GEOGRAPHY 105 INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY



GEOGRAPHY 391 BIOGEOGRAPHY

Tuesday and Thursday 2-3:50

Room: MNB 103

Instructor: Mark M. Van Steeter, Ph.D.

e-mail: vanstem@wou.edu

web page: wou.edu/~vanstem

phone: 838-8855 office: HSS 216

Office Hours: M 2-3, T 12-1, W 2-4, R 12-1

Text: Biogeography- An ecological and evolutionary approach. Authors: Cox and Moore.

(book store has 8th ed, you can get a cheap 6th ed on-line if you want)

Course Description

Biogeography is the science that attempts to document and understand spatial patterns of biodiversity. It is a synthetic discipline, relying heavily on theory and data from ecology, population biology, evolutionary biology, and the earth sciences. In this class, we will work to develop a holistic understanding of the forces that drive evolution, speciation, extinction, and the spatial distribution of organisms. Questions concerning the impact of humans on the distribution of biodiversity will also be an ongoing theme throughout the class.

I expect students to attend every class, be prepared, and to add to the classroom learning experience. An important part of learning requires the pursuit of questions and the discussion of ideas. I expect students to ask questions in class and participate in discussions. There is no such thing as a "stupid question", and the more questions you ask, the more interesting the class will be for all of us.

Exams

There will be two exams worth 100 points each. They will be based primarily on the lecture material, but some questions will come from your readings and student presentations. If you want to get an "A" in the class, I strongly suggest that you attend all lectures, and take very detailed notes. The format of exams will be a mixture of fill in the blank, matching, multiple choice, and short essay. I will not give any make-up exams and all exams will count towards your final grade. If you have a legitimate reason for not being able to make an exam, you must contact me before the exam is given, or you will receive a zero.

Article Reviews

We will read five articles related to biogeography.

They will be listed under the heading Geog 391 of my web page: wou.edu/~vanstem. Each student is responsible for writing an outline and discussion questions for each article.

You will sign up to be a co-leader of discussion for one of the articles (2-3 leaders per article).

Each outline/discussion questions will be worth 10 points, for a total of 50 points. The general requirements are outlined below:

*Write an outline of the key points of the article. This must be typed, and usually will be about two pages.

*Write five discussion questions.

*Lead a group discussion of one article. (there will be a sign up sheet for which one)

Paper and Presentations:

Choose a region and explore its biogeography. Defining the boundaries of this "region" should be based upon its species composition and physiographic barriers. For example, if you are interested in rainforests, you could choose the rainforests of the Congo, Amazon Basin, Indonesia, or Central America. If you like deserts, you could pick the deserts of the Gobi, Sahara, Mohave, Outback etc. If you like the concepts of "island biogeography", pick an island of your choice. An important key to motivation and success is to pick a location that truly interests you

In your research you need to address:

i) historical events/processes responsible for the characteristics of this region

-plate tectonics

-original source areas of species

-migration of species

-evolution of species

ii) unique characteristics of the plants and animals of this region

-characteristics essential to success in this climate and physiography

iii) human induced changes to the region

The most difficult part of the work is to intelligently discuss the evolution of the landscape and organisms through time. You need to present a clear chronology that explains why this region has the characteristics of today.

Papers and presentations will be graded on content, clarity, visual impact, and the depth of the discussion of processes. Any errors in grammar or spelling will significantly lower your grade. Also, be certain that you can clearly explain everything you have written. If you include “impressive” techno-jargon that you cannot explain, it will only hurt your grade.

You must write all of the text yourself, and cutting and pasting from web sites will not be tolerated. This is plagiarism and it will result in a failing grade.

Examples (very simplified):

I. The Great Outback Desert of Australia

-historic isolation of Australia during the period of placental mammal evolution.

