ECL407E
Tropical Rainforest Ecology
Resources
Tropical Rainforest Ecology
Resources
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| Here you can find an updated version of the syllabus for the course of Tropical Rainforest Ecology (ECL 407E). You may also access the previous version of the syllabus either by clicking on the image below or by login into the page of the Registro de la USFQ. |
Tropical rainforests are the "Jewels of the Earth". They are the richest ecosystem on the planet,
not just by holding between 40-75% of all known species (and it is estimated that many millions
remain undiscovered) but also by providing almost 30% of the oxygen in the planet, over
one-quarter of modern medicines, and some of our most important foods and spices. Tropical
rainforests are found around the Equator, in four continents (America, Africa, Asia, and
Oceania) but they provide ecosystem services to all humans across the planet. Unfortunately, an
accelerated rate of destruction is transforming rainforests into open anthropogenic lands. This
destruction does not affect solely to the diversity living there and the ecosystem services directly
provided, but also influence local and regional climate patterns, global economies, and
sociocultural human patterns.
This course will present a scientific, systematic, and updated review of the ecology of tropical
rainforests. It is designed to provide you a sound foundation in ecological concepts and field
techniques as applied to tropical rainforest ecosystems. We will study their main abiotic and
biotic characteristics, including nutrients and elements cycles, biogeographic patterns,
diversity of flora and fauna, forest dynamics, and community ecology. Further, we will analyse
the relationships with humans, from ancient societies to modern human development, and how
they affect the conservation of tropical rainforests ecosystems.
Students must have passed General Biology (BIO140) to take this course, and it is recommended
also having Botany (BIO202), Zoology (BIO222), Evolution (BIO233), and Ecology &
Biogeography (ECL250), or equivalents.
OBJECTIVES
(1) To learn fundamental concepts and theoretic bases.
You will win a systematic understanding about basic and key elements of the ecology of tropical
rainforests ecosystems.
(2) To analyse concepts, critically develop arguments, and establish hypotheses.
You will win a critical understanding about how historical and current events have shaped the
diversity, distribution, and evolution of rainforest's species, how plant and animal communities
are interacting, and how they are related with humans.
(3) To learn practical details and study methodologies
You will learn about the main groups of plants and animals living in the rainforests. You will be
able to develop field research and analyse acquired data. You will understand how to collect local
data to help on the development of regional, national, and global initiatives.
(4) To develop creative and communication skills
You will be able to identify and analyse a topic and to clearly communicate your ideas, results,
and conclusions with efficiency, in oral, visual, and written forms. We will try to expand our
creative possibilities.
METHODOLOGY
This course will have formal classroom lectures, readings and critiques, a presentations session,
a guided visit, and a field expedition. Formal lectures will take place in the USFQ campus. We
will read from different books and journals to develop each section. For each class you will have
a set of selected readings that you have to critically study **BEFORE** the class. We will have
a presentation session where students will present talks based on bibliographic research. The
guided visit will be to the Vivarium de Quito and to the Jardín Botánico de Quito.
The field expedition will be to the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS), Amazonian Ecuador, an
area that holds world-records for plants and animals diversity. Informal lectures will be provided
periodically during orientation walks (when you first arrive) or in discussion groups. These will
cover a wide variety of topics and will generally be prompted by what we encounter in the field,
or by the direction taken during group discussions. You will develop an individual research
projects.
The progress on the class will be evaluated using:
(1) Quizzes: To evaluate the understanding of readings required for the day and information
presented during the last class. They maybe in written format or as oral reports and critiques
(taken at the beginning of the class--10 minutes after the initial time, and will last about 10
minutes).
(2) Courseworks: To expand your knowledge about different issues beyond the readings. You
will present them *printed* at the beginning of the scheduled class.
(3) Blog discussions: Discussions will be open every two weeks in the blog:
http://dfch-usfq.blogspot.com/. You will have to send your opinions before Sunday (12h00) for
them to be evaluated.
