Look at the natural world with a
critical eye: Ecology and Evolution
Biology 228, Ecology and Evolution
For the Spring 2004 semester, Professor Jane Gallagher
coordinated Biology 228 (including teaching the lecture).
I taught the laboratory section.
Overview of labs:
Lab 1: Maps and community analysis
Learn to read topographic maps, calculate basic indices of
community composition (with data for tree species), understand zoning
regulations.
Lab 2: Field trip to Inwood Hill Park
See natural communities (in Manhattan!) and their
association with human-caused and natural disturbances, geological factors, and
climatic factors.
Students in Inwood Hill Park, at top of sheltered valley
between two ridges of Manhattan Schist, the same geological formation that
underlies City College.
Lab 3: Introduction to Excel; simulations of exponential
and logistic growth
Become familiar with spreadsheet programs, run simulations
of geometric growth (discrete generations), exponential growth
(density-independent), and logistic growth (density-dependent).
Students use formulas in Excel to explore growth equations.
Lab 4: Yeast experiment
Grow yeast in various concentrations of molasses; take
indirect and direct measures of growth over the next week.
Lab 5: Statistical analyses of yeast lab
Conduct various statistical analyses of the data collected
from yeast lab (average and standard deviation of the carbon dioxide produced
per day; plot cumulative values of growth and compare with predictions of growth
models).
Students count yeast cells under microscope.
Lab 6: Dispersion analysis
Randomly sample quadrats of three simulated species; calculate descriptive
statistics to characterize their dispersion patterns (random, clumped,
uniform); use chi-square tests to test the null hypothesis of a random
distribution.
Lab 7: Sampling and confidence intervals
Learn concepts of random sampling and measures of the confidence of
estimates (such as a sample mean) derived from such samples; calculate 95%
confidence intervals for the means from the yeast data.
EXAM 1 (material from Lab 1-6)
Lab 8: Regression
Learn about relationships among two continuous variables (e.g., correlation
and regression); introduction to patterns of isometry and allometry and their
graphical expectations in arithmetic and logarithmic space; collect and analyze
data on bones.
Lab 9: Genetics lab 1
Review gene, locus, allele, genotype, and phenotype; conduct simulations of
unlinked loci; discuss and analyze the use of genetic data in forensic analyses.
SPRING BREAK!
Lab 10: Genetics lab 2
Learn concept of genetic drift; conduct simulations to understand the role
of sample size, initial allele frequencies, natural selection (relative fitness
coefficients) in the context of genetic drift and neutral evolution; conduct
experiments to determine whether various genes and traits are independent,
linked, or sex-linked using VirtualFly program.
Lab 11: Self-guided field trip at American Museum of Natural History
Understand the use of systematic theory and cladistic methodology to
elucidate the evolutionary relationships among organisms (and classify them);
learn major events in vertebrate evolution.
Lab 12: Systematics
Conduct sample phylogenetic analyses.
Lab 13: Field trip to Van Cortlandt Park
See and learn to identify local trees and birds in the Bronx. Discuss
pollination and dispersal syndromes in plants. Observe and discuss wetlands.
(The class would especially like to thank Professor Amy Berkov, who accompanied
us on the field trip!)
Students Van Cortlandt Park in the
Bronx, in front of a wetland with both native and invasive plant species.
Download
a PowerPoint presentation with images from our field trip
LAB FINAL EXAM (material from Lab 7-13)
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teaching page
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R. P. Anderson
Copyright © 2004.
All photographs by RPA
Last modified: 8 April 2005 (RPA)
