|
COURSE
DESCRIPTION
Overview
Glancing at a typical map of the world, one might conclude that cities cover a small proportion of the continents and, therefore, have little environmental impact. What the map does not show is that over half of the world's population lives in cities and survives by importing natural resources and exporting wastes. Thus, cities have considerable environmental impacts that should be managed in a sustainable fashion. Urban Ecology is a nascent field of study that can help guide this management. It integrates biophysical and socio-economic forces (e.g., biology, economics, public policy) to understand, predict, and manage the emergent phenomena we call cities.
This course presents the state of our knowledge
of Urban Ecology with lectures by your instructor and guest speakers (schedule), readings, discussions, field trips around metro Atlanta, and experiments.
Goals
After participation in this
course, you will:
- Know what environmental
and social conditions drive the urbanization process
- Understand why urban ecology
must fully integrate natural and social science and how that integration can be
achieved
- Be able to identify residences
and work places that offer a healthy lifestyle
- Be able to inform and contribute
to environmental and community stewardship in urban areas
- Know how urbanization in
the Atlanta metropolitan area compares to urabanization in other metropolitan
areas in the US and abroad.
Prerequisites
In
order to take this class, you must have a passing grade in COR 102 or the
permission of the instructor.
<-- RETURN
TO TOP
TENTATIVE
SCHEDULE
|
Week
|
Lecture
topics
|
Readings
|
Lab
activities, lab speakers, due dates, unusual events
|
|
1
1/16
|
No
class Tu
Introduction
|
|
First
class meeting in lab
|
|
2
1/23
|
Drivers:
Economic and population growth
|
Alberti
et al. 2003, Wackernagel and Rees 95, Marsh
ch1 |
Lab = Ecological footprint
calculation and analysis
|
|
3
1/30
|
Patterns: Land transformation,
sprawl, and remote sensing
|
Readings
from Conservation Fund, Frumkin ch1-2, |
Quiz 1
Lab = A. Schock from
the Conservation Fund speaks on protection of green space inside I-285*
|
|
4
2/6
|
Continued
from above |
Liu
et al. 03 |
Quiz 2
Lab = Tradeoffs in the single
family residential market
|
|
5
2/13
|
Pattern and Process: Water
|
Frumkin
ch7, Gaffield et al 03 |
Quiz 3
Lab = P. Lanford from
GA Dept. of Natural Resources talks on urban streams and fish diversity
|
|
6 2/20
|
TBA |
|
TBA |
|
7 2/27
|
Pattern
and Process: Atmosphere and climate |
Frumkin
ch4, Atlanta Station web |
Lab = Field trip to mixed use
development (Atlantic Station) |
|
8 3/06
|
Feedbacks from process to
pattern
Effect: Biodiversity
|
|
Lab = Midterm exam
|
|
9 3/13
|
Continued
from above |
Marsh
ch2, Marzluff et al 01 |
Lab = Frield trip to Oakland
Cemetery
|
|
10 3/20
|
Spring
Break |
|
|
|
11 3/27
|
Effect: Human behavior
|
Clemants
and Moore 05, Sullivan 04, Frumkin ch8-9 |
Literature review
Quiz 4
Lab = K. Mistry from
the Center for Disease Control and Prevention speaks on human health in Atlanta's
built environment
|
|
12 4/03
|
Feedbacks
from effects to drivers |
Selection
from Kellert 84, Mitchell 05 |
Quiz 5
Lab = Demonstration of bird
survey/trapping techniques
|
|
13 4/10
|
Urban
planning, growth management policy, and landscape architecture |
Gilham
ch. 8 (second half) |
Lab = Charles Jordan, chairman
of Conservation Fund, speaks on environmental justice
Tu = Mara Baird, RLA speaks
on landscape architecture and campus development
Th = Presentation rough
draft
|
|
14 4/17
|
No class Th
Continued from above
|
ARC
web |
Quiz 6
Th = Final Presentation
Lab = C. Williamson from
Atlanta Regional Commission speaks on transportation planning
|
|
15 4/24
|
|
Spirn
03 |
Lab = C. Carlson from UGA's
Institute of Ecology speaks on relation of bird diversity to cultural resources |
|
16 5/01
|
W-F no class or lab
Urbanization in the future
and Review
|
|
Exam 2 held 5/8 at 8 am
|
*Underlined text identifies
guest lectures that are open to Oglethorpe students,
staff, and faculty. Unless otherwise noted, they are held at 1:30 in the small
dining room in the Emerson Student Center. Attendees are welcome to eat their
lunch (from the student cafeteria or otherwise) during the presentation. Please
contact the instructor to find out if the room has changed.
