Spring 2020

This course will provide an introduction to the discipline of conservation biology. The first two-thirds of the course will focus on the biological aspects of the discipline. Topics covered will include patterns of biodiversity and extinction, causes of extinction and population declines, techniques used to restore populations, landscape level conservation planning, and the role of conservation in protecting ecosystem services. The final third will cover the practical aspects of implementing conservation actions and will include lectures on conservation economics and conservation law.

For information on the transition to online teaching for the second half of the spring 2020 semester, click here.

Basic course information

Credits: 3

Instructor: Chris Elphick (office: TLS 372/4, down the hall from the EEB office; office hours – at lecture hall 15 mins before or after class, and/or by appointment) Email: chris.elphick@uconn.edu Twitter: @ssts

Teaching assistant: Jacob Kasper (office hours: 11-12 on Thursdays in TLS 368, or by appointment; after spring break office hours will be 11-12 on Wednesdays) Email: jacob.kasper@uconn.edu Twitter: @Protect_Oceans

Your emails to us must contain the phrase “EEB 2208” in the subject line; emails received without that phrase, and especially those with a blank subject line, may get treated as SPAM and be deleted without being read.

Lecture: M, W 2-3:15 PM

Location: BPB 131

Pre-requisites: There are currently no prerequisites for the course, but it is aimed at students who are at least sophomores.

Text book:  I lecture primarily from my own notes, and there is no required reading for the course. Reading beyond the lecture material, however, will be helpful as I will expect you to know a range of examples for each phenomenon I describe. A textbook  I’ve used in the past is Essentials of Conservation Biology (R.B. Primack, 6th Edition, Sinauer), which closely follows the sequence of my lectures. Another book (Sodhi and Ehrlich) that might be helpful is available as a free download here. The free textbook covers many of the topics I’ll cover in class, but is not as comprehensive as Primack’s book, and not as similar in its organization to the way that I have set up my lectures. The 5th edition of Primack is also probably OK, but will not be as up-to-date (the author of this book treats revisions seriously) and chapter/page numbering will differ a little.

Web site: This site will serve as the primary web site for information about the class. We will, however, also have a huskyCT site where grades will be posted, where homework can be turned in, and where you can post questions for me, the TA, or your classmates. The huskyCT site will not be available until after the first class.

Research paper readings: In some lectures, I will provide supplemental readings from the primary research literature to augment the lectures. These readings will be the subject of class discussions and graded in-class questions; material from them may also appear on exams. See the syllabus below for more information on when these discussions will occur and what is expected of you.

Optional reading that might be helpful: If you are really interested in this topic, then you will be well served if you check out recent issues of the journal Conservation Biology (note that to read articles you will need to be connected to the UConn system).

Questions: Please ask lots of them! Class is much more interesting (for me and you) when people ask questions. If you send me questions over email, I will post them (anonymously) along with the answers on the discussion board on huskyCT, so that everyone can read the responses.

Office hours: I do not have fixed office hours because they inevitably do not work for many students. But, I will usually be present in the lecture hall for at least 15 minutes before and after each lecture to answer questions. Please come up and introduce yourself – the class is big and it is hard for me to get to know people unless they come and talk to me. I am also happy to meet at other times by appointment. If you would like to meet, then email me, telling me (a) what you want to discuss (so I can prepare) and (b) when would be good times to meet (Mon, Tues, or Wed will usually be best). The TA is also available to answer questions by email, during office hours, and/or by appointment (see above for details).

Course objectives and expectations: My goal is to provide you with a basic understanding of the scientific field of conservation biology and the application of science to solving conservation problems. My primary goal is for you to learn and understand basic concepts and general ideas, although to get an A or a high B, you will need to know plenty of details too. I will expect you to know examples relating to each major concept, so that you can relate theory to practical, real-world situations. I will not expect you to memorize all of the minutia in my notes; for example, I would not ask you exactly how many species have gone extinct in the last 500 years. But, I will expect you to have a solid understanding of the core information that would be required of you in a job in this field; for example, I would expect you to know whether the number of extinctions this decade is likely to be closer to 2 or 20,000. The readings are intended to complement the lectures. My lectures will not repeat verbatim what is in those readings, and I will often use different examples or cover somewhat different topics. Both the lecture material and the readings, however, are important and could appear on exams.

