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Ecology and Evolutionary Biology CoursesFor Distribution Requirement purposes, all BIO and EEB courses, ENV234Y1, and JMB170Y1 are classified as SCIENCE courses (see page 26). All students, regardless of campus or Faculty, must abide by the stated course prerequisites and exclusions. |
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100-SERIES COURSES BIO150Y1BIO150Y1 Principles and concepts of evolution and ecology examined through examples at the level of individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems. Includes the application of ecological and evolutionary approaches to behaviour, genomics, evolutionary medicine, global environmental change, and conservation biology. A Prerequisite for advanced work in biological sciences. JMB170Y1 Applications of mathematics to biological problems in physiology, genetics, evolution, growth, population dynamics, cell biology, ecology, and behaviour. Mathematical topics include: power functions and regression; exponential and logistic functions; binomial theorem and probability; calculus, including derivatives, max/min, integration, areas, integration by parts, substitution; differential equations, including linear constant coefficient systems; dynamic programming; Markov processes; and chaos. This course is intended for students in Life Sciences. SCI199Y1 Undergraduate seminar that focuses on specific ideas, questions, phenomena or controversies, taught by a regular Faculty member deeply engaged in the discipline. Open only to newly admitted first year students. It may serve as a distribution requirement course; see page 48. BIO251Y1 An introduction to the biology of plants, fungi, and algae. Diversity of forms, reproductive patterns, structure, and physiology are emphasized. Labs demonstrate major species groups and the relationship between structure and function of plants. EEB202H1 The importance of plants to society. Plant biology, domestication of crop plants, plant breeding and genetic engineering, biologicial invasions, conservation, biodiversity and genetic resources. Evaluation of the ecological implications of advances in modern plant science. EEB214H1 Evolution and adaptation through natural selection. Concepts and application based on faunal life goals of habitat survival, food acquisition, predator avoidance, and reproduction. Topics include: speciation, mutation, co-evolution, symbiosis, pollination, cannibalism, parasitism, eusociality, and sexual and parental conflict. Essays, debates, and reading required. EEB215H1 Introduction to the scientific discipline that deals with endangered wildlife. Topics include: biodiversity, extinction, threats, demography, genetic diversity, nature reserves, and captive breeding. Also, endangered species laws, moral philosophies, and political, economic and social justice issues surrounding biodiversity. Essays and reading required. EEB216H1 Introduction to ecological, evolutionary, physiological, and anatomical adaptations of marine mammals to their aquatic environment. Issues of conservation and environmental biology will also be covered. In tutorials the use of anatomical specimens (skulls, teeth, etc.) will be supplemented with video and other teaching tools. EEB225H1 A statistics course designed especially for life science students, using biological examples where appropriate. Students learn to choose and use statistics that are appropriate to address relevant biological questions and hypotheses. Lectures and computer labs will be used to cover the following methods: sampling and experimental design, data exploration, correlation, regression, EEB263Y1 The ontogeny and phylogeny of vertebrate structure are considered within the context of evolutionary theory. Functional aspects of the various organ systems are examined. Representative fish and mammals are dissected in detail and other forms are dealt with briefly to illustrate selected anatomical features and to provide practical exposure to vertebrate construction. EEB265Y1 Diversity of animals in the world. Focusing on the special attributes and biological requirements of different groups of organisms and what makes each group vulnerable to human-based exploitation. Labs emphasize recognition of major groups, and use living organisms when possible, but involve no invasive procedures. EEB299Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. See page 48 for details. ENV234Y1 A broad-based science course drawing on elements from geology, systematics, soil science, and ecology to understand past and present environments and how humans are altering the environment. Emphasis is placed on examination of ecological phenomena in relation to population, community, and ecosystem processes with particular reference to the biomes of Ontario. Descriptive and experimental laboratory studies including a weekend field trip (total cost about $15.00). (Offered by the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Department of Geology, and the Faculty of Forestry) EEB301H1 Offered in the summer at Huntsman Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, of about 14 days duration. Informal lectures and seminars with intensive field and laboratory work on different marine habitats and the animals and plants associated with them. Student projects included. EEB302H1 Two-week summer field course offered in Churchill, Manitoba. Instruction combines lectures with field trips to local tundra and boreal forest sites. Students are responsible for completing an independent project based on local field work. Dates, instructors, and material covered vary from year to year. (Not offered in summer 2008) EEB303H1 A field course during Reading Week introduces students to the diversity of biological communities in the tropics focusing on ecological and evolutionary