The Typical Weekly Schedule
The typical week will consist
of a lecture on Tu, a lab with an exercise or a guest speaker on W, and lecture
completion and reading discussion on Th. At the end of each Th class, your instructor
will announce the following week's schedule, including the reading assignment.
Some readings may be due on a Tu or a W.
<-- RETURN
TO TOP
RESPONSIBILITIES
Quizzes on Readings and
Guest Lectures
During each week noted in
the schedule, there will be a quiz at the beginning of the Th class. It will cover
the reading due that week and the previous day's guest lecture.
Attendance
You are required to attend
all scheduled events associated with this course. You are allowed a total of four
unexcused absences for the semester. With a fifth unexcused absence, you will
have the choice of taking a grade of "FA" or withdrawing from the course.
An unexcused absence prevents you from earning any points toward a missed quiz
or a report on a missed exercise. Social,
extra-curricular, sporting, and work events do not constitute legitimate excuses.
Please note that advance warning of an absence improves the chance that your absence
will be excused.
Tentative List of
Required Readings
The instructor will assign
readings from the texts and other sources, some of which are listed below. Readings may be added or subtracted during
the course of the semester. Consistent positive contribution to discussion or
readings will be rewarded with full participation points.
Required Texts:
Trombulak, S, editor. 2001. So great a vision: The
conservation writings of George Perkins Marsh. Middlebury College Press, Honover.
(note, readings from this text are listed as chapters in Marsh's book)
Frumkin, H, L Frank, and R Jackson. 2004. Urban
sprawl and public health: Designing, planning, and building for healthy communities.
Island Press, Washington.
Other sources that will be provided:
Alberti, M, J Marzluff, E Schulenberger, G
Bradley, C Ryan, and C Zumbrunnen. 2003. Integrating humans into ecology: Opportunities
and challenges for studying urban ecosystems. BioScience, 53:1169-1179.
Clemants, S, and G. Moore. 2003. Patterns of
species richness in eight northeastern United States cities. Urban Habitats 1,
online.
Clergeau, P, G Mennechez, A Sauvage, and A Lemoine.
2001. Human perception and appreciation of birds: motivation for wildlife conservation
in urban environments of France. In Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing
world, J.M. Marzluff, R. Bowman, and R. Donnelly (eds.). Kluwer Academic Press,
Norwell.
Gaffield, SJ, RL Goo, LA Richards, and RJ Jackson.
2003. Public health effects of inadequately managed stormwater runoff. American
Journal of Public Health 93:1527-1533.
Kellert, SR. 1984. Urban American perceptions of
animals and the natural environment. Urban Ecology 8:209-228.
Knapp, G, and AC Nelson. The regulated landscape.
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge.
Liu, J, G Daily, PR Ehrlich, and GW Luck. 2003.
Effects of household dynamics on resource consumption and biodiversity. Nature
421:530-533.
Marzluff, J.M., R. Bowman, and R. Donnelly. 2001.
A historical perspective on urban bird research: Trends, topics, and definitions.
In Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world, J.M. Marzluff, R. Bowman,
and R. Donnelly (eds.). Kluwer Academic Press, Norwell.
McKinney, ML. 2006. Urbanization as a major cause
of biotic homogenization. Biological Conservation 127:247-260.
Mitchell, J. 2005. Frederick Law Olmsted's
passion for parks. National Geographic, March.
Robinson, L, JP Newell, and JM Marzluff. 2004.
Twenty-five years of sprawl in the Seattle region: growth management responses
and implications for conservation. Landscape and Urban Planning.
