BIOL 416 Terrestrial Ecosystems

Welcome to the Biol 416 Web Page for Fall 2019

The ecosystem approach to ecology treats organisms and the physical aspects of their environment as components of a single integrated system. Terrestrial ecosystem functioning is governed by interactions amongst animals, plants, and soil organisms, as well as exchanges of energy and resources with the atmosphere, soils, rocks, and aquatic environments. This advanced undergraduate level ecology course is focused on plant-soil interactions as being a fundamental determinant of the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems around the world. As a group, we will attempt to synthesize recent advances arising from the ecosystem approach with established ecological theory to describe and explain ecosystem-level patterns and processes in the terrestrial environment.

The course content for the Fall 2019 iteration will be centered on identifying, critiquing, and applying terrestrial ecosystem ecological concepts to address the following thematic question:  What specific terrestrial ecosystem-level ecology concepts would be most beneficial to meeting global food demands in 2050, while also addressing industrial agriculture’s deleterious impacts on soil, air, and human well-being?

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Explain and evaluate the major concepts underlying terrestrial ecosystem ecology that distinguish it from lower hierarchical levels such as community and population ecology
2. Describe and contrast the major processes and features that distinguish local terrestrial ecosystems, especially in the context of how soil-plant relationships influence farmers’ crop-type choices
3. Formulate clear, original, challenging, and concise thematic questions from study reading material that are likely to lead to focussed and intellectually probing seminar group discussions, student-led seminar topics or short essay writing pieces
4. Explain the concept of food insecurity as it applies at both local (Kingston) and global scales
5. Synthesize, evaluate, and critique the potential solutions to meeting future local and global food demands
6. Present a stimulating, informative and creative seminar on a fundamental issue connecting agroecosystem ecology and global food supply/demand
7. Develop an original, cohesive, synthesis essay on the distinctive concepts of ecosystem-level ecology that would be most useful in developing and expanding sustainable farming practices.

Professor: Paul Grogan

Lecture times: Mondays 08.30-10.00; Thursdays 10.00-11.30
Lab/field trip times: Mondays: 2.30-5.30; Overnight field trip in October
Lab Instructor: Meghan Hamp (E-mail: 19meh1@queensu.ca; Office: Room 2507)
Location: Room 3110, (Labs 3312) Biosciences building

Assessment:

15% Participation in seminar discussions
15% Seminar questions
25% Seminar
15% Field trip discussion participation
30% Final essay

Required textbook: Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology. 2011. 2nd edition. Chapin, F.S. III, Matson, P.A. and Vitousek, P. Springer.

Schedule (to be updated throughout the course): Lecture/Seminar sessions are 80 minutes; Labs up to 3 hours.

Initial brain-storming blackboard session on the course theme and its relationship to the contents of Jonathan Foley's Nature paper entitled 'Solutions for a Cultivated Planet' and the Food Inc. video documentary

Class of Fall 2019!   Back row: Ellie Hamburger, Andrew Kusnierczyk, Mike Hann, Andrew Clifford, Amber Guidice, Gerard Mannella, Thalib Nowshir, and you know who. Middle row (left side): Silvi Raud, Ellie Meldrum, Samantha Peacock, Tavleen Matharu. Front row: Meghan Hamp, Olivia Marshall, Jillian Campbell, Tristan Setoyama, Jeffrey So, and Nandaraye Choi.   See other lab and field trip photos here

Click here to see the course structure and topics addressed in previous years (2007 and 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2019winter)

Last update: 21 November 2019