Courses taught at UF
Macroecology
Spring 2008, 1 credit, ZOO 4926/6927. Graduate or advanced undergraduate.
Macroecology is a comparative approach to studying the ecological attributes of organisms and their communities. This rapidly evolving field integrates ecology, with its focus on contemporary and local patterns and processes, with biogeography, which encompasses broad temporal and spatial scales. Macroecologists seek to answer some of the most fascinating and long-standing questions in ecology, through the synthesis of data from many regions and species and application of statistical tests. Dominant themes to be covered in this course include spatial patterns and gradients in community diversity, and relationships among range size, range occupancy and abundance. We will conclude by examining the practical application of macroecology to biodiversity conservation. Each week we will discuss several papers on a particular topic, including both historical and current debates, and we will focus in particular on analysing the methods and biases involved and how these might have affected conclusions. Students will receive a broad introduction to macroecological concepts and consequences, as well as gain a deeper understanding of scientific methods, hypothesis testing, and the critical evaluation of published research.
Tentative topics include:
1. The macroecological approach.
2. Quantifying species richness in communities.
3. Measuring geographic patterns in species richness.
4. Local vs regional richness.
5. Climate and richness gradients.
6. The "Rapoport effect".
7. Area and species richness.
8. Speciation rates and richness gradients.
9. The "mid-domain model".
10. Rarity and range position.
11. Range size-frequency distribution.
12. Abundance-range size relationships.
13. Neutral theory of biodiversity.
14. Macroecology and conservation priorities.
15. Macroecology and climate change.
Insect Biogeography
Spring 2007, 2 credits, ENY 4905/6934. Click here for the spring 2007 syllabus. I am hoping to expand and teach this course again as a 3 credit course in spring 2009.