Specific things that I hope you will learn are:

• to understand the basic issues that define the field of conservation biology;
• specific factual information about major issues in conservation biology;
• specific examples of all important concepts, problems, and solutions;
• to use general principles to think about ways to solve specific conservation problems;
• to extrapolate from examples I provide in class to other cases with similar characteristics (e.g., that I may ask about in exams!);
• to acknowledge scientific uncertainty when it exists, and to recognize when it hampers understanding and when it does not;
• to read scientific papers and understand the main points that they make;
• to interpret graphs, tables, and simple statistics presented in the scientific literature;
• to present scientific information to your peers in a format commonly used by scientists;
• to think about the work of others and provide constructive feedback.

If you are just taking this course out of general interest, then hopefully it will provide you with a sense of how the biological sciences can be applied to protection of the natural world, and will give you a better understanding of the main issues in conservation biology. For those of you wishing to pursue a career in conservation biology, I hope that this course will give you a solid foundation on which to build with future courses (e.g., EEB 5310, EEB 5370). If this is your goal, I’d also encourage you to check out EEB’s joint BS/MS program in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology. There are also links to good sites for finding internships and jobs (short-term and permanent) in conservation biology below.

General student help

Counseling and Mental Health Services: (860) 486-4705 (24 hours).

Alcohol and Other Drug Education Office: (860) 486-9431.

Dean of Students Office: (860) 486-3425.

UConn Police Department.

Academic rules and conduct

All students should be aware of the guidelines on academic integrity contained in the Student Code, which is available here.

Conservation biology in the news

Recent news articles that relate to the topics covered in this course will be posted on Twitter and can be viewed here. You do not need an account to view them, but if you use Twitter and want to contribute please do so using #eeb2208. If you want to get the class-related tweets that I post, follow me @ssts.

Important course documents

Updates on transition to on-line teaching (spring 2020)

Grading policies

Plagiarism statement

Homework overview

Discussion papers

Exam format information

Poster project guidelines

Link to some poster design tips

Citation guidelines (for poster project)

Study guide

Schedule of lectures and examinations (subject to change)

** NOTE THAT DATES IN THE TABLE BELOW HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT CHANGES FOLLOWING THE SWITCH TO ONLINE TEACHING DURING THE 2020 SPRING SEMESTER. FOR THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION ON THESE CHANGES CLICK HERE **

The schedule below describes the order in which we will cover material. Not every topic fits nicely into the time set aside for a lecture, so be prepared for us to start some topics a lecture early, and for others to take longer than the syllabus suggests. Snow days may also disrupt things, so don’t be surprised if the topic listing changes slightly.  (Note that assignments will not change unless something dramatic happens, in which case I will email everyone in the class using UConn addresses.)

Each lecture has an outline summarizing the material (linked to the topic titles in the syllabus below). Reading these notes before each lecture should help you to follow the material, and some people like to print them out so that they can spend more time listening and less time writing. These outlines, however, ARE NOT a substitute for coming to class, making your own notes, or doing the assigned readings, and you should not expect them to include everything covered in class (e.g., none of the graphics will be in the web notes).  I will review and update each set of notes a day or two before each class, so minor changes may be introduced.

My advice is to look the notes over before class, make supplemental notes during the lecture, and then look over all the information again before the next class. Then, if there is anything that you do not understand, ask me about it at the start of the next lecture (I always try to be in class 10-15 mins early). In exams, you will be expected to know about all the things I talked about, not just the information in the web notes. If you choose to skip class and rely only on the web notes it will likely affect your grade.

The symbol ** in the “Reading” column means that there is important supplemental reading from the primary literature that we will discuss in class (if there is no ** then the reading is still important, but will not be the subject of graded in-class activities). Reading these papers is important as there will be graded writing assignments, conducted in class, for each one. I will also randomly pick people in class to answer questions about them. Links to the relevant papers can be accessed by clicking on the ** (note that links will not go live until a week or so into the semester). These links might not work if you are not using a computer that connects to the UConn network. It is possible to connect your home computers to the network by going to this site and signing in using your netID. We will also post the papers on the huskyCT site.

Weekly homework will be assigned on Wednesdays, with each assignment posted on huskyCT.  Your responses should be submitted via huskyct and are due by 8 pm on the Sunday after the homework was assigned (see homework column in the table below). Answers will be posted on huskyCT.

In the syllabus I have also noted special lectures or other events (in green) that will take place on campus this semester and that are at least loosely connected to this course. Attendance at these lectures is not required, but the presentations should be of interest to anyone interested in conservation biology.

