ENTOM 577
INSECT COMMUNITY DYNAMICS

1 Credit (2 hr lecture + 3 hr laboratory per week for 5 weeks)

Prerequisites: GENCB 301, MATH 140 or 171, either BIOS 372, BOT 462, ZOOL 322,
ENTOM 340, 343 or 348.

Instructor: Garrell E. Long (First 5 weeks of Fall semester)

Text: None. Students will have assigned readings. Additional course materials will be posted electronically.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

  1. Become familiar with dynamic patterns in composition of insect communities in a variety of terrestrial ecosystems
  2. Understand the causes and processes of both temporal and spatial changes in communities of insects, especially in disturbed ecosystems
  3. Gain experience in collection and analysis of ecological data pertaining to arthropods, including significant experience in writing 

LECTURE OUTLINE


No. of Lectures	Topic

1	Course organization and mechanics; Basic concepts in community ecology
2	Biogeography & Landscapes
1	The Niche
1	Community Succession
1	Community Diversity
2	Organization of Communities
1	Community Energetics
1	Ecological genetics


LABORATORY OUTLINE


No. of Periods	Topic

1	Plant-Arthropod Communities in Agricultural Ecosystems
1	Plant-Arthropod Communities in Forest and Rangeland Ecosystems
10 lectures, 2 laboratory sessions. Both of the latter are overnight field trips. One will be to the WSU-Prosser IAREC, and the other to a location in the north central basin. Each lab will require both an oral and a written report. The latter will include some computer-aided exercises. The last scheduled laboratory period will include a 1 hour exam. 2 written laboratory reports= 40%, 2 oral laboratory reports=10%; 1 examination=50%

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