Zoology 442: Animal Ecology Laboratory, Section 001
How/When to Reach Me: I encourage students to contact me for help with course material, including understanding concepts, conducting statistical analyses, interpreting results, writing papers, and pretty much anything else associated with the course.
Prerequisites: Biology 110-120
Corequisite: Zool. 441
Text: Animal Ecology Lab Manual (on sale at the UTM book store.)
Course Goals: Obtain experience describing ecological systems and testing ecological hypotheses by sampling, statistically analyzing, interpreting, and presenting ecological data from areas of the individual, population, and community ecology of animals.
Grades: I expect that your grades will be based on the following. Note, however, that ecological studies do not always work well and may be changed so the exact numbers of lab reports and discussion preparation question sets may be changed during the course.
Lab Reports: Lab reports must be typed, double spaced, with 1" margins and font size no smaller than 12 point. They will include both a written section and some graphs and/or tables; the MAXIMUM length of the written section is two typed pages. The format for lab reports is given in your lab manual. They must be written in the clear, concise style required for scientific writing; further information on writing style is given at the page you reach by clicking here. WARNING: the writing style page also has a link to a page on writing lab reports; note that the reports that you write are an abbreviated form of a formal scientific lab report described there, so DO NOT turn in a full length report asdescribed on the lab report web page. Lab reports are due at the START of the lab period on the due date (that's 8:00 a.m.) Due dates are given on the schedule below. Unless you have a serious, verified medical or family emergency that I approve ahead of time, I do not accept late papers. It is your responsibility to KEEP A COPY of any paper you turn in until you receive your graded paper.
Discussion preparation question sets: Before each section during which we discuss and analyze data, you are required to prepare mentally for the discussion by completing a set of questions. These are to be turned in at the start of the lab period (they need to by on my desk in the lab no later than 8:00 a.m. on lab days!) Like the lab reports, they must be typed and written in the clear, concise style required for scientific writing (described on the page you reach by clicking here.) Do not include the questions in your write-up, just the question numbers and the answers. The questions you must answer depend on whether the lab is designed to use a method to describe an ecological situation and test the method, or to test an ecological hypothesis. The questions are given at the following sites:
Participation: Your grade for participation depends on actively helping to collect data during experiments, analyzing and discussing results during discussion periods, accurately recording data in the correct format, and correctly completing statistical analyses that we do in class. The data sheets and statistical analyses you will be required to hand in at the end of some laboratory periods will contribute to your participation grade.
Outdoor activity: Note that this is a field course; the course requires field work involving physical activity. All students are expected to participate in this activity. Also note that we will meet, and go outside, in any weather conditions (unless there is clear danger -- for example, we won't be out in the middle of a pond or an open field during a severe thunderstorm), so be prepared. Any students with allergies to bees, or anything else commonly encountered outside, are expected to let me know in advance and must come prepared (bring your bee kit or anything else you might require in an emergency).
Attendance Policy: Attendance in all laboratory/discussion periods is required. If you miss a lab or discussion section without a serious reason that I approve ahead of time, you will not be eligible to receive credit for the write-up or questions associated with that lab or discussion (note that this means that if you miss either the lab period when we collect data OR the period when we discuss those data without an approved reason, you will not receive credit for the lab write-up).You will not receive participation points for labs or discussions you do not attend, although, for up to two laboratory periods, these may be excused from your overall point total IF you have an approved (by me) reason for missing. If you miss three or more laboratory periods for any reason you will automatically fail the course.
Cheating/plagiarism: You are encouraged to discuss material for labs with one another, collaborate on data collection, and to work in groups on analyses, but any papers (lab reports and discussion preparation question sets) that you turn in must be written yourself, in your own words (not those of another student or the lab manual). Copying work from another student, allowing another student to copy your work, or taking any material from another source without citing that source is plagiarism, and will result in your receiving an F in the COURSE, as will other academic dishonesty.
Assistance for Students With Special Needs: Any student eligible for and requesting academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide a letter of accommodation from P.A.C.E. or Student Academic Support Center within the first two weeks of the semester.
Tentative Laboratory Schedule. We will probably follow
this schedule pretty closely, but note that it may change and that
labs may be substituted at the last minute if weather or other considerations
prevent us from doing the scheduled lab. Assignment due dates are
also noted.
| DATE | LAB TOPIC (numbers denote chapters in lab manual) |
| 23 Aug | 3. Capture-Recapture Study of Grasshoppers |
| 30 Aug | Analysis and Discussion of Capture-Recapture Data Analysis; Preparation for Niche Partitioning Lab (Chapter 5). Discussion preparation questions due at the start of class. ALSO READ:1. Introduction to Data Collection and Statistical Analysis in Ecology; Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel |
| 06 Sep | 5. Niche Partitioning in Pollinators. Due: Capture-Recapture Lab Report |
| 13 Sep | Analysis and Discussion of Niche Partitioning Data; Preparation for Insect Species Diversity Lab (from handout, not lab manual) Discussion preparation questions due at the start of class. |
| 20 Sep | Species Diversity in Insects (from handout; not the lab manual version.) Due: Niche Partitioning Lab Report |
| 27 Sep lab will be rescheduled to Mon, 30 Sep | Analysis and Discussion of Species Diversity Data; Discussion preparation questions due at the start of class. |
| 04 Oct | 6. Studying a species in its habitat: microhabitat use by voles Due: Species Diversity Lab Report |
| 11 Oct | Analysis and Discussion of Vole Microhabitat Data; Preparation of Life Table Lab |
| 18 Oct | FALL BREAK |
| 25 Oct | 9. Life Table Lab. Due: Vole Microhabitat Lab Report Discussion preparation questions due at the start of class. |
| 01 Nov | Analysis and Discussion of Life Table Data ; Preparation for Prey choice lab (Chapter 8) |
| 08 Nov | 8. Studying animal behavior: prey choice in fish. Take data AND analyze, discuss data. Due: Life Table Lab Report |
| 15 Nov | Lab Final Review. Due: Fish Prey Choice Lab Report |
| 22 Nov | LAB FINAL |
| 05 Dec | (This is a Thursday; no lab) OPTIONAL: You may submit a revision of the lab report that has been returned to you that received the lowest score. Your final score for this report will be the average of the original score and the new score. |