Because conservation biology is a fast-moving field, with the latest research constantly changing, all of my course notes are updated annually. Links to the documents in the syllabus below will take you to the most recent version, but do not be surprised if they are updated a day or so before the relevant lecture.

Lecture	Date	Topic	Background reading	Homework (due 8 pm, Sundays)	Supplemental information
1	22 Jan	What is conservation biology?	Primack Ch 1 & 6 S & E Ch 1		A summary of what the course is about: Part 1 and Part 2
2	27 Jan	Interpreting statistics (when there’s an agenda)	Sutherland et al. 2013		Theory of the Stork
3	29 Jan	Forms of biological diversity	Primack Ch 2 S & E Ch 2	Hwk #1 (due 2 Feb)	International Year of Biodiversity Ecosystem services
	30 Jan	EEB SEMINAR: Attempts to forecast ecological responses to global change (Cory Merrow, UConn)			3:30PM, BPB 131
4	3 Feb	Patterns of biodiversity	Primack Ch 3 S & E Ch 2		New species discoveries
5	5 Feb	Extinction rates	Primack Ch 7 S & E Ch 10	Hwk #2 (due 9 Feb)	Thylacine video – all that’s left
	6 Feb	TEALE LECTURE: Connecting with organisms – restoring the human connection with nature (William Friedman, Harvard)			4:00PM, Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center
6	10 Feb	Patterns of extinction	Primack Ch 8 S & E Ch 10		A short extinction overview Extinction debt video
7	12 Feb	Causes of population decline	Primack Ch 8 S & E Ch 10 **Humphreys et al. 2019	Hwk #3 (due 16 Feb)	1ST DISCUSSION TODAY!!! The fate of passenger pigeons IUCN Red List
8	17 Feb	Habitat loss & degradation	Primack Ch 9: 175-196 S & E Ch 4 and 5		Another victim of habitat loss
9	19 Feb	Over-exploitation	Primack Ch 10: 215-227 S & E Ch 6 **Pfeifer et al. 2017	Hwk #4 (due 23 Feb)	Bushmeat
10	24 Feb	Invasive species	Primack Ch 10: 227-238 S & E Ch 7 Watch Cane Toads		IPANE Another invasive amphibian gets to Australia
11	26 Feb	Disease	Primack Ch 10: 238-245 S & E Ch 7 **Scheele et al. 2019	Hwk #5 (due 1 Mar)	Chytrid video
	28 Feb	Poster info due via email before 4 pm today
12	2 Mar	Global change	Primack Ch 9: 197-216 S & E Ch 8		National Academies video, part 1 USFS climate change atlases for trees and birds Climate Change Time Machine
13	4 Mar	Ecosystem services	pp. 1-24 MEA Summary for decision makers  S & E Ch 3 **Cohen et al. 2018	Hwk #6 (due 8 Mar)	Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA)
	5 Mar	TEALE LECTURE: We are not pricing climate risk: A Wall Street perspective (Robert Litternman, Kepos Capital)			4:00PM, Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center
	9 Mar	Mid-term Exam	Study lectures 1-13
14	11 Mar	Small population conservation	Primack Ch 11 **Free et al. 2019	Hwk #7 (due 15 Mar)
	12 Mar	EEB SEMINAR: Collectively saving plant and fungal biodiversity through the world’s herbaria (Barbara Thiers, New York Botanical Garden)			3:30PM, BPB 131
	16 Mar	No Class: SPRING BREAK	Reading for …
	18 Mar	No Class: SPRING BREAK	… poster projects
15	23 Mar	Population viability analysis	Primack Ch 12 S & E Ch 16: 328-330		Demos of PVA simulations in class today and/or Wednesday
16	25 Mar	Conservation genetics	Primack Ch 13 S & E Ch 16: 330-333 **Chaplin-Kramer et al. 2019	Hwk #8 (due 29 Mar)	Frozen Ark Project POSTER PROSPECTUS DUE TODAY
	26 Mar	EEB SEMINAR: Evolution in a changing world: How species interactions influence adaptation to global change (Jennifer Lau, Indiana University, Bloomington)			3:30PM, BPB 131
17	30 Mar	Ex situ conservation, release programs	Primack Ch 14		Info on UConn’s endangered and extinct in the wild plants
18	1 Apr	Conservation reserves	Primack Ch 15 S & E Ch 11 **Gill et al. 2017	Hwk #9 (due 5 Apr)	US Protected Areas
19	6 Apr	Reserve networks	Primack Ch 16		Poster design tips
20	8 Apr	Conservation in the matrix	Primack Ch 18 S & E Ch 13 **Baldock et al. 2019	Hwk #10 (due 12 Apr)	Flooding rice
21	13 Apr	Management	Primack Ch 17 S & E Ch 16: 319-326		Read about re-wilding
22	15 Apr	Habitat restoration	Primack: Ch 19 **Rozendaal et al. 2019	Hwk #11 (due 19 Apr)
	16 Apr	TEALE LECTURE: Frontiers in climate change adaptation (Chris Field, Stanford)			4:00PM, Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center
	20 Apr	Poster presentations: session A	Start studying		Grading forms: Yours // mine
	22 Apr	Poster presentations: session B	Primack: Ch 20	Hwk #12 (due 26 Apr)
	23 Apr	EEB SEMINAR: Global change and western butterflies (Matt Forister, University of Nevada, Reno)			3:30PM, BPB 131
23	27 Apr	Economics of conservation	Primack: Ch 4, 5 S & E: Ch 14		Instructor evaluations today
24	29 Apr	Conservation law and International legislation	Primack: Ch 21, 22 S & E Ch 12 **Piaggio et al. 2017	Hwk #13 (due 3 May)	Short video on wildlife trade Valuing ecosystems
					Study Guide
	TBD	Final exam: confirm time and date here	Cumulative		Exam will cover material from entire course

