SP: Invasive Species

Schedule

Required Texts:

Lockwood, J.L., M.F. Hoopes, and M.P. Marchetti. 2007. Invasion Ecology. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing.

Course Reader. This packet of published articles and individual book chapters will be provided to you in class for the cost of photocopying.

Course Website: This course is on Blackboard.

Use your IC email address as your Blackboard ID (without the @ithaca.edu); your password is your IC email password. Part of your classwork will be to post discussion comments on Blackboard.

Course Description:

Invasive species are considered one of the major ecological crises of today, but what makes them so different? In this course, we will explore the biology of invasive species, and the process and impacts of their invasion. We will use current literature on this active field of inquiry to learn about current hypotheses on how and why invasive species succeed.

Learning Objectives:

The Biology Department has identified seven Student Learning Objectives to be mastered by students in our majors. The Department of Environmental Studies and Science have outlined similar objectives. I expect students completing this course will:

demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental concepts and principles in biology, specifically ecological and evolutionary processes pertaining to invasion biology such as life history theory, island biogeography, trophic cascades, founder effects, and adaptation. {ESS objective: demonstrate advanced scientific literacy as it relates to the environment}
demonstrate an understanding of the application of biological concepts to everyday life, specifically in the context of the impact invasive species have on ourselves.
articulate connections among biological concepts at various levels (e.g. molecular, cellular, organismal, ecological) as well as between biology and other natural sciences, specifically the connections between organismal and ecological processes. {ESS objective: demonstrate mastery of integrative and systems thinking approaches to environmental issues}
critically analyze biological information, including analysis of the effectiveness of methods, the meaning of observational and experimental data, and the appropriateness of conclusions, specifically evaluating the methods as well as conclusions of primary case studies.
effectively communicate scientific works in both oral and written form, through a review paper and presentation on a case study of interest. {ESS objectives: demonstrate competency in written, oral and technical communication, especially to a variety of audiences}
carry out work in a way that demonstrates a professional standard of ethics, collaboration, and respect for nature, especially the ability to interact with one another in an engaged and respectful manner. {ESS objective: demonstrate the ability to lead others, as well as the ability to function effectively as part of a team}

Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all lectures with the exception of health emergencies, religious holidays, court appearances, or college-authorized extracurricular events. This is a small, interactive class; participation is very important. If you are not going to be able to attend a class, please have the courtesy to inform me. Chronic tardiness or absence will affect your grade.

Short assignments:

Essays: There will be three short (1-2 page) essays assigned over the term.

Paper Guide Questions: Each week, I will provide a set of questions that will help guide you through one of the readings. You are required to complete four of these (two before, two after midterm) for credit.

Participation:

Leading:

One discussion each week will be spearheaded by a team of two or three students. You will be responsible for leading discussion two weeks. Leading discussion should include a very brief summary of the main points of the paper, and being prepared with guiding questions or comments to stimulate discussion.

Discussion:

Everyone is expected to engage during discussions. {This means you really, really need to read and think about the papers ahead of time!!!} Your participation grade for discussion will be based upon the cumulative contribution you make over the term. Presence alone will not give you a satisfactory participation grade. .

Peer-review: You will review and critique the rough draft of the final paper for two of your fellow students.

Final Paper:

The term paper is a review of a case study of your choice (pending approval). You will use the literature to evaluate what is known for your case species with regard to the different aspects of invasion ecology and evolution that we discuss over the course of the term.

Proposed Bibliography: Early in the term you will propose a case study of interest and provide a preliminary bibliography of articles that might be useful for your review.

Rough Draft: You will complete a rough draft of your final paper for comments by both myself and your peers.

Presentation: The last week of classes you will give a short (10 minute) presentation to the class summarizing your case study.

Final Paper: At the end of the term, you will submit the final paper.

Grading & Points:

Student input is highly valued and is important to maintain high quality instruction. At the end of the term, you will be provided with a website link to submit an online evaluation. The evaluation will be submitted to the Department Assistant. She will verify that you have submitted the form. Once that has been checked, your identification will be removed and will not be printed with the comments.

College is an extremely stressful time, with both academic and personal struggles. Please remember that help is always available. Among other resources, Ithaca College provides a Counseling Center to support the academic success of students. The Counseling Center provides cost-free services to help you manage personal challenges that threaten your well-being.

