Instructor: Neal D. Mundahl

Office: Pasteur Hall, Room 250

Telephone: (507) 457-5695

E-mail: nmundahl@winona.edu

Office hours: MWF 8:00-9:00, 11:00-12:00; WF 1:00-3:00, or by appointment

Text: The Ecology of Plants by Gurevitch, Scheiner, & Fox

Goal and Objectives: The primary goal of this course is to familiarize you with the principles of organismal, population, community, and ecosystem ecology, as they apply specifically to plants. By the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:

1) explain the various biotic and abiotic forces acting on plants in their natural environment,

2) determine the importance of these forces under varying conditions,

3) predict how human activities may alter the effects of these forces, and

4) evaluate the trade-offs occurring among our biological, social, political, and economic worlds.

Evaluation: Three lecture exams of equal value (mixed format) - 100 points each (300 points total)

Exam 1 questions

Exam 2 questions

Exam 3 questions

            Lab exercises - 200 points

            Total for course - 500 points

Graduate Students: Students enrolled for graduate credit will be required to complete one assignment (100 points) in addition to those described above.  The student will choose from three alternatives.  One alternative will involve the student inventorying and writing a report on a specific group of plants (e.g., trees, shrubs, woodland plants, savannah plants) in Krueger Woods.  A second alternative will consist of the student developing an invasive plant management strategy plan for Garvin Heights/Krueger Woods and initiating that plan on a small scale.  Alternative three will have the student inventory trees along a section of shoreline on east Lake Winona, along Hwy. 14/61.

Grading: 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, <60% = F

Tentative lecture outline:

Lecture topic / Text chapter

Introduction / 1

Photosynthesis & Light / 2

Water and Soil Relations / 3-4

Population Structure & Growth / 5

Evolution & Change /6

 

SEPTEMBER 23 (FRIDAY) **** EXAM 1 ****

 

Growth & Reproduction / 7

Plant Life Histories / 8

Communities & Competition / 9-10

Herbivory & Parasitism / 11

Disturbance & Succession / 12

Abundance, Diversity, & Invasive Species / 13

 

OCTOBER 26 (WEDNESDAY) **** EXAM 2 ****

 

Ecosystems & Landscapes / 14-16

Climate & Patterns / 17

Biomes / 18

Paleoecology / 20

Humans, Plants, & Global Change / 21

DECEMBER 6 (TUESDAY, 8:00 AM) **** EXAM 3 ****