* Questions about final exam rescheduling MUST be directed to the Office of Student Services and Advocacy: (860) 486-3426. I am not allowed to consider rescheduling requests unless you already have approval from that office. Except in emergencies, rescheduling of other graded activities will be considered only if a written request is made at least one week in advance. Rescheduling is not guaranteed.

Please note that these lecture notes are intended for students in EEB 2208 at The University of Connecticut, and may not make sense in other contexts. If, however, you are not a UConn student and they are useful to you, please use them – but kindly let me know first if you intend to use them for anything more than your own on-line reading. If you find errors, please let me know that too.

Poster topics

The following topics have been taken: If your poster number starts with an A then you will present on Monday. If it starts with a B then you will present on Wednesday. Please make note of your poster number. All posters must be turned in on Monday.

Honors conversion projects

Occasionally honors students conduct additional projects to get honors credit for this class.  Recently, those projects have involved developing web sites that provide information about conservation biology that relates to UConn or the state of Connecticut.  I will post examples of those projects here as the information may be of interest to other students:

• Wetland plants of Connecticut
• Diseases that threaten Connecticut wildlife
• Freshwater fish conservation in Connecticut
• Invasive aquatic invertebrates in Connecticut

Important policies

Policy Against Discrimination, Harassment and Related Interpersonal Violence
The University is committed to maintaining an environment free of discrimination or discriminatory harassment directed toward any person or group within its community – students, employees, or visitors. Academic and professional excellence can flourish only when each member of our community is assured an atmosphere of mutual respect. All members of the University community are responsible for the maintenance of an academic and work environment in which people are free to learn and work without fear of discrimination or discriminatory harassment. In addition, inappropriate amorous relationships can undermine the University’s mission when those in positions of authority abuse or appear to abuse their authority. To that end, and in accordance with federal and state law, the University prohibits discrimination and discriminatory harassment, as well as inappropriate amorous relationships, and such behavior will be met with appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal from the University. Additionally, to protect the campus community, all non-confidential University employees (including faculty) are required to report sexual assaults, intimate partner violence, and/or stalking involving a student that they witness or are told about to the Office of Institutional Equity. The University takes all reports with the utmost seriousness. Please be aware that while the information you provide will remain private, it will not be confidential and will be shared with University officials who can help. More information is available at equity.uconn.edu and titleix.uconn.edu.

Information for Students with Disabilities
The University of Connecticut is committed to protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities and assuring that the learning environment is accessible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability or pregnancy, please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options. Students who require accommodations should contact the Center for Students with Disabilities, Wilbur Cross Building Room 204, (860) 486-2020 or http://csd.uconn.edu/.

Links to other key policy information.

Other information

For information about EEB’s Joint B.S./M.S. degree program in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology click here

For information about the Society for Conservation Biology click here

For information on jobs in conservation biology click here

For information on jobs in wildlife biology click here