Grading Scale		Points Summary
93-100%	A	Essays (4 @ 15)	60 points
90-92%	A-	Guide Questions (4 @ 10)	40 points
87-89%	B+	Leading (2 @ 20)	40 points
83-86%	B	Discussion participation	50 points
80-82%	B-	Peer review	10 points
77-79%	C+	Proposed Bibliography	10 points
73-76%	C	Rough draft	40 points
70-72%	C-	Presentation	20 points
67-69%	D+	Final Paper	100 points
63-66%	D
60-62%	D-	Total	370 points
59 or below	F

M	1/24	Introduction
W	1/26	History	Lockwood Ch 1 Davis, M.A. 2009. Introduction. Ch. 1 in Invasion Biology. Oxford, Oxford Unversity Press.
F	1/28	Overview	MacDonald, D., C.M. King and R. Strachan. 2007. Introduced species in the line between biodiversity conservation and naturalistic eugenics. Ch. 13 in D. MacDonald and K. Service, eds. Key Topics in Conservation Biology. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing. Williamson, M. 1996. The Tens Rule. Pp. 31-43 in Biological Invasions. London, Chapman and Hall.	Essay 1

M	1/31	Means of Introduction	Lockwood Ch 2
W	2/2	Patterns of Introduction	Lockwood Ch 3 Davis, M.A. 2009.Selection from Ch. 2 in Invasion Biology. Oxford, Oxford Unversity Press.
F	2/4	Activity: Island Biogeography	Lonsdale, W.M. 1999. Global patterns of plant invasions and the concept of invasibility. Ecology 80(5): 1522-1536. [Optional review: Campbell et al. 2008. Ch 54:1215-1217]

M	2/7	Case: Invertebrates in ballast water	Lockwood Ch 4 Wonham, M.J., W.C. Walton, G.M. Ruiz, A.M. Frese, and B.S. Galil. 2001. Going to the source: role of the invasion pathway in determining potential invaders. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 215:1-12.	Propose Case
W	2/9	Deliberate Introductions	Burdick, A. 2005. Selection in Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. http://www.feral.org.au/ reports on species: Rabbits; Foxes; Camels; Possum
F	2/11	Case: Insect Invasion	Tobin, P.C. and A.M. Liebhold. 2011. Gypsy Moth. Pp. 298-304 in Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions. Ed. D. Simberloff and M. Rejmanek. Berkeley, U of California Press.

M	2/14	Life History Theory and Invasive Traits	Sakai, A.K., F.W. Allendorf, J.S. Holt, D.M. Lodge, J. Molofsky, K.A. With, S. Baughman, R.J. Cabin, J.E. Cohen, N.C. Ellstrand, D.E. McCauley, P. O’Neil, I.M. Parker, J.N. Thompson, and S.G. Weller. 2001. The population biology of invasive species. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 32:305-332. [focus 305-317] [Optional review: Campbell et al. 2008. Ch. 53:1177-1190]	ProposeBiblio-graphy
W	2/16	Establishment and spread	Lockwood Ch 8 [Optional review: Campbell et al. 2008. Ch.53 and Ch. 54:1198-1200]
F	2/18	In Our Yards: Guest Dan Segal	Schlerenbeck, K.A. 2004. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) as an invasive species; history, ecology, and context. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 23(5):391-400.

M	2/21	Potential Habitat: Niche Modeling	Rodda, G.H., C.S. Jarnevich, and R.N. Reed. 2008. What parts of the U.S. mainland are climatically suitable for invasive alien pythons spreading from Everglades National Park? Biological Invasions 11:241-252.
W	2/23	Enemy Release Hypothesis	Liu, H. and P. Stiling. 2006. Testing the enemy release hypothesis: a review and meta-analysis. Biological Invasions 8:1535-1545. Mitchell, C.E. and A.G. Power. 2003. Release of invasive plants from fungal and viral pathogens. Nature 421:625-627.
F	2/25	Competitive Advantage	Callaway, R.M., and E.T. Aschehoug. 2000. Invasive plants versus their new and old neighbors: a mechanism for exotic invasion. Science 290:521-523. Blossey, B. and R. Notzold. 1995. Evolution of increased competitive ability in invasive nonindigenous plants: a hypothesis. J. Ecology 83:887-889.

M	2/28	Resistance	Parker, J.D., and M.E. Hay. 2005. Biotic resistance to plant invasions? Native herbivores prefer non-native plants. Ecology Letters 8:959-967.
W	3/2	Disturbance and resource heterogeneity	Lockwood Ch 5 Davis, M.A. 2009. Selection from Ch. 3 in Invasion Biology. Oxford, Oxford Unversity Press.
F	3/4	Debate: Biological Control	Hoddle, M.S. 2004. Restoring balance: using exotic species to control invasive exotic species. Conservation Biology 18(1):38-49. Louda, S.M., and P. Stiling. 2004. The double-edged sword of biological control in conservation and restoration. Conservation Biology 18(1):50-53. Thomas, M.B., and A.M. Reid. 2007. Are exotic natural enemies an effective way of controlling invasive plants? TREE 22:447-453.

