Faculty. The Group includes faculty from 26 departments in five schools and colleges, and the Bodega Marine Laboratory.
Graduate Study. The Graduate Group in Ecology offers the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in several areas of specialization within the spectrum of ecology. The Ecology program is one of the most diverse on the Davis campus. In order to accommodate varied student interests, the Group depends on close consultation between students and faculty for program development. Several curricular plans are now available in the following areas of emphasis: agricultural ecology, conservation ecology, ecosystems and landscape ecology, ecotoxicology, environmental policy analysis, human ecology, integrative ecology, physiological ecology, and restoration ecology. For further details, contact the group office.
Preparation. Appropriate preparation is undergraduate work in any of the biological, social or behavioral, and physical sciences, mathematics or engineering. Applicants will be expected to have completed two courses each in introductory biology, general chemistry and physics; one course each in calculus, ecology, and statistics are also required. Applicants in the human ecology area may substitute quantitative social science courses for up to two courses of chemistry or physics. Each of the three broad areas requires certain advanced preparation appropriate to the option. Details may be found in the Group Announcement.
Graduate Advisers. K.J. Rice, E. Caswell-Chen.
*Course not offered this academic year.
200A. Principles and Application of Ecological Theory (4) I. Foin
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: first course in ecology; Statistics 102; Mathematics 16A, 16B. Critical evaluation of ecological theory and applications to ecological management. Historical development of ecological theory is emphasized. Critical evaluation of ecological principles pertaining to the structure and dynamic properties of ecological systems, their organization and evolution.
200B. Principles and Application of Ecological Theory (4) II. Young
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: course 200A. Continuation of course 200A. Critical evaluation of theory and application in the areas of ecological adaptation and system plasticity, spatial and temporal scales, ecological energetics, and system dynamics. Synthesis of ecological theory into testable principles.
201. Ecosystems and Landscape Ecology (4) III. Ustin
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: course 200A and 200B. Overview of ecosystem and landscape principles (structure, energy, nutrient flow, species diversity, landscape heterogeneity, change and stability), building on ecological principles and theory. Introduction to analysis tools (remote sensing, geographic information systems, modeling) applied to landscape systems. Offered in alternate years.
203. Physiological Ecology (3) III. Cech, Doroshov
Lecture--3 hours. Prerequisite: Evolution and Ecology 101 or Environmental Studies 100; Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior 110 or Plant Biology 111 or Environmental Studies 129; elementary calculus. A comparative examination of several animal groups addressing fundamental physiological mechanisms that shape the ecology of each animal group.
*204. Population and Community Ecology (4) I. E. Caswell-Chen
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 100 or Evolution and Ecology 101, Mathematics 21A-21B or consent of instructor; Mathematics 22B recommended. Review of major concepts of population ecology and community ecology, with emphasis on the rationale of theory and use of theory as applied in the ecology of natural and managed systems.
205. Community Ecology (4) II. Karban, Lawler
Lecture--2 hours; discussion--2 hours. Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 100, Evolution and Ecology 101, or Plant Biology 117. Introduction to literature and contemporary research into processes structuring ecological communities.
206. Concepts and Methods in Plant Community Ecology (4) I. Rejmanek, Barbour
Lecture--3 hours; laboratory--4 hours. Prerequisite: introductory courses in statistics and plant ecology; consent of instructor. Principles and techniques of vegetation analysis, including structure, composition, and dynamics. Emphasis given to sampling procedures, association analysis, ordination, processes and mechanisms of succession, and classification. Most techniques are demonstrated or conducted during field trips and laboratories.
207. Plant Population Biology (3) II. Rice
Lecture--2 hours; laboratory/discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: advanced undergraduate ecology course (e.g., Environmental Science and Policy 100, Evolution and Ecology 101, Entomology 104 or Plant Biology 117), and advanced undergraduate course in genetics and/or evolution (e.g., Biological Sciences 101 or Evolution and Ecology 100). Introduction to theoretical and empirical research in plant population biology. Emphasis placed on linking ecological and genetic approaches to plant population biology. (Same course as Population Biology 207.) Offered in alternate years.
208. Issues in Conservation Biology (4) II. Harrison
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: one of Environmental Studies 100, Zoology 125, Botany 117, or Entomology 106. Graduate-level introduction to current research in conservation biology. Course will emphasize reading and discussing primary literature. Specific topics will reflect the research interests of UCD conservation biology faculty.
210. Advanced Topics in Human Ecology (4) II. Richerson
Lecture--2 hours; discussion--2 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Course stresses the commonalities that human ecologists have as social scientists who specialize in problems relating human populations and environmental variables. General epistemological issues and theoretical models are reviewed. Similarities and differences of human and biological ecology are examined. Offered in alternate years.
211. Advanced Topics in Cultural Ecology (4) I. Orlove
Lecture/discussion--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: Environmental Science and Policy 133/Anthropology 133 and graduate standing in Ecology or Anthropology. Topics of current analytical and methodological importance in cultural ecology. Examination of general issues in cultural ecology through study of human response to and influences on climate. (Same course as Anthropology 211.) Offered in alternate years.
212A. Environmental Policy Process (4) III. Sabatier
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: course in public policy (e.g., Environmental Studies 160) or environmental law (e.g., Environmental Studies 161); course in bureaucratic theory (e.g., Political Science 187 or Environmental Studies 166); course in statistics (e.g., Sociology 106 or Agricultural and Resource Economics 106). Introduction to selected topics in the policy process, applications to the field of environmental policy. Develops critical reading skills, understanding of frameworks of the policy process and political behavior, and an ability to apply multiple frameworks to the same phenomena. Offered
in alternate years. (Same course as Environmental Science and Policy 212A.)