(4) Bibliographic research (talk and poster): Each student will select one topic related with the
ecology and conservation of tropical rainforests and will exhaustively review all available trustful
sources of scientific information. it will be presented as a talk and a poster:
* The talk will be prepared to last 12 minutes. The purpose is to evaluate your oral skills. It must
be presented using a presentation programme such as Microsoft PowerPoint, OpenOffice.org
Impress or Apple Keynote (verify compatibility with computers available) and the number of
slides should not exceed 20. You have to prepare a detailed abstract (one page, may be printed
on both sides) to give out to your fellow students on the day of your talk. You are responsible
for all audio-visual aids.
* The poster will communicate in an efficient and attractive way your research. It will include
graphical material (photographs and figures) and will be visually attractive without loosing its
scientific objectivity. It is imperative to produce the poster using a computer programme such as
Power Point or Photoshop (depending on your expertise). It must be printed in A0 format on full
colour and delivered on the day of your talk.
(5) Field expedition (paper and species list): This activity is compulsory. We will visit the
Tiputini Biodiversity Station. All students will work on individual research projects. A final paper
will be due two weeks after we come back. I will grade your paper and then pass your final
grade. The paper will be structured as a manuscript submitted to a scientific journal
(Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, and Discussion) and will follow the guidelines for
written reports. Word limit for each paper is 3000. Papers must be submitted printed. In
addition, you will submit an individual annotated list of all species of flora (those identified) and
fauna (invertebrates and fishes identified at least to order, terrestrial vertebrates to species or at
least genus level) observed during the field expedition. You will include information about its
taxonomy, English and Spanish names, observation dates, habitat, microhabitats, dial pattern,
general behaviour, and natural history for each species. You must start thinking about your
project before we go to TBS. You must submit to me a two-page proposal of your project
before we go to TBS and present it also as a short presentation to the class on the same day (see
date below). You will have to state the background of your research, why do you think your
topic is interesting, the question or questions your are trying to answer, what kinds of methods
will you use, and the types of statistics you expect to use. The idea is to get feedback from
your instructor as well as from your peers. You should have a plan B in case your initial proposal
is not feasible. Your project needs to be approved by me before you go to TBS. Once you get to
TBS, you will have two days to decide if your project is feasible.
(6) Exams: There will be two exams, one mid-term and one final. They will test your knowledge
about topics presented during the lectures, talks, posters, and homeworks and will include
questions in different formats: multiple-choice, true&false, critical development, and
photographic species identification.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
not just by holding between 40-75% of all known species (and it is estimated that many millions
remain undiscovered) but also by providing almost 30% of the oxygen in the planet, over
one-quarter of modern medicines, and some of our most important foods and spices. Tropical
rainforests are found around the Equator, in four continents (America, Africa, Asia, and
Oceania) but they provide ecosystem services to all humans across the planet. Unfortunately, an
accelerated rate of destruction is transforming rainforests into open anthropogenic lands. This
destruction does not affect solely to the diversity living there and the ecosystem services directly
provided, but also influence local and regional climate patterns, global economies, and
sociocultural human patterns.
This course will present a scientific, systematic, and updated review of the ecology of tropical
rainforests. It is designed to provide you a sound foundation in ecological concepts and field
techniques as applied to tropical rainforest ecosystems. We will study their main abiotic and
biotic characteristics, including nutrients and elements cycles, biogeographic patterns,
diversity of flora and fauna, forest dynamics, and community ecology. Further, we will analyse
the relationships with humans, from ancient societies to modern human development, and how
they affect the conservation of tropical rainforests ecosystems.
Students must have passed General Biology (BIO140) to take this course, and it is recommended
also having Botany (BIO202), Zoology (BIO222), Evolution (BIO233), and Ecology &
Biogeography (ECL250), or equivalents.
OBJECTIVES
(1) To learn fundamental concepts and theoretic bases.
You will win a systematic understanding about basic and key elements of the ecology of tropical
rainforests ecosystems.
(2) To analyse concepts, critically develop arguments, and establish hypotheses.
You will win a critical understanding about how historical and current events have shaped the
diversity, distribution, and evolution of rainforest's species, how plant and animal communities
are interacting, and how they are related with humans.
(3) To learn practical details and study methodologies
You will learn about the main groups of plants and animals living in the rainforests. You will be
able to develop field research and analyse acquired data. You will understand how to collect local
data to help on the development of regional, national, and global initiatives.
