Global Ecology (ENV 3006/4900)

This page will temporarily serve as the homepage for Global Ecology. As of now the page is very sparse, as you will notice, but I will work to update it in the coming weeks.

Syllabus

Readings:

Feb 1
Required:

Limits to Growth

Optional:

Pezzey and Toman 2002
Barbier 1987 "The concept of sustainable economic development."

Feb 6
Required:

Costanza et al. 1997. "The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital." Nature. 387: 253-260.

In-class materials:

Lab 1
Biodiversity values chart

Feb 8
Required:

Padoch and Pinedo-Vazquez (draft paper)

Optional:

Evenson, R.E., and Gollin, D. 2003. "Assessing the impact of the Green Revolution: 1960-2000." Science 300: 758-762.

Feb 15
Required:

Chapter 5 (pp 77-98) in Pimm, S.L. 2001. The World According
to Pimm. McGraw-Hilll. (In room 506)
Jackson, W. 1978. "Soil loss and the search for a permanent agriculture."

Feb 21

List of potential paper topics (4900 only)
American Museum of Natural History assignment

Required:

Sachs, J.D. 2005 Can Extreme Poverty Be Eliminated?
"India seeks to head off tiger extinction" NYT article

Suggested:

Michela Wrong. 2000. Chapter 6, "A Nation on Low Batt." From In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo

Feb 22
Required:

The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild

Short paper #1 due at beginning of class analyzing the above article

Feb 27

Museum assignment (Lab 2) due

Required:

Chapter 11 "An indordinate fondness for beetles." (pp 185-199) in Pimm, S.L. 2001. The World According to Pimm. (in room 506)

Pimm, S.L., Russell, G.J., Gittleman, J.L., and Brooks, T.M. 1995. "The future of biodiversity." Science 269: 347-350. (in email)

March 1
Required:

Read this brief note by WWF: http://www.worldwildlife.org/windows/status.cfm

Also explore the IUCN Red List of endangered species, especially the categories for classification:
http://www.redlist.org/
http://www.redlist.org/info/categories_criteria2001

Optional:

Text of the US Endangered Species Act
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa.html

March 6
Required:

Ferraz et al. 2003. "Rates of species loss from Amazonian forest fragments." Proceedings of the National Academies of the Sciences. 100(24): 14069-14073.

Lab:

Lab 4 with necessary data here

March 8
Required:

Island biogeography theory

Brashares, J.S. 2003. "Ecological, behavioral, and life-history correlates of mammal extinctions in West Africa." Conservation Biology. 17(3) 733-743. (in email)

Recommended:

Quammen, David. 1997. The Song of the Dodo: Island biogeography in an age of extinction.

March 12

Field trip to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Meet at 1 pm at the visitor's center, located on Cross Bay Blvd. I put directions here.

Jamaica Bay can be very windy, so plan to dress accordingly. If you have binoculars, you will definitely want to bring them.

March 13
Required:

Mack, R.N., Simberloff, D., Lonsdale, W.M., Evans, H., Clout, M., and Bazzaz, F. 2000. "Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control." Issues in Ecology.

Recommended:

Pimentel, D., Zuniga, R., and Morrison, D. 2004. "Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States." Ecological Economics.

Predicting Invasions of Nonindigenous Plants and Plant Pests

Wolfenbarger, L.L., and Phifer, P.R. 2000. "The ecological risks and benefits of genetically engineered plants." Science. 290: 2088-2093.

Daszak, P., Cunninham, A.A., and Hyatt, A.D. 2000. "Emerging infectious diseases in wildlife - threats to biodiversity and human health." Science. 287: 443-449.

Kolar, C.S., and Lodge, D.M. 2001. "Progress in invasion biology: predicting invaders." Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 16(4): 199-204.

March 15
Required:

Hardin, 1968. "The tragedy of the commons." Science 162: 1243-1248

Parmesan et al. 1999. "Poleward shifts in geographical ranges of butterfly species associated with regional warming." Nature 399: 579-583. (in email)

March 20
Required:

Betsill, M.M. 2005. Chapter 6, “Global climate change policy: making progress or spinning wheels.” In Axelrod, R.S., Downie, D.L., and Vig, N.J. The Global Environment: Institutions, Law and Policy. (in room 506)

March 27
Required:

Whitman, K., Starfield, A.M., Quadling, H.S., and Packer, C. 2004. “Sustainable trophy hunting of African lions.” Nature 428: 175-178.