- reasons for the arid climate of the region

- plant and animal species and their favorable adaptations to this region

- human induced change to the current ecosystem

II. Rainforests of Papua New Guinea

-tectonic driven formation of the island

-dates of island formation in relation to dates of evolution of plants/animals

-reasons for the wet/humid climate

-dispersal mechanisms important to populating the island

-reasons for the species richness, including issues of competition

-human impacts and effects on the biodiversity of the region

Presentations

Each student will give a 10 minute powerpoint presentation of their paper when it is completed (week 9), and a less formal 3 minute presentation during week 4. The purpose of the three minute presentation is to provide a class forum for discussion and clarification before the final paper and presentation are completed.

i) include maps, photos, illustrations, graphs and tables

ii) text should be “bullet points”, not prose.

Paper

Write a 10+ page paper on your project.

This is a relatively short paper, but I expect the quality to be excellent.

Typical Format:

i) introduction

ii) body with appropriate subheadings

iii) conclusions

iv) bibliography

You need to use at least 8 sources, and at least three of these must be from peer reviewed journals.

The sources of your information must be frequently and accurately cited in your text.

It is better to cite too often than too little.

If sources of information are not cited within the text, you can’t get better than a “C”.

Don’t use any information from non-credible sources or you will lose points.

Some examples of credible and non-credible sources related to Hawaii.

Credible Sources: Peer Reviewed journal articles (ex: Science, Nature, Biogeography etc)

US Geologic Survey

NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service)

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Org)

NASA

University of Hawaii Biodiversity and Mapping Program

Wikipedia can be a great tool for finding credible sources, but cannot

be cited as a source.

Non-Credible:

Info straight from Wikipedia

Tour Hawaii

Ed’s Page of Hawaii Biogeography

Articles from Newspapers

“Go Hawaii” tourism site

ASK ME if a source is “credible” if you are not 100% sure!

 Summary of Project requirements

i) title, rough outline and tentative sources (week 2)

ii) revised outline, sources and three minute presentation (week 4)

iii) paper (week 9)

iv) powerpoint presentation (weeks 9-10)

v) electronic copy of presentation (week 9)

vi) attendance at all presentations

Grading

Every student has the opportunity to get an "A". If you work hard, you will succeed. I generally grade 100-90 = A, 89-80 = B, 79-70 = C, and 69-60 = D. If this scale is changed, it will be changed to your advantage.

Exam 1&2 (100pts each) 200 pts

Paper 100 pts

Presentation of Project (10min) 50 pts

Article Reviews (10pts x 5) 50 pts

Outline of Paper and Project Progress Presentation (3min) 20 pts

Worksheets etc. (total points may vary) 20 pts

Attendance during presentations 20 pts

Project title and draft outline 15 pts

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Total 475 pts

Late Assignments lose 10% per day.

Cheating and Plagiarism

Any student suspected of cheating will be referred to the Student Judicial Program. This can result in being expelled from the University. Don't do it!

Revised Readings: 6th edition in original syllabus, 8th edition in parenthesis below.

Tentative Schedule

Week 1 Class Introduction, Biodiversity

Chapters 1 & 2 (Chapters 1 & 4)

Week 2 Patterns of Distribution, Communities and Ecosystems

Chapter 3 & 4 (Chapters 2 & 3)

Project title, draft outline and sources due Tuesday

Article Review Thursday: Extinction, Substitution and Ecosystem Services

Week 3 The Source of Novelty

Chapter 5 (Chapter 6)

Article Review Thursday: Daphne Major

Week 4 Student Presentations, Outline of paper and all sources due (Tuesday)

Patterns in the Past (Thursday)

Chapter 6 (Chapter 10)

Week 5 Exam 1 (Tuesday)

No class Thursday

Patterns of Life Today (Thursday)

Chapter 7 (Chapter 11)

Week 6 Patterns of Life Today, Interpreting the Past, The Making of Today

Chapters 7, 9,10 (Chapters 11 & 12)

Article Review Thursday: George Divoky’s Planet

Week 7 Projecting into the Future

Chapter 11 (Chapter 14)

Article Review Thursday: Overkill Hypothesis

Week 8 Life and Death on Islands

Chapter 13 (Chapter 8)

Article Review Thursday: Island Biogeography

Week 9 Papers Due, Student Presentations begin (Tuesday)

Week 10 Finish student presentations (if needed)

Review of key points from presentations

Lecture (topic to be determined)

Final Exam Thursday March 17th Noon – 1:50

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