THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

ST AUGUSTINE
DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCES
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
BIOL 2464 FUNDAMENTALS OF ECOLOGY
COURSE OUTLINE 2015/16

(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/95799216/2464outline.pdf)
Lecturer:
Instructor:
Duration:
Timetable:

Prof. Adrian Hailey (Room 226, Zoology, New Wing, Nat Sci Building)
Dr Jo-Anne Sewlal (Teaching Assistants Room, New Wing, Nat Sci Building)
Semester 2 (Weeks 1-12)
Lectures:
Monday 10.00 - 10.50 h Eng LT 1
Friday 10.00 - 10.50 h LRC A+B
Practicals:
Stream L1: Friday 13.00 - 17.00 h LS1/LS2
Stream L2: Saturday 8.00-12.00 h LS1/LS2

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an introduction to ecology, the science of organisms and the environment,
and gives the necessary background for advanced courses in ecology. Students will be introduced
to the different levels of ecological organization and the types of studies associated with each.
They will be introduced to the major factors that influence the distribution and abundance of
organisms and appreciate the factors that influence the structure of ecological communities. The
functioning of ecosystems in terms of the movement of energy and nutrients will also be
covered. Apart from a general introduction to ecological fieldwork the students will also be
introduced to practical skills that will allow them to assess spatial distribution patterns of
organisms and estimate their population sizes. The students will investigate community structure
and function using a variety of methods many of which involve fieldwork on campus.
Assessment will be based on lab reports, research essay, and final theory exam.
COURSE RATIONALE
This course is one of the core level 2 courses for the BSc in Biology with Specialisations, the
BSc in Environmental Science and Sustainable Technology, and the BSc General for Majors in
Biology and in Environmental Science. It replaces the ecology half of the introductory course
BIOL 1462 General Ecology and Biometry. At the end of the course, students are expected to
have an understanding of the fundamentals of ecology which is suitable for the biologist going
on to specialize in other areas, or as a basis for further study for students specializing in Ecology
and Environmental Biology, Zoology, or Environmental Science.
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Email addresses:
adrian.hailey@sta.uwi.edu
jo-anne.sewlal@sta.uwi.edu
Office hours (AH): Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 11-12 a.m., other times by appointment.
Preferred contact:
Email or myelearning Academic Forum

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Contact policy:
Contact Dr Sewlal regarding the organization of practicals (allocation to stream, missing marks
etc), and Prof. Hailey on other matters. Those concerning the individual student should be raised
by email, from the students UWI email account. Those of interest to the class should be raised
as Academic Forum postings on myelearning. In either case students can expect a response
within 2 working days. DO NOT use myelearning messaging, which is not responded to directly
as correspondence is not saved; this will be seen and responded to on email, after some delay.
COURSE ASSESSMENT
Final Examination:
50% based on a 2-hour written examination at the end of the semester.
Coursework:
50%, made up of:
Theory (CWT): 25% based on a research essay, submitted at the end of week 8 (Friday 11
March) to allow sufficient time for marking before the final examination. The complete
essay including references and illustrations must be submitted through Turnitin on
myelearning, and as a hard copy of the full Turnitin report. The instructions are available
on myelearning and on dropbox at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/95799216/2464essay.pdf
Practical (CWP): 25% based on the best four (4) marks out of five (5) lab reports. The
reports will be written during the practical class and submitted before leaving. Students do
not need to submit a medical if absent from only one (1) practical, as the marks from the
other four (4) will be used to calculate the CWP.
STUDENTS MUST ATTEND A MINIMUM OF 75% OF THE PRACTICAL CLASSES, OR BE
DEBARRED FROM THE FINAL EXAMINATION. However, students may be absent from one
(1) practical class without medical excuse without affecting the final mark, since the lowest mark is
not used in assessment.
Lectures:
Notes are not provided, but figures and learning objectives are available on myelearning.
Practicals:
Attendance at practical sessions is compulsory. You are strongly advised to read any materials
provided online on myelearning before the practical, as time during the lab is limited. To
encourage students to read materials beforehand, a small charge ($2.00) is made for hard
copies during the lab, so you should print your own before the class. To ease problems with
myelearning access at the start of the course, the first practical handout will also be available
at: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/95799216/2464practical.pdf
Stream selection is online on myelearning. The size of each stream is limited to 108 students by
the capacity of the lab, so if excess select one stream some will have to be reallocated to the
other stream. See Dr Sewlal if you are not on myelearning after week 1 or if you have a clash
with another course with the stream you are allocated to.
Standard laboratory protocols for conduct and dress code are in effect once you are present in a
Life Sciences laboratory. Dress code includes mandatory lab coats, clothing that will protect