Jackson, J.B.C., et al. 2001. "Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems." Science 293: 629-637

Milner-Gulland, E.J., and Bennett, E.L. 2003. "Wild meat: the bigger picture." TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution. 18(7): 351-357

March 29

Mid-term exam

April 3
Lab:

Excel-based population models: what controls population growth?

Required:

Excerpt from Ehrlich & Ehrlich. 1991. The Population Explosion. Touchstone Books

"Population and the environment." Anonymous report published by Population Connection 2002

"The demographic facts of life ." Anonymous report published by Population Connection 2004

"Human Population through History, 1 A.D. to 2020" (note dates of each map: first four cover 1800 years, the last four cover only 120 years )

April 5
Required:

Lomborg, B. "The truth about the environment." (Summary of The Skeptical Environmentalist). The Economist. Aug 2, 2001.

Grubb, M. "Relying on manna from heaven?" [Book review of The Skeptical Environmentalist]. Science 1294: 1285-1286.

Excerpts from debate between Tom Burke and Bjørn Lomborg, originally published in Prospect Magazine, October 2001.

Recommended:

Pimm, S.L., and Harvey, J. 2001. "No need to worry about the future." [Book review of The Skeptical Environmentalist]. Nature. 414:149-150.

Responses to Pimm & Harvey: Trewawas and Budiansky

Simon, J.L. 1994. "More people. Greater wealth, more resources, healthier environment." Economic Affairs. April 1994

April 10
Required:

Chapter 10 "The wisdom to use nature's resources." (pp 165-179) in Pimm, S.L. 2001. The World According to Pimm. (in email)

April 24
Required:

Vig, N.J. 2005. Pages 1-5 In Axelrod, Downie, and Vig (Eds). The Global Environment. (in room 506)

Porter, Brown, and Chasek. Pages 9-20 in Global Environmental Politics. (in room 506)

April 26
Required:

Tierney, J. 2000. "A tale of two fisheries." New York Times Magazine. (in email)

May 1
Lab:

Establishing a management regime for small-type coastal whaling

Required:

Cole. Chapter 3: "Mixed property/regulatory regimes for environmental protection." (in email)

Read only pp. 46-48, 51-57, 57-58. The remainder is recommended reading.

Fryer. 2004. "Bush's gatekeeper weighs costs, benefits of new regulations." The Seattle Times. (in email)

May 3
Required:

Clark, J.A., and Harvey, E. 2002. "Assessing multiple species recovery plans under the Endangered Species Act." Ecological Applications 12(3): 655-662. (in email)

Sanderson, E.W. et al. 2002. "A conceptual model for conservation planning based on landscape species requirements." Landscape and Urban Planning 58: 41-56. (in email)

Williams, P.H., Burgess, N.D., and Rahbek, C. 2000. "Flagship species, ecological complementarity and conserving the diversity of mammals and birds in sub-Saharan Africa." Animal Conservation 3. 249-260. (in email)

Recommended:

Caro and O'Doherty. 1999. "On the use of surrogate species in conservation biology." Conservation Biology 13(4): 805-814. (in email)

May 8

Short paper #2 due

Lab:

Designing a zoo

Required:

Myers et al. 2000. "Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities." Nature 403: 853-858. (in email)

Redford et al. 2003. "Mapping the conservation landscape." Conservation Biology 17(1): 116-131. (in email)

May 10
Required:

Redford, Robinson, and Adams. 2006. "Parks as shibboleths." Conservation Biology 20(1): 1-2. (in email)

Wilkie et al. 2006. "Parks and people: assessing the human welfare effects of establishing protected areas for biodiversity conservation." Conservation Biology 20(1): 247-249. (in email)

Colchester, M. 2004. "Conservation policy and indigenous peoples." Cultural Survival Quarterly 28(1). (in email)

May 15
Required:

Mogelgaard, K. 2003. Helping People, Saving Biodiversity. Population Action International Occassional Paper. (in email)

Read only Executive Summary and Introduction.

Sanderson, S.E., and Redford, K.H. 2003. "Contested relationships between biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation." Oryx 37(4): 389-390. (in email)

Wells et al. 2004. "What went wrong?" In Christensen, J. "Win-win illusions." Conservation in Practice 5(1): 17. (in email)

May 17

Final exam

Final paper due (4900 students only)

Bronx Zoo lab due

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