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Forestry 316: Tropical and Boreal Forest Ecosystems
Spring 1999
Meeting Times: 8:00 - 9:15 TTH, SN-211
Professor: Ken Smith, 213 Snowden, office hours WTHF 3- 5:00 PM
Required Text: Tropical Nature. 1984. A. Forsyth and K. Miyata.
Grades:
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Class Participation |
20 points |
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4 Summaries |
60 points |
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6 Quizzes |
60 points |
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Exam 1 |
75 points |
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Exam 2 |
100 points |
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Final |
110 points |
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Total Points |
425 points |
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DATE |
TOPIC |
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Jan. 19, 21 |
Intro to course, world biomes and climate |
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Jan. 26, 28 |
The boreal biome, forest types, and disturbance |
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Feb. 2, 4 |
The BOREAS project (ecosystem level processes) |
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Feb. 9, 11 |
Canadian sustainable forest management network |
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Feb. 16, 18 |
Exam 1, Sustaining the boreal forest conference |
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Feb. 23, 25 |
The tropical biome, seasonality, and soils |
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Mar. 2, 4 |
Why so many plant species?, taxonomic families |
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Mar. 9, 11 |
Vines, mangroves, palms, and epiphytes |
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Mar. 16 |
Forest ecosystems and processes in S.E. Asia |
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Mar. 30, Apr. 1 |
S.E. Asia, Exam 2 |
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Apr. 6, 8 |
African forest and savanna ecosystems and processes |
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Apr. 13, 15 |
Neotropical ecosystems and processes |
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Apr. 20, 22 |
Neotropical ecosystems and processes |
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Apr. 27, 29 |
Land use change in the tropics, NASA's LBA project |
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May 4 |
Summary and Semester Review |
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May 8, 2:00PM |
Final Exam (comprehensive) |
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Class Participation:
Student participation during each and every class is highly encouraged, and I thoroughly believe that classroom discussion (or questions) will greatly enhance everyone's learning experience! If necessary, one absence is ok, two will try my patience, three is unthinkable.
Written Assignments: (12 point font, 1 inch margins top and bottom, 0.75 inch on sides, double spaced)
You will be assigned four, one and a half page summaries of a scientific article of your choice. The general themes and sources for each paper will be announced in class. In each summary, I want you to focus on each study's objectives, if the researchers adequately addressed the objectives in the paper, and the most significant results of the study. Be careful not to plagiarize or use quotations, use your own words! These are due Feb. 2, Mar. 4, Mar. 16, and Apr. 22.
Reading Assignments:
As assigned each class period from the text, handouts, or on the internet. Six (10 point) quizzes will be given on the reading material during the semester. We will discuss the readings at the start of each class, so come prepared! |
