under the closed rainforest canopy. They we will measure light across a tree gap & see how it changes. The following data will be recorded in footcandles.

13 June AM - Weather (a personal commentary)
Rain, rain, rain! & just when I thought it couldn't rain any harder, the rain got even heavier. Tropical rains just come straight down, suddenly, but no wind, no thunder, no lightening, and they are warm. This really convinces me that this is a rain forest. Don't know how much rainfall there has been today, but it must be a lot. Some of the trails and low-lying areas are flooded; the streams rise impressively in a very short period of time. Stay out of creeks & such if it rains. Now I understand the rubber boots & umbrellas! Not many organisms around in heavy rain. We will check the rise in water level in the frog swamp later by marking the level & time on a hand rail post.

Assignments:

Grading:

Minimum requirements for a Pass or "C":

Requirements for a "B"

Requirements for an "A"

Course Text:

If your are interested in bringing your own reference book - I can recommend: Pisces Guide to Caribbean Reef Ecology; William S. Alevizon; Paperback (price about $ 15.00) or Field Guide to Coral Reefs : Caribbean and Florida (Peterson Field Guide Series) by Eugene H. Kaplan, Susan L. Kaplan (about $ 18.00)

A Neotropical Companion by John Kricher, William E. Davis (Illustrator), Mark J. Plotkin. Paperback - 504 pages 2nd Rev edition (August 16, 1999) Princeton Univ Pr; ISBN: 0691009740 ; Price: $ 17.59.

Important Contacts: People, Places, and Phone Numbers

References

Any and all of this syllabus may be altered during the semester by the instructor as the learning environment requires.

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This page was created by Peter Jeschofnig and was last updated: 4/20/2001