NRS534
Graduate Seminar in the
Ecology of Fragmented Landscapes (2 credits)
Instructors: Pete August, URI; Jeff
Hollister, EPA Narragansett Lab
Goals: Review the general concepts and principles of landscape ecology and evaluate
a couple of exciting emerging themes: the ecology of roads, predictive modeling,
and a topic of general interest chosen by the students.
Format: Students will be assigned general topics to research and for each topic,
choose papers to read and lead class discussion. Each student will be required
to choose readings one or more times. Students will be also chosen to lead
class discussions one or more times.
Student Responsibilities: 1) Attend all meetings and participate
in discussions. 2) Lead or co-lead
a session. This means pick papers to review and keep the discussion moving.
3) Prepare an annotated bibliography and 3-5 page white
paper on the topic due at the end of the semester.
Meeting Time: Mondays 3:00 - 5:00 PM, Coastal Institute in Kingston, Room
026
Grading:
Grades will be based on class participation (40%), the bibliography (30%),
and the white paper (30%).
Misc:
Need back copies of the Journal of Landscape Ecology, click here.
Are you a member of US-IALE? Click here
for more info.
Sample
Bibs: 2005
Tentative schedule:
Week
1 Intro Session
Week
2 (1/29) Landscape Ecology Basics. Also, read
the overview of LE at this
web site
Pickett,
S.T.A., and M.L. Cadenasso. 1995. Landscape ecology: spatial heterogeneity
in ecological systems. Science 269:331-334.
Risser, P.G., J.R. Karr, and R.T.T.
Forman. 1984. Landscape ecology: directions and approaches. Special Publ.
No. 2, Ill. Natural Hist. Surv., Champaign.
Turner, M.G. 1989.
Landscape ecology: the effect of pattern on process. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst.
20:171-197
Turner, M. 2005.
Landscape ecology: what is the state of the science? Annual Review of Ecology,
Evolution and Systematics.
Week
3 (2/5) Landscape Ecology Basics (reading and discussion
of classic papers)
Week
4 (2/12) Landscape Ecology
in Europe
Week
5 (2/26) Quantitative Assessment of
Landscapes
Week
6 (3/12) Basics of Road Ecology. At
EPA AED Lab
Lab
tour (optional) begins at 4:30. Seminar starts at 3:00
DIRECTIONS:
Drive to URI Bay Campus. Just after main GSO entrance on right, turn left
onto Tarzwell Drive. Continue to the parking lot at the end of Tarzwell Drive.
This is The Atlantic Ecology Division of EPA. You pass the main entrance to
the building as you drive into the parkinglot on the right. Enter the
building and give your name to the Guard and tell him you are
there for the seminar with Jeff Hollister.
Forman,
R. T. T. and L. E. Alexander. 1998. Roads and their major ecological effects.
Annual Reviews of Ecology and Systematics
Trombulak and Frissel.
2000. Review of Ecological Effects of Roads. Conservation Biology
(Note -- this is a large compedium on road ecology if you are interested in
this topic)Forman, R. T. T. 2002. Road Ecology: Science and solutions. Island
Press
Week
7 (3/26), Road Ecology (cont)
| Lead Reviewer |
Paper |
Ann B |
Brock
and Kelt. 2004. Influence of roads on the endangered Stephen kangaroo
rat (Dipodomys stephensi): are dirt and gravel roads different? Biological
Conservation |
Erik
B |
Brown
and Laband. 2005. Species Imperilment and Spatial Patterns of Development
in the United States. Conservation Biology. |
Annie
C |
Hawbaker
and Radeloff. 2004. Roads and Landscape Pattern in Northern Wisconsin
Based on a Comparison of Four Road Data Sources. Conservation Biology |
Week
8 (4/2) Modeling
Mankin,
J.B., R.V. O'Neill, H.H. Shugart, and B.W. Rust. 1975. The importance
of validation in ecosystems analysis. Pages 63-71 in G.S. Innis (ed.), New
directions in the analysis of ecological systems, part 1. Simulation Councils
Proceedings Series, vol. 5. Simulation Councils, La Jolla, California.
Turner,
M.G., R.H. Gardner, and R.V. O'Neill. 2001. Landscape ecology in theory
and practice: pattern and process. Springer, New York. pp 47-69.
Baker,
W.L. 1989. A review of models of landscape change. Landscape Ecol. 2:111-133.
Week
9 (4/16) Modeling
Strayer
D.L., Beighley R.E., Thompson L.C., Brooks S., Nilsson C, et al. 2003. Effects
of land cover on stream ecosystems: roles of empirical models and scaling issues.
Ecosystems 6:407–23
Guissan,
A. and Zimmerman, N. E. 2000. Predictive habitat distribution models in
ecology. Ecological Modelling 135(2-3):147-186.
Week
10 (4/9) NO CLASS
Week
11 (4/23) Topic Chosen by Students
| Lead
Reviewer |
Paper |
Rob
H |
Kaushal
et al. 2006. Increased salinization of fresh water in the northeastern
United States. PNAS |
Erik
B |
Treml
et al. In Press. Modeling Population Connectivity by Ocean Currents,
a Graph-theoretic Approach for Marine Conservation |
Annie
C |
Wiens,
J. 2002. Riverine landscapes: taking landscape ecology into the
water. Freshwater Bio. |
Week
12 (4/30) Topic Chosen by Students
| Lead
Reviewer |
Paper |
Ann
B. |
Trzcinski
et al. 1999. Independent Effects of Forest Cover and Fragmentation
on the Distribution of Forest Breeding Birds. Ecol Apps. |
Erik
B |
Donovan
and Flather.2002. Relationships among North American Songbird Trends,
Habitat Fragmentation, and Landscape Occupancy. Ecol Apps. |
Final
Paper Presentations 10 May, 7:00 PM, CIK 026