Please make sure to have thoroughly read the Krebs et al. paper BEFORE coming to class on Tuesday 11 Oct. You will discuss various aspects of this paper in small groups before reconvening to share your findings with the class. The paper is posted in the ‘schedule’ part of the web site under 11 Oct.
Category: Announcements
Second group project
Assignment for the second group project has been posted. We’ll be discussing in class today!
New homework set (DUE 13 Oct 2016)
ECOL 4000: Q1-3 from R* reading, Lotka-Volterra competition question (see below) and Q1-3 from predator-prey reading (bonus Q4-5)
ECOL 6000: As above, but including predator-prey reading Q4 (bonus Q5)
Lotka-Volterra competition question: In eastern Africa, lions and hyenas are in competition with one another. For the lion, K1 = 75 and for the hyena, K2 = 300. Competition parameters are α12 =2.5 and α21 = 3.5 (where α12 represents the effect of species 2 on species 1). Suppose the initial population sizes at a site are 30 lions and 75 hyenas. Plotting lion abundance on the x-axis, and hyena abundance on the y-axis, plot the isoclines (a.k.a. nullclines, ZNGIs) for each species, and plot these initial population sizes paying attention to details such as intercepts on the x and y-axis and accurate placement of initial conditions. Predict the short-term dynamics of each population and the final outcome of interspecific competition.
Email solutions to Dr Park by 5pm, Thurs 13 Oct 2016
PRESS and PULSE experiments to measure the strength of interspecific interactions
In class today I mentioned the classic paper by Bender et al. (1984) on the use of experiments to measure the strength of interspecific interactions. The paper is available through JSTOR here.
Exam 1 – Eligible topics
The bullet point list of eligible topics for Exam 1 is posted here
First group project
Data and assignment for the first group project have been posted. We will discuss in class tomorrow!
Reading on density dependence
The class reading for Thursday, August 25 is available here. There will be no quiz, however, so you have until next Tuesday to complete the reading.
Programming demonstration and exercise on Grizzly bears
Today we’ll be doing a demo and in class exercise on the population dynamics of Grizzly bears. Data, code, and description of the exercise are available here.
In class exercise on Common terns
Today we’ll be doing an in class exercise on the population dynamics of Common terns. Data, code, and description of the exercise are available here.