Biology 228, Ecology and Evolution

For the Spring 2005 semester, Professor Jane Gallagher is coordinating Biology 228 (including teaching the lecture).  I am teaching the laboratory section.

Lab time: Mondays, 6:10-10:00 p.m.

Office hours: Mondays, 2:30-5:30 p.m.

 

Download syllabus

Download lab schedule

 

Schedule for labs (note changes made during semester):

Lab name                                          Lab Date                      Page #s

1. Community Analysis (maps)           31 Jan                          3–13

 

2. Start yeast experiment                   7 Feb                           26–27

    Sim. 1 (intro to Excel)                                                       14–18, 20–23

 

3. Finish yeast experiment                 14 Feb                         27–28

 

4. Field trip to Inwood Park                 20 Feb (weekend)         31–37

 

5. Class cancelled due to snowstorm  28 Feb

 

6. Sim. 2 (expo/logistic growth)          7 Mar                          72–73 

 

7. Sim. "4" (sampling, confid. int.)       14 Mar                         67–71

 

8. All classes cancelled in Markshak   21 Mar

   

9. LAB EXAM 1                                  4 April

    Regression analysis (bones)                                              78–79

 

10. Genetics                                      11 Apr                         51–56

    Sim. "5" (selection and drift)                                               56

 

11. AMNH field trip                             18 Apr                          58–59

     (go on your own during day, but complete before systematics lab!)

 

12. Systematics                                 2 May                          60–66

 

13. Van Cortlandt Park                        8 May (weekend)          31–34, 38

 

14. LAB FINAL                                   16 May

 

Overview of labs:

Lab 1: Community analysis (maps)

Learn to read topographic maps, calculate basic indices of plant or animal community composition (with data for tree species), and understand zoning regulations.

Lab 2: Start yeast experiment; Introduction to Excel

Grow yeast in various concentrations of molasses; take direct and indirect measures of growth.  Become familiar with spreadsheet programs.

Lab 3: Finish yeast experiment

Conduct various statistical analyses of the data collected from yeast lab.

Lab 4: Field trip to Inwood Hill Park

See natural plant communities (in Manhattan!) and their association with human-caused and natural disturbances, geological factors, and climatic factors

 

Students at Inwood Hill Park at the northern end of Manhatan.  This lookout lies on a ridge of Manhattan Schist, overlooking the Hudson River and the Palisades sill (formed in the Triassic by intrusive lava) in New Jersey.  Thanks also to graduate student Christopher Nagy for accompanying us on the fieldtrip!

 

 

Lab 5: Population growth

Run simulations of exponential and logistic growth, and include the effects of competition with other species.

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. (Cancelled by Chair due to snowstorm).

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.

LAB EXAM 1 (material from Labs 1-7)

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.

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. (Labs 9 and 10 combined to make up for cancellation of all classes in Marshak building on 21 March).

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.

SPRING BREAK!

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!)

LAB FINAL EXAM (material from Labs 8-13)

 

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R. P. Anderson
Copyright © 2004.

All photographs by RPA

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Last modified: 8 April 2005 (RPA)

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