AQUATIC ECOLOGY - BIOL 4440 (4 credit hrs)-FALL 2004

 

 

INSTRUCTOR:           Dr. Carl Quertermus (Office: Biology 227)

Phone: 770-836-4540                          Email: carlq@westga.edu

Office Hours:    M, W, F 9:00-10:30 am; M & F 2:00–5:00 pm;

                         T & R by appointment

 

DAYS & TIME:           Lecture: M, W, F 1:00-1:50 pm

Lab: W 2:00-5:00 pm

Final Exam: Friday, December 17, 11:00-1:00

 

TEXTS:

 

1.         Textbook of Limnology (4th edition) by Cole

2.         A Guide to the Study of Freshwater Biology by Needham

 

MAJOR COURSE OBJECTIVES:

 

1.         Acquire a familiarity with the biota of selected freshwater habitats.

2.         Acquire an understanding of the physical, chemical, geological, and biological interactions that determine the composition, spatial and temporal distribution, and population dynamics of aquatic organisms in various aquatic habitats.

3.         Develop and demonstrate skills required to obtain and interpret data derived from field work and be able to relate field data with the theoretical concepts presented in the text and lecture.

4.         Become acquainted with the recent scientific literature in aquatic ecology.

5.                  Learn the proper use of field equipment including: Plankton nets, seines, water samplers, bottom dredges, dissolved oxygen/temperature meters, YSI meters (multi-probe, field analytical units), and a Hach kit (a field chemical analysis system).

 

GRADING:

 

EXAMS:                      First (Topics I - II A)                                        100      

Second (Topics II B - III)                                 100

Third (Topics IV- VA)                                      100

Final (Topics VB - VI & Practical)                    125    

 

LAB REPORT:            A Comparison of Two Reservoirs                     100     DUE: Dec 09

 

LITERATURE REVIEWS:                                                                             DUE DATES:

(3 reviews)                                               75      Sept 20, Oct 18 &

Nov 15

                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                              TOTAL POINTS                     600

 

COURSE GRADE:

 

A =                  90 - 100% of total points

B =                  80 - 89%   of total points

C =                  70 - 79%   of total points

D =                  60 - 69%   of total points

F =                   Less than 60% of total points

 

FORMAT FOR LITERATURE REVIEWS:

 

1.                  At the top of your first page give the title, author, year, journal, volume, and pages.

2.                  Why was this experiment(s) done?

3.                  What was the author(s) hypothesis(es)?

4.                  Summarize the methods with a flow chart.

5.                  Summarize the results in bullet form.

6.                  What did the author(s) say the results mean?

7.                  Suggest other questions that this research raised in your mind.

8.                  Attach a photocopy of the article.

 

 

UWG JOURNALS FOR LITURATURE REVIEWS:

 

1.         Limnology and Oceanography

2.         Lake and Reservoir Management

3.         Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

4.         Transactions of the American Fisheries Society

5.         Environmental Biology of Fishes

6.         North American Journal of Fisheries Management

 

 

SELECTION OF ARTICLES FOR LITERATURE REVIEWS:

 

9.                  Select your articles from journals listed above.

10.              Each of the three articles selected must be from a different journal.

11.              Articles must be at least 6 journal pages long and must be reports of an original freshwater ecology experiment, not a descriptive study or a review.

12.              The selected articles must have been published in 2004 for journals 1, 3- 6 above and 2002 for journal 2.

 

 

FORMAT FOR LAB REPORT 

 

                                                         Title (Should be descriptive)

 

Introduction:     A brief statement about the purpose of the investigation.  That is, what questions were being asked?

 

 

Methods:          Provide a general overview of what was done.  For specific procedures, if you have a handout, just indicate that the procedure is on the handout.  Point out any changes made.

 

 

Results:                        A written text that calls attention to tables and figures

                        ●          Tables and Figures (graphs); numbered separately; each should have a title (the first line of the caption)

                        ●          Any mathematical analysis of the data should be in a table

                        ●          Raw data (put in an appendix at the end of the paper)

 

 

Discussion and conclusions:

 

                        ●          What do the data mean?

                        ●          Relate biological, physical, and chemical determinations.

                        ●          Do the data fit theories considered in lecture and text?  Explain.

 

Note:  You will receive three procedure handouts that detail what data to collect, how to collect

                                    the data, and the various data analyses (including graphs) that must be done.                                                                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LECTURE OUTLINE and READING ASSIGNMENTS

 

I.          Introduction (Ch. 1 and p. 8-15, 27-29)

 

A.        Limnology as a synthesis

B.        History of Limnology

C.        Lake regions

D.        Lake types

 

II.         Lakes: Biota, habitats, origins, and sediments

 

A.        Lake biota (p. 30-57)

B.         Lake communities (Ch. 4)

C.         Lake origins (Ch. 6)

D.        Lake sediments (p. 15-27)

 

III.       Ecosystems: Energy, production, and succession (Ch. 5 and p. 61-62, 75-77)

 

A.        Aquatic environments as ecosystems

B.         Energy and productivity

C.         Succession in aquatic systems

 

IV.       Physical factors and their effects on the ecology of aquatic organisms

 

A.        Light (Ch. 9)

B.         Properties of water

C.         Thermal stratification and lake classification (Ch.10)

D.        Water movements in lakes (Ch. 11)

 

V.        Chemical factors and their effects on the ecology of aquatic organisms

 

A.        Dissolved oxygen (Ch. 12)

B.         Carbon dioxide, alkalinity, and pH (Ch. 13)

C.         Nutrients and nutrient cycling (Ch. 14 & 15)

 

VI.       Streams (Ch. 8 & 16)

 

A.        Stream channels and stream flow

B.         Lotic biota and habitats

C.         Anatomical and behavioral adaptations of lotic organisms

D.                 Streams compared to lakes

E.                  Upstream compared to downstream

F.                  Water quality and pollution

 

LECTURE AND LAB SCHEDULE

 

          Lecture                                                                        Lab

 

Week 1 (8/23, 8/25, 8/27)

 

Introduction to Limnology                                 Plankton identification 

Lakes regions and lake types

Lake biota

 

Week 2 (8/30, 9/1, 9/3)

 

Lake biota                                                           Plankton identification

 

 Week 3 (9/8 & 9/10)

 

Lake biota                                                          Sharpe Creek Reservoir - Plankton and                                                                                                          benthos sampling; initial physical and                                                                                                               chemical analyses (9/8, 1:00-5:00)

 

 

Week 4 (9/13, 9/15, 9/17)

 

Exam 1

 

Lake communities                                                    Sharpe Creek – Plankton analysis

                                              

Week 5 (9/20, 9/22, 9/24)

 

Lake communities                                              Sharpe Creek - Plankton and benthos analyses                                                                                                                            

                                                   

Week 6 (9/27, 9/29, 10/1)

 

Lake origins                                                        West Point Lake - Biological sampling                                                                                                              and physical & chemical analyses (9/29,                                                                                                             1:00-9:00)

 

Week 7 (10/4, 10/6, 10/8)

 

Aquatic ecosystems: Production                          West Point – Plankton analysis

 

Aquatic ecosystems: Succession