M	3/7	Diversity and Invasibility	Fridley, J.D., J.J. Stachowicz, S. Naeem, D.F. Sax, E.W. Seabloom, M.D. Smith, T.J. Stohlgren, D. Tilman, and B. Von Holle. 2007. The invasion paradox: Reconciling pattern and process in species invasions. Ecology 88(1):3-17.
W	3/9	Impacts overview	Lockwood Ch 9 Gurevitch, J. and D.K. Padilla. 2004. Are invasive species a major cause of extinctions? TREE 19:470-474. + Ricciardi comment + Gurevitch and Padilla response.
F	3/11	Case: Cane toads Video	Boland, C.R.J. 2004. Introduced cane toads Bufo marinus are active nest predators and competitors of rainbow bee-eaters Merops ornatus: observational and experimental evidence. Biological Conservation 120:52-62. Crossland, M.R., R.A. Alford, and R. Shine. 2009. Impact of the invasive cane toad (Bufo marinus) on an Australian frog (Opisthodon ornatus) depends on minor variation in reproductive timing. Oecologia 158:625-632.	Essay 2
			SPRING BREAK
M	3/21	Impacts Case: Guam	Fritts, T.H., and G.H. Rodda. 1998. The role of introduced species in the degradation of island ecosystems: a case history of Guam. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 29:113-140.
W	3/23	TBA	TBA
F	3/25	Australia	TBA

M	3/28	Evolution of invasives	Prentis, P.J., J.R.U. Wilson, E.E. Dormontt, D.M. Richardson, and A.J. Lowe. 2008. Adaptive evolution in invasive species. Trends Plant Sci 13:288-294. Facon, B., J.-P. Pointier, P. Jarne, V. Sarda, and P. David. 2008. High genetic variance in life-history strategies within invasive populations by way of multiple introductions. Current Biology 18:363-367. Phillips, B.L., G.P. Brown, J.K. Webb, and R. Shine. 2006. Invasion and the evolution of speed in toads. Nature 439:803.
W	3/30	Evolution of natives	Mooney, H.A. and E.E. Cleland. 2001. The evolutionary impact of invasive species. PNAS 98:5446-5451. Strauss, S.Y., J.A. Lau, and S.P. Carroll. 2006. Evolutionary responses of natives to introduced species: what do introductions tell us about natural communities? Ecology Letters 9:357-374.
F	4/1	NCUR

M	4/4	Synergy: Invasion and habitat alteration	Didham, R.K., J.M. Tylianakis, N.J. Gemmell, T.A. Rand, and R.M. Ewers. 2007. Interactive effects of habitat modification and species invasion on native species decline. TREE 22:489-496.	Essay 3

W	4/6	Synergy: Invasion and human activities	Daskalov, G.M., A.N. Grishin, S. Rodionov, and V. Mihneva. 2007. Trophic cascades triggered by overfishing reveal possible mechanisms of ecosystem regime shifts. PNAS 104(25):10518-10523.
F	4/8	TBA

M	4/11	Synergy: Invasion and global climate change	Dukes, J.S. and H.A. Mooney. 1999. Does global change increase the success of biological invaders? TREE 14:135-139. Dukes, J.S., J. Pontius, D. Orwig, J.R. Garnas, V. Rodgers, N. Brazee, B. Cooke, K.A. Theoharides, E.E. Strange, R. Harrington, J. Ehrenfeld, J. Gurevitch, M. Lerdau, K. Stinson, R. Wick, and M. Ayres. 2009. Responses of insect pests, pathogens, and invasive plant species to climate change in the forests of northeastern North America: What can we predict? Can J For Res 39:231-248.
W	4/13	TBA
F	4/15	Management Activity: Garlic Mustard	Rodgers, V.L., K.A. Stinson, and A.C. Finzi. 2008. Ready or not, garlic mustard is moving in: Alliaria petiolata as a member of Eastern North American forests. BioScience 58(5):426-436. Martin, P., C.D. Canham, and P.L. Marks. 2009. Why forests appear resistant to exotic plant invasions: intentional introductions, stand dynamics, and the role of shade tolerance. Front Ecol Environ 7(3):142-149.	Rough Draft

M	4/18	Case: Zebra Mussels	Strayer, D.L. 2009. Twenty years of zebra mussels: lessons from the mollusk that made headlines. Front Ecol Environ 7(3):135-141.
W	4/20	TBA	TBA
F	4/22	Synergy Activity: Earthworms	Maerz, J.C., V.A. Nuzzo, and B. Blossey. Declines in woodland salamander abundance associated with non-native earthworm and plant invasions. Conservation Biology 23(4):975-981.

M	4/25	Management	Cruz, F., V. Carrion, K. Campbell, C. LaVoie, and C.J. Donlan. 2009. Bio-economics of large-scale eradication of feral goats from Santiago Island, Galapagos. Journal of Wildlife Management 73(2): 191-200.	Rough Draft Return
W	4/27	Management	Simberloff, D. 2009. We can eliminate invasions or live with them. Successful management projects. Biological Invasions 11:149-157.

F	4/29	Policy: Guest Holly Menninger	Lockwood Ch 12	Essay 4

M	5/2	Presentations
W	5/4	Presentations
F	5/6	Presentations

			FINAL PAPER DUE BY 5PM on TUESDAY MAY 10