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the body from accidental spills, etc., and closed shoes. NO sandals, slippers or open-toed shoes
will be allowed in the lab. Details of field conduct and field clothing are in the Department of
Life
Sciences
Undergraduate
Student
Handbook,
available
online
at
http://www.sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/documents/handbook.pdf . You are expected to have a
calculator and a dissection kit with adequate instruments available for all practicals.
TEXTS
Essential Texts:
Students are expected to obtain their own copy and read this substantially.

Mackenzie, A., Ball, A. S. & Virdee, S. R. 2001. Instant Notes in Ecology. 2nd edition.
London: Taylor & Francis.

Recommended Texts:
These texts are available in the Reserve Section of the Main Library and should be used for
supplementing the essential text.
1. Begon, M, Townsend, C R & Harper, J L. 2005. Ecology: Individuals, Populations and

Communities. 4th edition. Oxford: Blackwell. [Earlier editions useful]

2. Beeby, A. & Brennan, A. 2004. First Ecology. 2nd edition. Oxford Univ. Press. [Formerly the
course text, less useful for 2015/16]
3. Brower, J., Zar, J. & von Ende, C. 1998. Field and Laboratory Methods for General Ecology.
4th edition. Boston: McGraw Hill. [Useful for practical work in ecology - earlier editions
useful]
4. Smith, T. M. & Smith, R. L. 2009. Elements of Ecology. 7th edition. San Francisco: Benjamin
Cummings. [Earlier editions useful]
REPEATERS
All students repeating BIOL 2464 must submit the Research Essay to get a CWT mark. Students
who completed 75% of practicals in 2014/15 are allowed to carry forward their CWP mark and
are exempt from attending practicals this year. Students who completed less than 75% of
practicals are required to repeat the whole practical course in 2015/16.

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BIOL 2464 COURSE SCHEDULE 2015/16

WEEK

LECTURES

PRACTICALS

1
Jan 18-22

T1 Introduction to course (Tutorial)

L1 Evolution and the niche

2
Jan 25-29

L2 Individual ecology
L3 Population: distribution

3
Feb 1-5

L4 Population: numbers and characteristics

L5 Population demography

4
Feb 8-12

[Carnival Monday]
L6 Population regulation

5
Feb 15-19

L7 Interactions between species

L8 Life history strategies

6
Feb 22-26

T2 Essay review (Tutorial)

L9 Community: definitions and descriptions

7
Feb 29 - Mar 4

L10 Geography of communities

L11 Community: diversity and stability

Predation
(Lab)

8
Mar 7-11

L12 Community change: succession

L13 Island community dynamics

Research Essay due Friday 11 March

9
Mar 14-18

L14 Ecosystem components and processes

L15 Ecosystem: producers

Quantitative sampling of grassland vegetation

(UWI field)

10
Mar 21-25

L16 Ecosystem: consumers

11
Mar 28 - Apr 1

[Easter Monday]

12
Apr 4-8

L18 Applied ecology

T3 Examination review (Tutorial)

Qualitative sampling of grassland vegetation

(UWI field)

Mark-release-recapture estimation of population size

(Lab)

[Good Friday]
Sampling grassland insects
(UWI field)

L17 Ecosystem: nutrient cycling

AH: 18 January 2016

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