New course for Spring 2008: Invasion Biology

Effects of non-native species are a great hazard to global biodiversity, second only to habitat destruction. Currently, the United States spends $120 billion a year in total direct costs for non-indigenous species. Florida is one of the most highly invaded states and devotes significant resources for the control and eradication of invasive nonnative species. We will use the new textbook by Lockwood et al. (2007). The course will cover the three stages of invasion: introduction, establishment and spread. Factors that influence these stages will also be covered: transport vectors, propagule pressure, disturbance, and environmental resistance. Current management and prediction practices will be covered as well as impacts on native species and ecosystems, and the evolution of nonnatives and natives in response to invasion. The addition of species into ecosystems is fascinating to study from a theoretical standpoint, as it provides insights into basic ecological and evolutionary questions.

Fall 2007: Advanced Ecology PCB 5046C
Lecture M/W/F 8:30-9:30, Lab W 9:30-1:30

The goal of this course is to provide a common foundation for graduate students in ecology. The objectives of this course are:

1. to explore important ecological concepts and theories,
2. to provide experience in testing and critically evaluating ecological concepts and theories, and
3. to improve writing and presentation skills.

The course format will include a combination of lectures, class discussions, and student presentations. We will explore topics from population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, as well as landscape ecology. Mondays and Wednesdays classroom times will be hour-long lecture-based discussions of readings from the textbooks as well as other relevant literature. Fridays will be student-led discussion sessions where each student identifies a paper from the textbook, *Foundations of Ecology* and chooses two current papers that reflect the current thinking on this topic. We will read some of the classic and current papers in ecology to cover these topics. In addition, during the lab portion of the course (Wednesday mornings after lecture) will be "hands-on" labs in which students will conduct field work and computer-based simulations to explore a topic previously discussed. During this time, we will discuss some practical techniques including experimental design, field methods, and statistical analysis of data. We will also use computer assisted methods for problem solving and exploration of models.