principles of ecology, ebio 2040 - University of Colorado Boulder

PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY, EBIO 2040
Laboratory Syllabus Fall 2013
Lab coordinators
Dr. Mary Starhil
Dr. Monica Madronich
mary.starhill@colorado.edu
monica.madronich@colorado.edu
Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA)
Jeff McClenahan
Aden Beers
Gaddy Bergemann
Megan Caldwell
Eve Garsach
Nathan Kleist
Melanie Kenney
Kika Tarsi
jlmcclenahan@gmail.com
Aidan.Beers@Colorado.edu
Gaddy.Bergmann@Colorado.edu
Megan.Caldwell@Colorado.edu
Eve.Gasarch@Colorado.edu
Nathan.kleist@gmail.com
Melanie.Kenney@colorado.edu
Jessica.Tarsi@Colorado.edu
“Principles of Ecology” (EBIO 2040) is a required course for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
majors and is also taken by many Environmental Studies majors. This course provides you with
an overview of Ecology, covering topics ranging from global abiotic processes and biomes, to
community and population level dynamics. The lab portion of this course emphasizes techniques
of field biology. It complements the lectures by helping you to understand how to generate and
test ecological hypotheses by examining issues such as how to quantify and estimate diversity,
how to measure landscape level patterns and how to utilize computer programs to help analyze
ecological data. You will also develop, conduct and present an independent project that will
allow you to implement the skills you have learned throughout the course.
The EBIO 2040 lab curriculum was recently updated, and this fall will be the first time many of
the new lab exercises are run. The goals of the new lab curriculum is to expose you to:
• Concrete examples of general ecological concepts from the lectures
• The basic ecology and conservation issues of the ecosystems of the local bioregion
(Boulder County)
• The types of activities professional ecologists do in their work
• All the stages of scientific process that ecologists use to investigate ecological systems,
including:
careful observation of field systems
quantitative measurement of patterns in ecological systems
hypothesis formation

experimental design
quantitative analysis of ecological data, and
writing and presenting scientific research.
We are aiming to make these labs both highly informative and fun – it is the love of nature and
the outdoors that draws most ecologists to the discipline. After you have completed the lab
exercises of this course, you will have all the basic tools necessary to contribute to original
ecological work. We highly encourage those of you interesting in graduate school or a career as
a professional ecologist or resource manager to take these tools and apply them in future
semesters to either an independent study project overseen by a professor here on campus, or
to an internship overseen by biologists at one of the local resource agencies. Performing this
type of original work as undergraduate will help distinguish you as a recent college graduate,
and can play a big role in launching your career.
Books and Printed Materials
Required
• Peterson field guide to Birds of Western North America (you may also want to get an
electronic version of this for your cell phone)
• Peterson field guide to Western Trees
• A high quality bound field notebook (moleskin, bench lab notebook, or other of your
choice)
• How to do Ecology. By Richard Karba. This book will help you with your Research
Project.
• We will also refer frequently to the lecture text (Ecology Second Edition, Cain Bower and
Hacker, 2011)
Highly recommended
• Peterson field guide to Rocky Mountain and Southwest Forests (The only reason this is
not required is that it is going out of print, but you can still get copies of this great book
online.)
Optional
(These are great books to get for those of you with a strong interest in mammals and/or field
biology)
• Peterson field guide to Mammals of North America
• Peterson field guide to Animal Tracks
The lab assignments will be posted in electronic form on D2L in advance of when they will be
executed. It is your responsibility to print out a hard copy of the assignment to read beforehand
and bring to the lab exercise. Please do not rely on referring to just an electronic version.

Grading Policy and Lab Expectations
The lab grade will be based on 200 pts and will constitute 1/3 of the overall class grade. The
point distribution is as follows:
Assignment
Points
Lab Reports 85
Research Project 70
Field Notebook 10
Exam 30
Participation 5
Total points 200
Table 1.1 Total number of points possible in this lab. A more detailed point breakdown of the
assignments is located in the schedule document
Lab reports
You will turn in hard copies of your lab reports to your GTA at the designated time, which will
generally be either at the end of your lab period, or at the beginning of the next lab period. You
will find the due dates of the different assignments on the lab schedule.
Research Project
In this lab you will develop an independent scientific project. Your GTA will help you to develop
a project in which you will investigate a topic of your interest. The results of your research will
provide you with the data to write a paper. At the end of the semester you will present your
results to your classsmates.
Field notebook
The art of taking good field notes is an important skill for ecologists. To develop this skill you will
be taking notes in a designated field notebook. At the end of the semester you GTA will grade
your notebook.
Exams
In this lab we are going to have 2 exams worth 15 points each. The exam will cover material
learned over the course of the semester.
Participation
We strongly encourage participation and we hope that students use this course as an
opportunity to explore concepts, methods and ways to present materials to your peers and
future colleagues. It is better to be fully engaged in a class, even if that means ocassionally