Spirn, A. 2003. Urban ecosystems, city planning,
and environmental education: Literature, precedents, key concepts, and prospects.
In Understanding urban ecosystems, A Berkowitz, CH Nilon, and KS Hollweb (eds.).
Springer, New York.
Sullivan, R. 2004. Rats: observations on the
history and habitat of the city's most unwanted inhabitants. Bloomsbury, New York.
Wackernagel, M, and W Rees. 1995. Our ecological
footprint: reducing human impact on the Earth. New Society Publishers, Gabriola
Island.
Exams
Questions on exams may take a variety of
formats including: short essay, fill in the blank, matching, multiple choice questions,
sketches, long essay, and oral interview. Exam 1 will cover all lecture and lab
material presented since the beginning of the class. Exam 2 will be cummulative,
but it will emphasize material covered in lecture and lab since the first exam.
Exercise Reports
A few exercises from lecture and lab will
have associated reports.
Group Projects
You are required to complete a group
project with one of your classmates. The project will proceed in three stages:
literature review, rough draft powerpoint presentation to the instructor, and
final powerpoint presentation to the class. Due dates for each of these stages
are listed on the schedule above. Available topics, topic selection procedure,
and other details of the assignment will be announced early in the semester.
<-- RETURN
TO TOP
GRADING
You must include an affirmation of the honor
code (see the O Book) to receive credit for documents related to all course activities.
If you have any questions about the honor code, you are strongly encourage to
reread the code and ask the instructor questions. Note that "aid while not
enrolled" (which is the use of tests or assignments from previous course
sections) is a violation of the code. The final day to withdraw from this course
with a "W" is 3/31/06. For information on “Incomplete” grades, please
refer to the most recent Bulletin. The instructor does not plan to provide opportunities
for extra credit.
The instructor will evaluate
your written assignments (lab reports, midterms, and exam) based on 3 criteria.
The first criterion, scientific merit, is the most important. You must use scientific
concepts and principles and may be required to synthesize material presented in
lab, lecture, and readings. The second criterion is logic. Ideas must correspond
to the question at hand and proceed in sensible and direct fashion. The third
criterion is format. You must write in complete sentences,use clear and concise
English grammar, and follow formats where indicated (e.g., reference citations).
Oral interview will be evaluated based on the same criteria, substituting articulation
for format.
Late assignments will receive
a reduced point totals. For each day an assignment is late, the instructor will
deduct 10% of the total points possible for that assignment.
The instructor will award points for activities
as follows:
|
Course Activity
|
Unit point value
|
Points possible
|
|
Exams
|
2 @ 115
|
230
|
|
Quizzes
|
6 @ 18
|
108
|
|
Group presentation
|
1 @ 100
|
100
|
| Exercise
reports |
2 @ 15
|
30
|
|
Discussion participation
|
1 @ 25
|
25
|
|
|
|
Total = 493
|
The instructor will assign grades based on
the following scale:
|
Earned percentage of 800 points
|
Letter grade
|
Grade point
|
|
>92.49
|
A
|
4.0
|
|
89.5-92.49
|
A-
|
3.7
|
|
86.5-89.49
|
B+
|
3.3
|
|
82.5-86.49
|
B
|
3.0
|
|
79.5-82.49
|
B-
|
2.7
|
|
76.5-79.49
|
C+
|
2.3
|
|
72.5-76.49
|
C
|
2.0
|
|
69.5-72.49
|
C-
|
1.7
|
|
66.5-69.49
|
D+
|
1.3
|
|
59.5-66.49
|
D
|
1.0
|
|
<59.5
|
F
|
0.0
|
<-- RETURN
TO TOP
WHERE
TO GET HELP
From the
Professor
If you have a disability and need accomodations
or if the instructor can help with anythings else, please talk with him after
class, during office hours, schedule an appiontment, or catch
him in his office.
From Other Students
Ask other students if they would like to
form a study group that meets regularly.
From University Services
If you need assistance with your internet
account, please contact Network
Services ([404] 364-8518)
If you need tutoring or help with study skills,
please contact the Academic Resources Center (Dr. Knippenberg [404]
364-8341).
<-- RETURN
TO TOP
|
