I do not recommend using: "Theodoropoulos, David I. Invasion Biology:
Critique of a Pseudoscience".
It does not provide an unbiased view of the field and reads like a polemic.
You'll find a critiques of it here:
1) http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/33/6/2384
2) Am. Midi. Nat. 154:268-270
3) David Secord (2004) Deprogramming Invasion Biologists?. Ecology: Vol.
85, No. 4, pp. 1172-1173.
At 12:27 PM 9/30/2008 -0700, Kerry Griffis-Kyle wrote:
Summary of texts and online resources for an undergraduate course in
biodiversity:
Hunter and Gibbs. 2007. Fundamentals of Conservation Biology 3rd edition
Groom et al. 2005. Principles of Conservation Biology
Frankham, R., J.D. Ballou, and D.A. Briscoe. 2004. A Primer of
Conservation Genetics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK)
Primack.2008. Essentials of Conservation Biology, 4th Ed.
Hartl, D.L. 2000. A Primer of Population Genetics. Sinauer Assoc.,
Conner, J.K. and D.L. Hartl. 2004. A Primer of Ecological Genetics.
Sinauer Assoc.
E.O. Wilson's The Diversity of Life
Theodoropoulos, David I. Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience.
Botkin, Daniel. Discordant Harmonies: A New Ecology for the
Twenty-First Century.
Powerpoints and class exercises: http://ncep.amnh.org/
Syllabus and a lecture
schedule:
http://bcrc.bio.umass.edu/courses/fall2008/biol/biol108/syllabus.phtml
I've used the Hunter and Gibbs 3rd edition for a 300-level course. It
is a good, readable text. Not as rich in detail perhaps as Groom et al.
which I have also used for introductory grad level course. But, with the
addition of Gibbs the book has gone much further into population dynamics
and genetics, and so might be a good choice depending on what level your
undergrads are.
This is not directly relevant to your question, but it might be
useful. You can find PowerPoints and class exercises (field or
classroom) for such a course at:
http://ncep.amnh.org/
As an undergrad about to graduate myself, I have been exploring this
topic in some depth for a few semesters, though mostly from a
theory/paradigm perspective. For balance, I would highly recommend the
following:
Theodoropoulos, David I. Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience.
Botkin, Daniel. Discordant Harmonies: A New Ecology for the
Twenty-First Century.
What I'm finding is that ecological terms are highly subjective and
not at all consistently defined, even among academia and the scientific
community. Add the media into the mix, and misinterpretations abound.
At Hood College, our Biodiversity course has been taught using E.O.
Wilson's The Diversity of Life as the primary text. It's pretty
convenient, because it covers all of the important topics in 15 chapters,
including genetics (which works out nicely to ~1 chapter per week of a
semester), but it does require the instructor to provide a lot of
supplemental information to fill in the details of definitions and
concepts that may be unfamiliar to undergrads. So in that respect, I've
been keeping my eyes open for some better text options (something that
would provide the students with a more concrete basis of concepts) and
would be interested to hear what others respond to you. I've attached my
lecture/lab schedule, which you can see basically looks like the Table of
Contents from Wilson's book.
I teach a non-majors general education course on biodiversity. You can
find a syllabus and a lecture schedule
here: http://bcrc.bio.umass.edu/courses/fall2008/biol/biol108/syllabus.phtml
I've taught Conservation Biology many times, always for undergraduates.
Frankham et al. (2004) has a great little primer on conservation genetics
which is very well done (Frankham, R., J.D. Ballou, and D.A. Briscoe.
2004. A Primer of Conservation Genetics. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, UK). I've required this text in addition to the book by
Primack (Essentials of Conservation Biology, 4th Ed.) for my
upper-division conservation biology course. Dan Hartl has a couple of
books which also deal with population genetics which make great
resources, Hartl, D.L. 2000. A Primer of Population Genetics. Sinauer
Assoc., and Conner, J.K. and D.L. Hartl. 2004. A Primer of Ecological
Genetics. Sinauer Assoc. I an ecologist, so genetics isn't necessarily my
strong suit, but I have found all of these to work well, especially
Frankham et al. (2004). There are great examples, and I have found both
the breadth and depth of topics covered in Frankham et al. (2004) to work
well. The
'math' can get a little hairy at times, but generally junior and senior
biology majors were able to handle most of the topics covered. My course
is what I consider to be a classic course in conservation biology, so I
am not exactly sure how different this might be from a course in
'Biodiversity'. I have taught a course I called 'Biodiversity' in the
past, but this course was designed more for non-biology majors (most
environmental studies/science majors). I used Primack's 'A Primer of
Conservation Biology' for this course, and I personally do not see much
of a distinction between a course on 'biodiversity' and one covering the
discipline 'conservation biology'. You might want to see what might be
available at the Society for Conservation Biology web page, if you
already haven't done so. Good luck, and if I can be of any more
assistance, please let me know.
Kerry Griffis-Kyle
Department of Natural Resources Management
Texas Tech University
Box 42125
Lubbock, TX 79409
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rw.ttu.edu/ttunrm/
Kerry Griffis-Kyle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I'm designing a course in
biodiversity with a strong genetics component for undergrads, and I would
like any input/suggestions from those of you that have taught similar
courses. I checked out the ESA syllabus exchange, but didn't find any
syllabi for courses in biodiversity. I am interested in syllabi, relevant
topics, and suggestions for texts.
Please email me off-list and I will post a summary of responses.
Thanks!
Kerry Griffis-Kyle
Department of Natural Resources Management
Texas Tech University
Box 42125
Lubbock, TX 79409
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rw.ttu.edu/ttunrm/
*****************************
Kerry Griffis-Kyle
Assistant Professor
Texas Tech University
Peter W. Houlihan
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
(413) - 545 - 0753
