Bio 492/592 Community Ecology

Readings in Community Ecology Biology 492/592 sec. 03- Fall 2009
Meeting time: F 8:30-10:25

Wk	Date	Topic	Who
1	Aug 27	Organizational meeting
2	Sept 4	Trophic Cascades 1- 2 other papers TBA Croll et al. 2005 Introduced Predators Transform Subarctic Islands from Grassland to Tundra. Science 307:1959 Myers et al. 2007; Cascading Effects of the Loss of Apex Predatory Sharks from a Coastal Ocean. Science 315: 1846	John
3	Sept 11	Interaction Strengths - what are they, why do we care, and how do we measure them? Wootton and Emmerson 2005. Measurement of interaction strength in nature. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 2005. 36:419–44 O'Gorman and Emmerson. Perturbations to trophic interactions and the stability of complex food webs. PNAS 106 :13393–13398 Otto, S.B., E.B. Berlow, N.E. Rank, J. Smiley, U. Brose. 2008. PREDATOR DIVERSITY AND IDENTITY DRIVE INTERACTION STRENGTH AND TROPHIC CASCADES IN A FOOD WEB. Ecology 89: 134-144.	John
4	Sept 18	Keystone Species and Ecosystem Engineers David's papers: Beyer et al. 2007. WILLOW ON YELLOWSTONE’S NORTHERN RANGE: EVIDENCE FOR A TROPHIC CASCADE? Ecological Applications 17: 1563-1571. Borrvall et al. 2006. Early onset of secondary extinctions in ecological communities following the loss of top predators. Ecology Letters 9: 435-442 Keith's papers Moore et al. BIOTIC CONTROL OF STREAM FLUXES: SPAWNING SALMON DRIVE NUTRIENT AND MATTER EXPORT. Ecology, 88(5), 2007, pp. 1278–1291 Power et al. 1996. Challenges in the quest for keystones. Bioscience 46:609.	Keith S David
5	Sept 25	Analyzing Diversity Rhiannon's paper's 1) Condit et al. 2005. Tropical tree a-diversity: Results from a worldwide network of large plots. Biol. Skr: 565 2) Petchey and Gaston. 2006. Functional diversity: back to basics and looking forward. Ecology Letters 9: 741-758. John's papers. 1) Legendre, Borcard, Peres-Neto. 2005. ANALYZING BETA DIVERSITY: PARTITIONING THE SPATIAL VARIATION OF COMMUNITY COMPOSITION DATA. Ecological Monographs 75: 435-450. 2) Qian, H., R.E. Ricklefs. 2007. A latitudinal gradient in large-scale beta diversity for vascular plants in North America. Ecology Letters 10: 737-744.	Rhiannon John
6	Oct 2	Succession Carl's main paper: Connell and Slatyer 1977. Secondary: Connell, Noble, Slatyer 1987. Dave's papers: Main paper: Fastie, C.L.1995. Causes and Ecosystem Consequences of Multiple Pathways of Primary Succession at Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ecology 76: 1899-1916. Secondary paper : Peltzer, Bellingham, Kurokawa, Walker, Wardle, Yeates. 2009. Punching above their weight: low-biomass non-native plant species alter soil properties during primary successionOikos 118: 1001-1014	David Carl
7	Oct 9	Succession John's primary: Wootton, J.T. Mechanisms of successional dynamics: Consumers and the rise and fall of species dominance. Ecological Research 17: 249-260. John's secondary: Maherali, H. and J. N. Klironomos. 2007. Influence of Phylogeny on Fungal Community Assembly and Ecosystem Functioning. Science 1746-1748. Keith's papers: N. J. B. Kraft, Valencia, Ackerly. 2008. Assembly in an Amazonian Forest Functional Traits and Niche-Based Tree Community. Science 580: 322. S. T. A. Pickett, S. L. Collins, J. J. Armesto. 1987. A Hierarchical Consideration of Causes and Mechanisms of Succession. Vegetatio 69: 109-114	Keith B. John
8	Oct 16	Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function Carl's papers: Raymundo et al. 2009. Functionally diverse reef-fish communities ameliorate coral disease. PNAS 106: 17067-17070 Stachowicz et al.2007. Understanding the Effects of Marine Biodiversity on Communities and Ecosystems. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 38: 736-766. (Focus on pages 739-743 & pages 755-758). David's papers. M. Loreau and A. Hector. 2001. Partitioning selection and complementarity in in biodiversity experiments. Nature. Reiss et al. 2009. Emerging horizons in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24: 505-514	David Carl