(4) To develop creative and communication skills
You will be able to identify and analyse a topic and to clearly communicate your ideas, results,
and conclusions with efficiency, in oral, visual, and written forms. We will try to expand our
creative possibilities.
METHODOLOGY
This course will have formal classroom lectures, readings and critiques, a presentations session,
a guided visit, and a field expedition. Formal lectures will take place in the USFQ campus. We
will read from different books and journals to develop each section. For each class you will have
a set of selected readings that you have to critically study **BEFORE** the class. We will have
a presentation session where students will present talks based on bibliographic research. The
guided visit will be to the Vivarium de Quito and to the Jardín Botánico de Quito.
The field expedition will be to the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS), Amazonian Ecuador, an
area that holds world-records for plants and animals diversity. Informal lectures will be provided
periodically during orientation walks (when you first arrive) or in discussion groups. These will
cover a wide variety of topics and will generally be prompted by what we encounter in the field,
or by the direction taken during group discussions. You will develop an individual research
projects.
The progress on the class will be evaluated using:
(1) Quizzes: To evaluate the understanding of readings required for the day and information
presented during the last class. They maybe in written format or as oral reports and critiques
(taken at the beginning of the class--10 minutes after the initial time, and will last about 10
minutes).
(2) Courseworks: To expand your knowledge about different issues beyond the readings. You
will present them *printed* at the beginning of the scheduled class.
(3) Blog discussions: Discussions will be open every two weeks in the blog:
http://dfch-usfq.blogspot.com/. You will have to send your opinions before Sunday (12h00) for
them to be evaluated.
(4) Bibliographic research (talk and poster): Each student will select one topic related with the
ecology and conservation of tropical rainforests and will exhaustively review all available trustful
sources of scientific information. it will be presented as a talk and a poster:
* The talk will be prepared to last 12 minutes. The purpose is to evaluate your oral skills. It must
be presented using a presentation programme such as Microsoft PowerPoint, OpenOffice.org
Impress or Apple Keynote (verify compatibility with computers available) and the number of
slides should not exceed 20. You have to prepare a detailed abstract (one page, may be printed
on both sides) to give out to your fellow students on the day of your talk. You are responsible
for all audio-visual aids.
* The poster will communicate in an efficient and attractive way your research. It will include
graphical material (photographs and figures) and will be visually attractive without loosing its
scientific objectivity. It is imperative to produce the poster using a computer programme such as
Power Point or Photoshop (depending on your expertise). It must be printed in A0 format on full
colour and delivered on the day of your talk.
(5) Field expedition (paper and species list): This activity is compulsory. We will visit the
Tiputini Biodiversity Station. All students will work on individual research projects. A final paper
will be due two weeks after we come back. I will grade your paper and then pass your final
grade. The paper will be structured as a manuscript submitted to a scientific journal
(Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, and Discussion) and will follow the guidelines for
written reports. Word limit for each paper is 3000. Papers must be submitted printed. In
addition, you will submit an individual annotated list of all species of flora (those identified) and
fauna (invertebrates and fishes identified at least to order, terrestrial vertebrates to species or at
least genus level) observed during the field expedition. You will include information about its
taxonomy, English and Spanish names, observation dates, habitat, microhabitats, dial pattern,
general behaviour, and natural history for each species. You must start thinking about your
project before we go to TBS. You must submit to me a two-page proposal of your project
before we go to TBS and present it also as a short presentation to the class on the same day (see
date below). You will have to state the background of your research, why do you think your
topic is interesting, the question or questions your are trying to answer, what kinds of methods
will you use, and the types of statistics you expect to use. The idea is to get feedback from
your instructor as well as from your peers. You should have a plan B in case your initial proposal
is not feasible. Your project needs to be approved by me before you go to TBS. Once you get to
TBS, you will have two days to decide if your project is feasible.
(6) Exams: There will be two exams, one mid-term and one final. They will test your knowledge
about topics presented during the lectures, talks, posters, and homeworks and will include
questions in different formats: multiple-choice, true&false, critical development, and
photographic species identification.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
| UPDATED SYLLABUS |
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