Winter Ecology - Spring 2009

WEEKLY  SCHEDULES  AND  READINGS
WEEK 1 | WEEK 2: Thurs 2/12, Project Proposal Guidelines, Sat 2/14, Sun 2/15 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5 | RETURN TO SYLLABUS
(Schedules etc. subject to modification)

Week II
Updated -
23 Feb 09: Soil Results updated
16 Feb 09: Bird Results added
6 March 09: more Bird Results

!Thursday – 12 Feb 09

Individual projects:  Proposals due
 
 

Guidelines for Project Proposals –
Updated 2 Jan 09
  • Project proposals, along with key reference pdf's, are due Thursday 12 February.  Late evening ok.
    • submit by email.
    • Submit at least two key journal articles (one for Field Project Option) that relate to your question – Submit as pdf's.
    • I'll accept proposals through Friday, but can't promise comments back during the weekend.
    • Proposals count toward your project participation grade.
  • 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.  Include:
    • Question you propose to address, underlying concepts
    • Your plan (See 'Developing Your Plan' below)
    • Cite peer-reviewed journal articles that relate to your question, methods, 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 vs. Literature Options –
      • Field option: If your project is field oriented, discuss your methods and site selection.  Support your question using at least 1 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.  Support your question with at least 2 journal articles, for example providing a contrast of ideas on the question.
    • Layout (outline) what you need to do, so you know it's do-able.
    • Use the process of writing down your ideas as a way to work them out.
    • Read about 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 
Other Resources –


Saturday – 14 Feb 09
FORECAST
 
"Special note re gear for this weekend" - 13 Feb 09

Hi all -

for this weekend, please be sure to bring extra gear for staying warm.  Specifically -

On Sunday, we'll be starting early for birding in Allenspark and Wild Basin.  In Allenspark we'll be standing quietly in a cold drainage with little sun (with luck, watching overwintering birds).  So bring extra warm layers, good hat, warm boots, and, recommended, a thermos with hot liquids.

Please bring *binoculars and a bird book if you have them.

Forecast for Sunday is: Slight chance of snow, Windy (10-20 mph, gusts 30mph), mostly cloudy, and high near 30. (forecast as of 13 Feb 09)

As before, check the website for readings and additional info.

See you tomorrow,
Tim
 

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:
    • 10:00a-12:30n – Field: Winter soil biota at work.  Guest field instructors: Allen Meyer & Ken Wilson, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, CU 12:30p - Lunch at Lodge

    1:00-4:30p – Lab: Winter soil biota -

    5:00p– Group Dinner Prep

    6:00p– Group Dinner

    7:30p–Evening program with Guest lecture -  Mammal Adaptations to Winter – Jessica Healy, Dept. of Biology, Colorado State University



    Sunday – 15 Feb 09
    FORECAST

    Vertebrate Winter Ecology –  Birds

     
    Readings:
    • LC Chapter 4: p93-125 (on mammals & birds),
    • LC Chapter 7: p231-238 (=section on gallinaceous birds)
    Other Resources:
    • No Room at the Top, by Paul Tolmé. National Wildlife, 44(1): 22-30 (Dec-Jan 2006) –  High mountain species and global warming.  Also listed for Winter Mammal Ecology (Week IV)
      • Online article <from: http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=79&articleID=1147>
      • Print article: (pdf, 8M)
    • Song of the Alpine:  The Rocky Mountain Tundra Through the Seasons, by Joyce Gellhorn (2002, Johnson Books, Boulder).  Chapters 7, 10, 12 provide an description of animal responses to winter. - also listed for Winter Mammal Ecology (Week IV)
    • Made for Each Other. A Symbiosis of Birds and Pines, by R.M. Lanner (1996, Oxford Univ Press).  This book nicely lays out the details of the coevolved interaction between Clark's Nutcracker (and related Corvids) and the 'Soft pines' (Limber Pine, Pinyon, and related spp.).  Chapter 6 discusses their ability to find pinenut caches in winter. (Selected figures handout)
    7.25a – Leave for Allenspark and Wild Basin (RMNP)

    8:00a-12:30p – Field: Birds of the Front Range montane forest and their winter ecology – Guest field instructor: Arvind Panjabi, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory

     
    Bring:
    • Field Journal
    • pack lunch
    • If you have: Binoculars, Field guide to birds
    Handouts (Maps, datasheet):
    Resources:
    More re birds:
    More re RMNP:
    12:30p – return to MRS, lunch, check out of Lodge

    1:30-4:00 – Lab: Overwintering birds of Front Range montane forest and alpine tundra: Winter adaptations

    RETURN TO SYLLABUS, WEEK 2

    Course CD and website including all internal links © 2008,  2009 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).
    Announcement from 2008 course: This coming Wednesday, 20 Feb 08 - look for the total lunar eclipse: details | diagram for MST
    rev. 10 Mar 09