9	Oct 23	Alternative Stable States Keith B. Scheffer, M., S. Carpenter, et al. 2001. Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Nature 413: 591. Persson, L. et al. 2007. Culling Prey Promotes Predator Recovery—Alternative States in a Whole-Lake Experiment. Science 316: 1743- 1746. Keith S. Mumby, P.J., A. Hastings, H.J. Edwards. 2007. Thresholds and the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs. Nature 450: 98-101. Scheffer, M. Bascompte J. et al. 2009. Early-warning signals for critical transitions. Nature 461: 53-59.	Keith B. Keith S.
10	Oct 30	Ecological Stoichiometry & species interactions Keith B. Mulder and Elser. 2009. Soil acidity, ecological stoichiometry and allometric scaling in grassland food webs. Global Change Biology. Wardle, Walker, Bardget 2004. Ecosystem Properties and Forest Decline in Contrasting long term chronosequences. Science 305 509. Rhiannon. Elser et al. 2000. Biological stoichiometry from genes to ecosystems. Ecology Letters 3: 540-550. Hamback et al. 2009. Effects of body size, trophic mode and larval habitat on Diptera stoichiometry: a regional comparison. Oikos 118: 615-623.	Rhiannon Keith B.
11	Nov. 6	Student Chosen Topics John: Paper in your mailbox Carl: Li et al. 2002. Macroecological patterns of phytoplankton in the northwestern North Atlantic Ocean. Nature. 154-157 Frank et al. 2005. Trophic Cascades in a Formerly Cod-Dominated Ecosystem. Science 308: 1621-1623.s	Carl John
12	Nov. 13	Student Chosen Topics David Wilmers et al 2003. Trophic Facilitation by Introduced Top Predators: Grey Wolf Subsidies to Scavengers in Yellowstone National Park. JAE 72: 909-916 Letnic et al. 2009. Keystone effects of an alien top-predator stem extinctions of native mammals. Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 276: 3249-3256 Rhiannon Bascompte and Stouffer. 2009. The assembly and disassembly of ecological networks. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. B. 8pp. Primary article: Olsen, J.M., J. Bascompte, H. Elberling, P. Jordano. 2008.TEMPORAL DYNAMICS IN A POLLINATION NETWORK. Ecology 89: 1573-1582	Rhiannon David
13	Nov. 20	Student Chosen Topics Carl Bongers and Ferris. 1999. Nematode community structure as a bioindicator in environmental monitoring. TREE Sanchez-Moreno, Ferris, Guil. 2008. Role of tardigrades in the suppressive service of a soil food web. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 124 (2008) 187–192 Keith. Primary: Baxter et al. 2004. FISH INVASION RESTRUCTURES STREAM AND FOREST FOOD WEBS BY INTERRUPTING RECIPROCAL PREY SUBSIDIES. Johnson et al. 2009. Interactions among invaders: community and ecosystem effects of multiple invasive species in an experimental aquatic system	Keith S. Carl
14	Nov. 27	No Class - Thanksgiving
15	Dec. 4	Student Chosen Topics	Rhiannon Keith S.
16	Dec. 11	Student Chosen Topics	Keith B. _______

Requirements:

1. You must read the papers and be prepared to discuss them each week. Since we only meet once per week expect about 2-4 articles per discussion.
2. You must lead ~3 discussions. When you lead discussion I expect that
a) You will pick the paper to read in close consultation with me.
b) You will read additional background material to help explain the significance of the focal paper(s), and provide an annotated bibliography for the class on this topic, with at least 8 references in addition to the ones we're reading. The annotated bibliography should be handed out the week after you lead the discussion.
c) You will provide a presentation of the paper(s) that will last 20-30 minutes. This will hopefully serve as a catalyst for discussion, in which case it may carry on longer.
3. The last 5 weeks of class will be dedicated to topics that the class chooses, and to topics that each of you individually will choose. This topic should be in an area where your research interesteds intersects with community ecology.