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Bulletin Description The course presents an overview of the methods of community diversity calculation and estimation. We will use data matrices (using data from the students if available) to become familiar with the major alpha, beta, and gamma diversity estimation techniques. Following a brief introduction to conducting biotic inventories, half of the course meetings will be hands-on in a computer lab so that the students can gain experience collaboratively analyzing data. Prerequisites: One graduate level ecology course, or instructor’s permission. Rationale and Overview A significant portion of conservation science is comprised of determining biodiversity of ecological communities. To be able to interpret and numerically summarize biological diversity is essential for those interested in conserving biodiversity. Nonetheless, most graduate students in conservation biology are not given training on the choice and use of techniques to estimate community diversity. As a result, many conservation professionals are not able to adequately explain their data, frequently choosing inappropriate indices for analysis. Misinterpretation of biological diversity could have serious ecological, legal and ethical consequences if it leads to wrong conservation decisions. Understanding how to correctly use and interpret biodiversity data is important for all students interested in conservation biology and ecology, whether they pursue careers in academia or as policy makers and other professionals (students graduating from our programs do both). Academics need to be able to use the indices correctly, whereas policy makers must be able to understand and interpret the conclusions offered by the academics. Most policy makers assume that researchers have correctly used the diversity indices, when this is often an untenable assumption. The goal of this course is to provide an thorough orientation to the concepts of measuring biological diversity. We will emphasize the importance of choosing the appropriate diversity indices relative to the question being answered. Emphasis also will be placed on the proper interpretation of the indices, so as to allow the maximum and most accurate information to be garnered from the data. Students will learn concepts and techniques through readings and lectures, and through hands-on experience working with data sets in the computer lab. A new concept or diversity index will be covered each week. Half of our meeting time each week will discuss the theoretical background for the current technique. The other half will be spent analyzing data using the appropriate software package. Original data, supplied by either the student or the instructor, will be used throughout the term. Role and Relationship to the Curriculum Measuring Biological Diversity is a science elective designed especially for students in our department’s MA program in Conservation Biology and PhD program in Ecology and Evolution. Occasionally, and with the instructor’s approval, advanced undergraduates (with appropriate background and interests) will be admitted if space allows. This course complements the curriculum by building on a course offered by Dr. Christopher J. Raxworthy on Biotic Surveys and Inventories (W4790). While Raxworthy’s course covers the theoretical and practical issues involved in conducting surveys and inventories of biodiversity, this course will lead the students to the next step of analyzing the information gathered, and applying their analysis to ecological and conservation problems. |