putting out a wrong answer, because it helps clear up complex ideas for everyone and lets the
GTA know how students are learning the materials.
How to prepare for lab
Lab time is limited, and especially on field days there will be much to do in this limited time
period. For this reason you must come to lab periods on time and fully prepared. Your GTA will
not wait for you to begin the lab, which means that on field trip days they may leave without
you if you are late, and that would constitute an unexcused absence on your part. The reason
we have this policy is to ensure that the educational experience of all the other students in the
class is not hampered by one person’s tardiness, but it is good training for your possible futures
as professional ecologists. Being late for fieldwork is heavily frowned upon by biologists, and
will quickly get you labeled as unprofessional and an undesirable person to work with. Every
profession has its “honor code” about how to behave toward colleagues, and being prompt and
willing to work hard in the field without whining is part of the field biologist honor code.
The following are the things you need to do to prepare for all labs:
• Print out the lab exercise
• Read the lab exercise and any readings assigned before you come to lab
Bring the following on all field labs:
• Hard copy of lab exercise
• Field notebook and writing implement
• Field guides as relevant
• Sunscreen and sun hat
• Closed-toe footwear appropriate for hiking
• An extra layer of clothing
• Water and snacks
• Cell phone with camera or digital camera (if you don’t have them, you can share with
another students)
Bring the following to all computer lab exercises:
• Hard copy of lab exercise
• Field notebook and writing implement
• Text book
• Field guides relevant to that day’s topic
Attendance at labs is mandatory
Absences due to health issues, deaths, official university activities or major events beyond
your control (e.g., a court appearance, car accidents, etc.) may be excused by your GTA, with
appropriate documentation that will remain on file with the lab coordinator. Documentation to
request an excusal must be submitted the week following an unplanned absence. Requests for
excusing planned absences must be requested in writing at least 1 week prior to the scheduled
absence. If possible, missed labs should be made up that same day in an alternate lab section. If
a field trip is due on the day of the absence you will be responsible of your own transportation,
there is limited room in the Vans. It is the responsibility of the student to contact both their GTA

and the GTA instructing the lab section they would like join. Students are allowed to 2 excused
absences per semester. Following 2 make-ups, missed labs count toward a student’s absence
tally. In the case of an excused absence, points for the missed exam or lab write-up will be
prorated. An unexcused absence will result in a score of zero on the exam or lab write-up.
Missing more than 2 labs (either excused or unexcused) will result in an additional point
deduction of 5 points per missed lab.
Working together
In this lab, we will have a strong emphasis on students working in groups and we will also have
a strong emphasis on groups presenting their results and ideas to the lab. Although students will
be encouraged to work with others, it is expected that all assignments that are turned in are
original works written independently by each student, separate from their lab partner(s).
All students are expected to abide by the academic standards outlined in the University of
Colorado Honor Code. If you are unfamiliar with the Honor Code, read it at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/student-honor-code-policy . Violations of this policy may
include: cheating, plagiarism, academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening
behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council
(honor@colorado.edu; 303-735-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the
academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member
and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or
expulsion). Discussing exam material after you have taken the test is cheating!! Your GTA’s have
been instructed to not give out any answers regarding any exam until the following lab period.
All written work is subject to plagiarism prevention scanning software. It is your responsibility to
understand paraphrasing and quoting of references, as well as appropriate citation of your
sources. Although you will present your final project presentation together with your lab
partner(s), you will each write your own scientific paper completely independently of one
another.
We expect the labs to be open to varying opinions and ideas and that all students will respect
their peers. Derogatory language, putting down others, and sexual harassment
https://www.cu.edu/policies/aps/hr/5014.html ) will not be tolerated in this lab. Please read
and understand the Campus classroom behavior policy and the honor code:
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/student-classroom-and-course-related-behavior. As
members of the CU-Boulder community, we will abide by the spirit and letter of this policy,
which is available on line (https://www.cu.edu/policies/aps/hr/5014.pdf).
Administrative Reminders
1. If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your GTA a
letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed.
Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. (303
492 8671, Willard 322, http://disabilityservices.colorado.edu/accommodation-and-orservices
2. Teaching faculty shall make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students
who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments
or required attendance. We encourage you to notify your GTA of anticipated conflicts as

early in the semester as possible so that there is adequate time to make necessary
arrangements. http://www.colorado.edu/policies/observance-religious-holidays-andabsences-classes-andor-exams.