Geography 3412: Conservation Practice: Ecosystems Management
Spring, 2005 Mon, Wed, and Fri 0900-0950 Humanities 1B80
Professor:
William Travis, 102-C Guggenheim, 492-6312 e-mail: wtravis@colorado.eduOffice Hours: Tu & W 10-12 or anytime by appointment.
Teaching Assistant: Juan Paritsis, 312 Guggenheim; Off. Hrs: Mon 10-12;
Paritsis@colorado.eduTexts:
Richard L. Knight and Sarah F. Bates: A New Century for Natural Resources Management (Island Press). Selected chapters; book on reserve at library.Gary K. Meffe, Larry A. Neilson, Richard L. Knight and Dennis A. Schenborn: Ecosystems Management: Adaptive, Community-Based Conservation (Island Press).
Class Web site: www.colorado.edu/geography/courses/geog_3412_s05
Course Structure: This course uses lectures, discussion, and exercises to survey recent trends and the state of the art in environmental conservation and natural resources management, with a theme of "ecosystems management." It is designed to fill a niche between the very specific resource classes you might take at, say, CSU or any other College of Natural Resources (in, for example, forestry or range management), and the more general environmental conservation material covered in intro classes and environmental studies programs. We begin with a look at natural resource management trends, including a quick look at "traditional" approaches and the emergence of integrated, collaborative and ecosystems management (sleected chapters from the Knight and Bates book). We then use the Meffe et al. text to work through the tools and approaches that define "ecosystems management," with a strong focus on the human dimensions and innovations in genetics, population ecology and landscape ecology that are being incorporated into ecological planning and management. This part of the course will be a mixture of technical material and professional practices as well as problem solving exercises.
Lectures: Will cover a few key points each session, collated with the texts. Brief lecture notes will be made available on the class website.
Group Exercises and Problem Solving: Parts of the class will involve the formation of groups to work on selected exercises in the Ecosystems Management text, and at least one from: http://www.redlodgeclearinghouse.org/home.html
In most cases class time will be given to these exercises and the groups will report back to the class in plenary session.
Learning Goals/Products/Grading: Your goals are to learn the key trends in natural resources management, the ecological and social science tools for ecosystems management, and the social elements of community conservation. You must demonstrate this knowledge on two exams (40% each of the final grade). Sample questions will be posted on the web, and a small amount of class time will be devoted to review just prior to the exams. The final exam is not cumulative in the traditional sense: it will cover the material after the mid-term, but some questions on the final might draw on key concepts presented in class before the midterm (e.g., carrying capacity). The final should only last an hour, like the mid-term, though you may have longer if you need it. You must also produce two individually-written reports based on the problem-solving exercises (20% of the final grade). The assigned exercises and a detailed statement of expectations for this report, and what constitutes plagiarism, will be announced and posted on the web before the mid-term.
Course grading base begins with 10% increments per letter grade (which may be adjusted after the exams):
90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; <60% = F.
Our responsibilities to you are to present the material clearly and in an interesting way, stick to the class schedule (recognizing that the material and Travis’s lecture style may call for some drift, or that discussion might alter the schedule slightly at times), to respond to all of your requests for clarification and further explanation, and to grade you fairly. Your responsibilities include attending class, taking good notes, asking questions where needed for clarification, participating in the exercises, making pertinent comments as appropriate to the material, and behaving in a way that allows other students to pay attention and take good notes (meaning not talking during class, nor making loud and disturbing arrivals and departures in mid-class). You should also adhere to campus policies on academic honesty, which will be discussed in class.