212B. Environmental Policy Evaluation (4) II. Schwartz
Lecture--1 hour; discussion--1 hour; seminar--2 hours. Prerequisite: intermediate microeconomics (e.g., Economics 100); Statistics 108 or Agricultural and Resource Economics 106; policy analysis (e.g., Environmental Studies 168A or the equivalent); Agricultural and Resource Economics 176. Methods and practices of policy analysis; philosophical and intellectual bases of policy analysis and the political role of policy analysis. (Same course as Environmental Science and Policy 212B.)
213. Population, Environment, and Social Structure (4) II. Cramer
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: at least one course in population or human ecology, or in environment and resources. Relationships among population dynamics, resource scarcity and environmental problems, and social structure; focus on demographic content of global ecological models and simulations, ecological content of modern demographic theories, and debates about scarcity, inequality, and social conflict and change. Offered in alternate years.
216. Ecology and Agriculture (3) I. Jackson
Lecture/discussion--3 hours. Prerequisite: Plant Biology 142 or consent of instructor. Ecological principles and relationships as applied to agriculture. Integration of ecological approaches into agricultural research to develop environmentally sound management practices. Topics include crop autoecology, biotic interactions among crops and pests, and crop systems ecology. (Same course as Vegetable Crops 216.)
217. Conservation and Sustainable Development in Third World Nations (4) II. Orlove
Lecture/discussion--3 hours; fieldwork--2 hours. Prerequisite: at least one course from two of these three groups: (a) Environmental Studies 160, 161, 168A, 168B; (b) Environmental Studies 101, 133, International Agricultural Development 103, Geography 142; (c) Anthropology 126, 131, Geography 141, Sociology 144, 145A, 145B. Examination of the patterns of resource ownership, control and management in agricultural lands, extractive zones (fisheries, forests) and wildlands, with emphases on conservation and sustainability. Comparison of industrial democracies and poorer nations. (Same course as International Agricultural Development 217.)
*219. Ecosystem Biogeochemistry (4) III. Dahlgren, Bledsoe
Lecture--3 hours; laboratory/discussion--2 hours. Prerequisite: introductory courses in ecology/biology and soils are recommended; undergraduates accepted with consent of instructor. Multi-disciplinary analysis of energy and nutrient transfers within terrestrial ecosystems. Examination of processes and inter- and intra-system interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. Laboratory section uses biogeochemical
simulation models to examine case studies. (Same course as Soil Science 219.)
222. Human Ecology of Agriculture (4) II. Brush
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: upper division course work in environmental sciences, cultural anthropology, economics, international agricultural development or sociology, or consent of instructor. Social and cultural factors relating to agricultural adaptation and evolution. Ethnobiological knowledge systems, rules and customs of resource allocation, impact of population growth, technological change, states and markets. Social and cultural contexts of biological diversity and agricultural resource conservation.
225. Terrestrial Field Ecology (4) III. Karban
Seminar--1 hour; field work--12 hours. Prerequisite: introductory ecology and introductory statistics or consent of instructor. A field course conducted over spring break and four weekends at Bodega Bay, emphasizing student projects. Ecological hypothesis testing, data gathering, analysis, and written and oral presentation of results will be stressed. (Same course as Entomology 225/Population Biology 225.)
231. Mathematical Methods in Population Biology (3) I. Hastings
Lecture--3 hours. Prerequisite: Mathematics 16C or 21C or the equivalent. Mathematical methods used in population biology. Linear and nonlinear difference equation and differential equation models are studied, using stability analysis and qualitative methods. Partial differential equation models are introduced. Applications to population biology models are stressed. (Same course as Population Biology 231.)
232. Theoretical Ecology (3) II. Hastings
Lecture--3 hours. Prerequisite: course 204 or the equivalent, and Mathematics 16C or 21C; or one of courses 100 or 121 or Evolution and Ecology 101, and a strong mathematics background (Mathematics 22A-22B-22C or the equivalent). Examination of major conceptual and methodological issues in theoretical ecology. Model formulation and development will be emphasized. Topics will vary from year to year. May be repeated for credit. Offered in alternate years.
290. Seminar in Ecology (1-4) I, II, III. The Staff (Chairperson in charge)
Seminar--1-4 hours. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Topics in biological, human, physical, and chemical ecology. Students are expected to present an oral seminar on a particular aspect of the general topic under consideration. (S/U grading only.)
291. Biological Conservation (3) II. Schonewald
Seminar--3 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Examines characteristics of populations that make them vulnerable to extinction and examines various methods that can be used in the restoration process. Although both plants and animals are of interest, emphasis will be on vertebrates. Offered in alternate years.
296. Topics in Ecology and Evolution (1) I, II, III. The Staff
Seminar--1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Seminars presented by visiting lecturers, UCD faculty, and graduate students. May be repeated for credit. (Same course as Population Biology 292.) (S/U grading only.)
297T. Tutoring in Ecology (1-4) I, II, III. The Staff (Chairperson in charge)
Lecture--1 hour; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing in ecology; consent of instructor. Teaching ecology including conducting discussion groups for regular departmental courses under direct guidance of staff. May be repeated for credit. (S/U grading only.)
298. Group Study (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Chairperson in charge)
(S/U grading only.)
299. Research (1-12) I, II, III. (Chairperson in charge)
Prerequisite: graduate standing. (S/U grading only.)
UC Davis 1999-2000 Online General Catalog. Posted July 30, 1999.
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Molly Theodossy, Keitha Hunter and Barbara Anderson, Editors
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