see also:
Syllabus: Natural History of Costa Rica
Syllabus: Biodiversity & Conservation
Syllabi: Spanish

Tropical Ecology

Objectives

This course provides an introduction to the ecological complexity of tropical forests and to the natural history, evolutionary biology, and conservation status of the animals, plants and ecosystems of the Neotropics. The course also discusses major threats to biodiversity, the main conservation problems of tropical environments, as well as current alternatives to the destruction of tropical forests. The course includes an introduction to the geologic history of Costa Rica and to its geography and climate to set up the theoretical framework necessary to understand the conditions that have triggered the development of one of the most species-rich regions in the tropics. In addition, the scientific literature is reviewed on the following aspects:

• Patterns of distribution and characteristics of tropical forests as compared to temperate ecosystems;
• Structural complexity of tropical forests and life forms, environmental factors, nutrient cycling, canopy ecology;
• Physiological adaptations of tropical plants;
• Tropical Dry Forest ecology;
• Ecology of Tropical Cloud Forests;
• Gap dynamics and regeneration strategies of tropical species;
• Species interactions (herbivory, frugivory and seed dispersal, pollination, coevolutionary processes, trophic relationships among tropical species).

The final part of the course is dedicated to the discussion of major threats to tropical systems:

• Causes of deforestation, ecological effects of habitat fragmentation;
• Management of Tropical Ecosystems. Agroecology and Tropical Forestry;
• Ethnobotany and Conservation;
• Case studies in tropical conservation.

An important component of the course deals with exposure to field research in the tropics. You will be required to gather, analyze, organize and present data collected in the field on projects proposed by the World Class faculty and invited researchers. The course has four long field trips (see description of field trips below). The goal is to complete at least four group projects and one individual project (to be carried-out in Corcovado). If time, conditions, and resources permit, students will carry out more than one group project per site. The percentage of the final grade obtained from field projects is the average of all experiments done during the semester.

The field reports represent an important percentage of the final grade. They are strictly edited and included in a course book after drafts are finally accepted for publication in this book. Each students will receive a digital copy of the course book for future reference.

Evaluation

First Midterm: 20%

Second Midterm: 20%

Final Exam: 20%
The final exam is comprehensive (includes all the course material). Students are not required to do the last exam if the grade in both midterms is >= 85%.

Group Projects (oral presentations and reports): 25%

Individual Research Projects (oral presentation and report): 15%

Total: 100%

Suggested Readings

Head, S. and R. Heinzman (eds). 1990. Lessons of the Rainforest. Sierra Club, San Francisco.

Kricher, J.C. 1997. A Neotropical Companion. Princeton University Press.

Laurence, W.F. and R.O. Bierregaard (eds.). 1997. Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, management and conservation of fragmented communities. University of Chicago Press.

Mulkey S., R.L. Chazdon and A.P. Smith (eds.). 1996. Tropical Forest Plant Ecophysiology. Chapman and Hall, New York.

Whitmore, T.C. 1991. An introduction to tropical rain forests. Oxford University Press.

see also:
Syllabus: Natural History of Costa Rica
Syllabus: Biodiversity & Conservation
Syllabi: Spanish