Winter Ecology - Spring 2008

WEEKLY  SCHEDULES  AND  READINGS
WEEK 1 | WEEK 2: Thurs 2/14, Project Proposal Guidelines, Sat 2/16, Sun 2/17 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5 | RETURN TO SYLLABUS
(Schedules etc. subject to modification)

Announcement: This coming Wednesday, Feb 20 - look for the total lunar eclipse: details | diagram for MST

Week II

!Thursday – 14 Feb

2Individual projects:  Proposals due
 
 

Guidelines for Project Proposals –
Updated 15 Feb 08
  • Project proposals are due Thursday 14 February, late evening ok.
    • submit by email.
    • I'll accept proposals through Friday, but can't promise comments back during the weekend. 
  • The purpose of the proposals is to get your projects started and to get feedback.   They are not set in stone – that is, your question & plan can be modified as you proceed with your project. 
  • Two project approaches:
    • Field Project - asking a question that can be explored through field data collection and analysis.
    • Literature Review - exploring a current frontier in winter science.
  • Format:  Roughly one page – be succinct, yet as specific as you can at this point – that is, say where you are in your thinking:
    • Question you propose to address, underlying concepts
    • Your plan (See 'Developing Your Plan' below)
    • Journal articles that relate to your question.  Field sites, etc 
  • Suggestions for getting started:
    • Start by reading chapters or sections in course texts LC, WEH, and Winter World (by Bernd Henrich; course recommended text) that –
      • connect with a general interest you have, or 
      • relate to some topic you've heard about and are curious to learn more.
    • Pursue this more by looking at papers they cite (at the end of WEH chapters, or endnotes in LC).  Most papers are downloadable from the CU library's eJournals website
      • For articles not found on eJournal sites, check JSTOR (or JSTOR Ecology & Botany Collection) also on the CU Library website.
      • Note that all enrolled students have free access to the Library's online resources.   Talk to the Library to set that up if you don't.
    • Follow up with web searches, using both
      • general search sites (e.g. Google)
      • scientific publication indices - such as the Web of Science accessed through the CU library website.
        • Note that this site can be used for searches by topic, but also, more importantly, to track down more recent articles that cite a key paper you've already come across (e.g. in the course texts or in on-line searches)
  • Developing your plan:
    • Your question must have to with wintertime ecological processes. 
    • Narrow your question –
      • Make it conceptually and logistically manageable (i.e. not overly complex and do-able in the allowed timeframe)
      • For example, focus on a two-way comparison – such as: 
        • 2 different species, 2 different environments, or the end-points of an environmental gradient.
    • Field option: If your project is field oriented, support your question using at least one journal article.
    • Literature review option: If your project is evaluating ideas in the literature, relate your question to the course's field site - the Niwot Ridge Biosphere Reserve, or barring that, to the Rocky Mountains or other winter-snow mountain ecosystems.
    • Layout (outline) what you need to do, so you know it's do-able.
    • Use writing down your ideas as a way to work them out.
    • Reading re: The power of observation - “Zen and the Art of Sherlock Holmes” by S. Kendrick. Utne Reader, Jan-Feb 2000, p. 65-69.  (pdf, 850k)
  • Research & Writing Resources: WEEK 4 
For Guidelines for Project Presentations, see WEEK 4: Presentation Guides


Saturday – 16 Feb
FORECAST

8:30a – Weather briefing · Review last weekend's 'Lessons'

9:00a – Lecture: Winter Soil Ecology – Soil fauna/flora biodiversity · Biogeochemical cycles · Snow chemistry and atmospheric deposition.

  • & Readings:
    • 10:30a-3:30p – T Field: Winter soil biota at work.  Guest field instructor: Dr. Allen Meyer, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, CU 3:30a-5:00p – T Lab: Winter soil biota - Analysis & Discussion 5:30p– Group Dinner Prep

    6:00p– Group Dinner

    7:30p–Evening program with Guest lecture -

    Mammal Adaptations to Winter – Dr. Gregory Florant, Dept. of Biology, Colorado State University


    Sunday – 17 Feb
    FORECAST


    source: http://www.comics.com/comics/monty/archive/monty-20080106.html


    source: http://www.comics.com/webmail/ViewStrip?key=58569694-04c4860165-FF

    8:30a – Weather briefing · Review Saturday's activities

    9:00a – Lecture: Vertebrate Winter Ecology: I – Mammals & Herptiles – Winter adaptations (morphological, physiological, behavioral)
          Invertebrate Winter Ecology – Winter activities of forest ‘pests’ and other terrestrial invertebrates.

    10:00a-12:30p – T Field: Winter activities of montane forest mammals: Tracking sign – Guest field instructor: Sheryn Olson.
    • Bring: @Field Journal, topo map, snacks. If you have: Binoculars, Field guide to animal tracks and/or to mammals
    • 2 Handouts:
    • Related Links:
    • Resources:
      • A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald Stokes (1976; Little, Brown & Co.)
      • Field Guide to Tracking Animals in the Snow, by Louise Forrest (1988, Stackpole Books)
      • Scats and Tracks of the Rocky Mountains, by James Halfpenny (2001, 2nd ed., A Falcon Guide)
      • Mammal Tracks and Sign.  A Guide to North American Species, by Mark Elbroach (2002, Stackpole Books)

        • A Field Guide to Animal Tracks, by Olaus Murie (1954, Peterson Field Guides, Houghton Mifflin, Boston).  A classic - in this guide to animal sign, Murie includes personal essays on North American mammals.

    12:30 – Lunch, at the Lodge

    1:00-5:00p – T Lab: Mammals of Front Range montane forest and alpine tundra: Winter adaptations  – Guest field instructor: Sheryn Olson

    RETURN TO SYLLABUS, WEEK 2

    Course CD and website including all internal links © 2008 T. Kittel.  All rights reserved.  All copyrighted material on this CD and website is made available for limited educational use only (commerical use strictly prohibited).

    rev. 4 Mar 08