BOT 612 -- Advanced Botanical Problems -- Spring 2007
Rats, Humans, and & their Impacts on Islands:
Integrating Historical and Contemporary Ecology
Instructors: Don Drake (Botany, dondrake@hawaii.edu),
Terry Hunt (Anthropology, thunt@hawaii.edu)
3 credits
Meeting times: TBA
Course theme:
Human colonization of islands has dramatically transformed island
environments, initiating extinctions, extirpations, and a complex array of
ecosystem changes. Rats have been ubiquitous players in these impacts, from
the initial human colonization of the Pacific islands to the global expansion of
Europeans. Ecological, paleoecological, and archaeological research has shown
the direct and indirect impacts of rats on native flora and fauna and implicated
them in transforming some island environments; yet their impacts on others
remain uncertain. For example, what role do rats play in deforestation or plant
and animal extinction? How do rats effects vary with island ecological diversity,
biogeography, and history? What are the direct and indirect effects of removing
rats from invaded island ecosystems?
The course will involve an extensive review of the literature on a wide
range of topics. Material will be shared through oral and written presentations
and group discussion. Students will be encouraged to prepare literature reviews
to be presented as posters at a conference to be held at UH Manoa from 27-31
March 2007 (http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/drake/Rodents2007.htm).
Specific topics to be addressed:
I. Demography and ecology of invasive rat species:
Demographic parameters of rats as invasive species
Ecology of rat irruptions
Understanding what limits rat success/distributions
Life history and evolutionary changes in rats after island colonization
(e.g., the island syndrome)
Learning from the difficulties of rat eradications
Are there consistent differences between invasive and non-invasive rat
species?
II. Historical and ecological evidence for impacts of rats on islands
History of dispersal events
Rats in Pacific Island cultures
Archaeological and paleoecological studies of rat impacts
Relative role of rats in broader context (e.g., human forest removal,
fire, etc.)
Rats and historical case studies with no modern analogs
Rats and contemporary case studies with no (pre-)historical analogs
Documenting direct ecological impacts
Vulnerability of environments (biogeography, ecological complexity,
etc.)
Relative impacts of successive rat invasions (R. exulans, R. rattus, R.
norvegicus)
Outcomes of rat eradication (return to Eden?)
Implications for ecological restoration and management
III. Further interactions
Interactions of invasive and native rats (e.g., Western Pacific)
Competitive interspecific interactions among invasive rat species
Rats and other native fauna (e.g., the role of land crabs in shaping
vegetation)
Rats filling the niches of extinct species (crabs, parrots, finches...?)
Assessing indirect impacts (trophic cascades, ecosystem effects, etc.)
Rats and other aliens, invasional meltdown
ZOOL 739 Topics in Ecology: "Foundations of Ecology"
Instructor: Tadashi Fukami
Tentatively: 2:00-3:20 Fridays, 2 credits, 15 seats available, Edmondson
254
We will read "classic" papers and compare them with recent
papers. It helps to be familiar with key papers back in the early
days when ecology was defining itself as a science, in order to make
sense of recent advances in whatever ecological field you are working
in. This is the goal of this course.
It will be taught in a graduate-seminar style, but will involve considerably
more reading, presentation and writing than a regular 1-credit seminar.
If you are interested in taking this class, please get a copy of
this book via amazon.com, etc. (this is apparently cheaper than ordering
through the university) as soon as possible:
Real, L.A. & Brown, J.H. editors. 1991. Foundations of Ecology:
Classic Papers with Commentaries. University of Chicago Press.
http://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Ecology-Classic-Papers-Commentaries/dp/0226705943
Should be fun. Let me know if you have any questions.
ZOOL 497 Molecular Ecology
3 Credits
Spring 2007, W, F 9:30-12:30
Snyder Hall 411Purpose and Objectives
Molecular methods are being applied to an increasing number of problems
in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. Understanding their
use and application is an essential skill for every undergraduate
and graduate student in the biological sciences, regardless of field
of interest. The origin of this approach can be traced to the pioneering
studies of Lewontin and Hubby who in 1966 revealed the degree of
genetic variation in natural Drosophila populations. Since that time,
there have been amazing achievements in sequencing and genotyping
technology that permit us to quantify variation between individuals
and populations. As a result we can now answer questions related
to dispersal, demography, natural selection, mating systems, and
phylogeny in almost any organism.
This is a senior-level undergraduate/beginning graduate course that
will teach students how to answer questions relating to:
Organism dispersal and gene flow between populations and species
Demographic history of populations
How natural selection shapes molecular variation in natural populations
The identity of parents (mating systems)
Phylogenetic relationships among species
It is intended for students with no formal experience in using molecular
techniques, but whose interests and questions lend themselves to
the molecular ecology approach. I will introduce concepts and methodology
through lectures. Laboratory exercises will provide hands on opportunities
in techniques of molecular data generation, quantitative analyses,
and data interpretation.