The fine print:
We (faculty and students) are bound by several legal, policy, and ethical requirements as we engage in university life and work. Here are the key ones that affect the conduct of this class:
Item 1: By federal law, faculty are required to make reasonable academic accommodations for persons with various disabilities. Students with disabilities who qualify for academic accommodations must provide a letter from Disability Services (DS) and discuss specific needs with the professor, preferably during the first two weeks of class. DS determines accommodations based on documented disabilities (303-492-8671, Willard 322, see at:
www.colorado.edu/sacs/disabilityservices.Item 2: Faculty are expected to make reasonable and appropriate accommodations for students who have conflicts between religious observance dates and course examinations or assignments. A recently revised, somewhat more flexible, campus policy has been drafted and approved. The campus policy can be viewed at:
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/index.html.Item 3: As a result of extensive discussions with and recommendations from faculty and students, a new classroom behavior policy and associated new procedures have been adopted. Students should read this information at:
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/index.html.Item 4: The new Student Honor Code system has now been implemented in all schools and colleges and you should direct your student's attention to these new policies and procedures. Faculty should also provide very clear, explicit and detailed instructions about what constitutes plagiarism as we repeatedly see situations in which students and faculty are very much at odds over what does or does not constitute plagiarism, after the fact. You can see the honor code information at
http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/Geography 3412 Class Schedule
M-Jan. 10: Introduction: Environmental Conservation in Transition
W-Jan. 12: continued overview
F-Jan. 14: Traditional conservation: Chap. 1 and 3 "New Century" (K&B)
M-Jan. 17: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, no class
W-Jan. 19: Economics of resources and environment: Chap. 5 and 13, K&B
F-Jan. 21: cont.
Subsidies: See: http://www.rff.org/rff/Documents/RFF-CCIB-14-REV.pdf
Simon-Ehrlich bet:
http://www.overpopulation.com/faq/People/julian_simon.htmlM-Jan. 24: Public lands management: Dominant Use to Multiple Use : Chap. 8 K&B
See also FLPMA pages at:
W-Jan. 26: cont.
F-Jan. 28: NGOs in resource management: Chap. 11 K&B
M-Jan. 31: New Ecological Approaches: Chap. 15 K&B
W-Feb. 2: cont.
F-Feb. 4: Integrating Economics, Ecology and Society: Chap. 19 K&B
M-Feb. 7: Ecosystems Management: (Intro. and Chap. 1 "SnowPACT" in Meffe et al. (EM)
W-Feb. 9: cont.
F-Feb. 11: "Getting a Grip on EM:" Chap. 2 EM
M-Feb. 14: cont.; Exercises 2.1, 2.3
W-Feb. 16: cont. Exercise 2.5
F-Feb. 18: "Uncertainty and Complexity:" Chap. 3 EM; Exercise 3.2
M-Feb. 21: cont. Exercise 3.4
W-Feb. 23: "Adaptive Management:" Chap. 4 EM, thru p. 107.
F-Feb. 25: cont. Exercise 4.3
M-Feb. 28: Review
W-Mar. 2: Mid-Term Exam
F-Mar. 4: Making Adaptive Management Work (Chap. 4, pp. 108-111)
M-Mar. 7: "Conserving Genetic Diversity:" Chap. 5 EM
W-Mar. 9: cont.
F-Mar. 11: cont. Exercise 5.7
M-Mar. 14: "Population and Species:" Chap. 6 EM
W-Mar. 16: cont.
F-Mar.18: cont. Exercise 6.7
M-Mar. 21-F-Mar. 25 Spring Break, No Class
M-Mar. 28: "Populations and Communities at Landscape Level:" Chap. 7 EM
W-Mar. 30: cont. Exercise 7.4.
F-Apr.1: "Landscape Level Conservation:" Chap. 8 EM
M-Apr. 4: cont. Exercise 8.5
W-Apr. 6: "Management Across Boundaries:" Chap. 9 EM
F-Apr. 8: cont. Exercises 9.2 and 9.3
M-Apr. 11: cont. Exercises 9.4 or 9.5
W-Apr. 13: "Community Conservation:" Chap. 10 EM
F-Apr. 15: cont. Exercise 10.1
M-Apr. 18: cont. Exercise from:
http://www.redlodgeclearinghouse.org/home.htmlW-Apr. 20: "Strategic Planning:" Chap. 11 EM
F-Apr. 22: cont. Exercise TBA
M-Apr. 25: "Evaluation:" Chap. 12 EM
W-Apr. 27: cont. Exercise 12.3
F-Apr. 29: Last Class: wrap-up and review for final
Final Exam: Thur., May 5, 7:30-10:00 a.m. (Could we do this 8-9:30?)