CSU, Long Beach -- Geography 442 (Biogeography)

[ California oaks and oat grass, C.M.
Rodrigue, 1978 ]

Geography 442-001: Syllabus

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH

Biogeography

Fall 2008

(ticket # 9152)
TTh 5:30-6:45 p.m. in LA4-100

Instructor Information:

: Instructor: Dr. C.M. Rodrigue
: E-mail Address: rodrigue@csulb.edu
: Home Page: http://www.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/
: Telephones: (526) 985-4895 or -8432
: Office: LA4 106
: Mailbox: LA4 106
: Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:45 p.m. and by appointment

Course Description:

Prerequisite: GEOG 140. A course in biology is strongly recommended. Methods of mapping plant and animal distributions, spatial interaction with environmental limiting factors and the human rôle in temporal and spatial variation of ecosystems (lecture-problems; field experience).

Course Objectives:

Ability to apply the scientific method in biogeography
Understanding of the internal and external factors governing and limiting a species' distribution
Understanding of speciation, dispersal, isolation, and extinction processes
Understanding of evolution
Ability to infer a taxon's evolutionary history from its distribution
Understanding of the factors governing biodiversity at various scales
Understanding of ecosystem dynamics at various scales
Ability to locate, characterize, and differentiate the major biomes and zoögeographic provinces of the planet
Acquaintance with field methods in biogeography
Understanding of statistical hypothesis testing in biogeography
Familiarity with library and Internet resources in biogeography
Opportunity to sharpen writing skills

Required Course Materials:

Text: MacDonald, Biogeography: Space, Time, and Life.
Text: Quammen, Song of the Dodo

Tentative Course Outline:

Introduction

Nature of geography
Nature of biogeography
Review of evolutionary theory and biogeography
The scientific method
Data collection and analysis

Field mapping
Remote sensing
Spatial statistics
GIS

Life Classification

The Linnæan hierarchy and cladistics
The species concept and its complications
Structural classifications:

: Physiognomic systems
Ecological systems

Distribution of a Taxon

Environmental limits to its distribution

: Environmental tolerances
Barriers and dispersal capabilities

Ecological limits to its distribution

: Competition and resource partitioning
Predator-prey interactions

Types of biogeographic distributions

Biodiversity

Definitions and scales
Diversity gradients

: Latitude and altitude
Moisture availability
Structural complexity
Ecological interactions
Time
Area and distance (island biogeography)

Biogeographical Regionalization

Communities
Biomes
Zoögeographic provinces

Biogeography and Humanity

The great extinction events, including present human impacts
Domestication and genetic modification
Exotic invasions
Habitat loss
Biogeographic response to global warming
Emergent diseases

Applied Biogeography

Island biogeography and preserve design
Gap analysis
GIS applications to biogeographic problems

Grading:

I grade on a modified curve, based on a midterm, final, interpretive essay, bibliographic essay, and a series of lab and field exercises, each of which is weighted equally.

Midterm, a mix of objective and subjective questions drawn roughly equally from class lectures and readings = 20%
Final, a similar mix to the midterm, but not comprehensive = 20%
Essay report interpreting the Quammen book above according to a set of guidelines on the course home page, with about one third of the points having to do with writing mechanics = 20%
Critical bibliographic essay on a subject related to the course, in which you'll build individual expertise, again with about a third of the points reserved for writing mechanics = 20%
A series of lab and field exercises, which collectively are weighted to = 20%

Makeup Policy:

Makeups are possible in the event of a documented unexpected emergency in a student's life or through prior arrangement with the instructor when the student has advance knowledge of a conflict in schedule, including jury duty or other governmental obligation; death, injury, or serious illness/caretaking responsibilities in the family; work-related issues; certain University sanctioned activities; or religious obligations and observances. Makeups under these circumstances will not be penalized with prior notice or documentation. Scheduling a plane flight before the final is not a compelling conflict in schedule and will be penalized. All other makeup requests, especially those requested after the fact or unsupported by documentation, are subject to denial or serious penalty.

University Withdrawal Policy:

It is the student's responsibility to withdraw from classes. Instructors have no obligation to withdraw students who do not attend classes and, because of the bureaucratic difficulty involved, generally choose not to do so. This often catches transfer students by surprise, because community colleges require instructors to drop non-attending students and provide easy and routine mechanisms for them to do so. If you've been "spoiled" by that system, please be aware that it doesn't work that way here.

The deadline to withdraw from a class without a "W" showing up on your transcript is 11 February. You can withdraw until 10 p.m. that night through My CSULB or IVR. You can withdraw later, until 27 April, but you'll have a "W" show up on your transcript. From 27 April to 18 May, you can only withdraw for a documented serious and compelling emergency, with the approval of the dean's office, which expects that you are dropping all of your classes because of the seriousness of the emergency. Note: "I'm not doing well in this class, so I have to drop it" is not regarded as a serious and compelling emergency. Here are the various deadlines for Spring 2007: http://www.csulb.edu/depts/enrollment/dates/registration.html.

Accessibility:

It is the student's responsibility to let me know at the beginning of the semester if s/he has a disability that may require accommodation. I am personally committed to making my classes accessible and providing accommodations that will help everyone have the same chance at success. I need to know about the issue at the beginning of the semester, though, so that we can work out a mutually reasonable and satisfying accommodation. For more information on campus support services for disabled students, please check out http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students2/dss.

Related to accessibility, this course will be set up on BeachBoard to enable convenient contact. You will need to have a CSULB e-mail account to use BeachBoard, however. Announcements and messages from me to the class may come by e-mail. If you do not check your CSULB e-mail account regularly but use another account instead, please set your CSULB account so that it will automatically forward messages to your other account. Alternatively, you can use web-mail to check your CSULB e-mail, the way many of you use Hotmail, Yahoo, or G-mail. The web page is https://webmail.csulb.edu. The CSULB Technology Help Desk is available for students, by the way. The URL for the Help Desk is http://helpdesk.csulb.edu. Their telephone number is (562) 985-4959.

Policy on Cheating and Plagiarism:

Written work that you hand in is assumed to be original unless your source material is documented appropriately. Using the ideas or words of another person, even a peer, or a web site, as if it were your own, is plagiarism. Simply changing the wording around so that it's not a direct quotation is still plagiarism if you don't give credit to the source of the ideas. If you use the exact wording of your source, enclose the statement in quotation marks or (with longer quotations) indent and single space it and then cite the source and page. When in doubt, cite. Cheating and plagiarism are serious academic offenses: They represent intellectual theft. Students should read the section on cheating and plagiarism in the CSULB catalogue, which can be accessed at http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/catalog/06-07/information/index.html.

Furthermore, students should be aware that faculty members have a range of academic actions available to them in cases of cheating and plagiarism. At a minimum, I will fail a student cheating or plagiarizing on a particular assignment, but only if I think that there was some misunderstanding about what these offenses are; if I feel that the decision to cheat or plagiarize was intentional, I will fail a student in the course. I also may then refer the student to Judicial Affairs for possible probation, suspension, or dismissal.

When in doubt, please ask me if you think you're getting into a grey area. To learn a little more about plagiarism, take a look at this workshop on ethics in science that several faculty put together: The second section is about plagiarism. http://www.csulb.edu/geography/gdep/ethics.html. .