interactions. Plant and animal communities of the New World tropics are compared and contrasted with temperate communities. Students conduct small-scale research projects in the field. Lectures will be given on Friday afternoons prior to departure. EEB304H1 A two-week course that aims to introduce students to the diversity of plants that can be found in southern Ontario, not only in the wild but also in botanical gardens or other living collections. The course studies field, herbarium, and laboratory methods used in plant organismic biology research. Topics include: plant collecting, plant identification, preparation of voucher specimens, plant reproductive biology, and plant diversity and phylogeny. EEB305H1 A field course offered at a Southern Ontario field station for two weeks in August. Students learn the natural history of the region and conduct a research project in the field. Projects focus on terrestrial plant ecology, plant-insect interactions, and other topics in evolutionary ecology selected by the students. EEB306H1 Inter-university selections from the offerings of the Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology. Courses, of one or two weeks duration at field sites, are announced each January. Consult the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Undergraduate Office or website. EEB307H1 A field course at a high mountain field station for two weeks in the summer. Students learn the natural history of alpine and subalpine biomes and investigate major abiotic and biotic interactions. Required projects catalogue natural diversity, examine species interactions, or assess abiotic influences and stresses on high-altitude organisms and their environment. (Not offered in summer 2008) EEB308H1 Offered in early or late summer for approximately two weeks. Students conduct independent research projects and will be introduced to the biodiversity and ecology of southeast Asia. Projects will be tailored to each student’s interests and background. (Not offered in summer 2008). EEB309H1 Lectures on the biology of birds, and intensive field work emphasizing field identification, census techniques and habitat preferences. Student projects included. Offered for two weeks in the spring or summer at a field station. (Not offered in summer 2008). EEB310H1 Two-week summer field course in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Field and laboratory exercises will demonstrate how interactions between physical, chemical and biological parameters are crucial in understanding lake ecosystems. Students collect, analyse, and interpret data, and complete a class project and independent project. (Offered in alternate years; offered in summer 2008) EEB311H1 Two-week field course in Oaxaca, Mexico. Students will learn the natural history of Mexican flora and fauna and apply core concepts of ecology and evolution to observations and experiments in the field. Habitats visited include coastal lagoons, dry scrub forests, and cloud forests. Evaluation includes an independent project. (Offered in summer 2008) EEB318H1 Principles and practice of evolutionary biology since Darwin. Topics may include: phylogeny, speciation, mutation and neutral evolution, population genetic variation, quantitative genetics, molecular evolution, natural selection and adaptation, evolutionary conflict and cooperation, and levels of selection. EEB319H1 Distribution of species; population growth and regulation; interactions within and among species; food webs; harvesting of natural resources; diseases; pest control. Basic ecological principles and applied issues discussed. Labs include experiments and computer simulations. EEB321H1 A comprehensive survey of community and ecosystem ecology emphasizing current developments and controversies. There will be two or three required day field trips held on weekends early in the fall term. Both the field trips and computer exercises provide training in sampling, simulation, and data analysis. EEB322H1 A broad introduction to animal behaviour emphasizing concepts from ethology and behavioural ecology, including foraging, predation, mating systems, parental care and behaviour genetics. Field and laboratory studies are undertaken. EEB323H1 Evolutionary biology rests on a foundation of evolutionary genetics. This course focuses on the core ideas in population genetics and extends to evolutionary genomics. Students are exposed to the mathematical theory underlying evolutionary genetics and are expected to learn the mathematical foundations underlying these ideas. Topics include the population genetics of mutation, migration, drift, and selection, analysis of sequence variation, and the evolution of sexual reproduction. EEB324H1 Empirical and theoretical approaches to key areas of research including natural and sexual selection, and life histories. Other topics may include phenotypic plasticity, speciation, co-evolution, and quantitative genetics. EEB328H1 An advanced treatment of the physiological mechanisms controlling plant and animal distribution and ecological success. Topics of focus include photosynthesis and resource balance, water and nutrient relations, temperature effects, and adaptations to abiotic stress. EEB330H1 The theoretical foundations of taxonomy and the types of evidence used in constructing plant classifications. Labs emphasize taxonomic characters and their uses. Includes an independent taxonomic project. EEB331H1 Topics include fungal systematics, morphology, physiology, and ecology. The roles of fungi in the environment and their importance to man. A field trip explores the natural occurrence of fungi. Labs introduce the techniques used for morphological and molecular identification, and for isolation in pure culture. Students use fungal cultures to conduct an independent experimental research project. EEB337H1 Variation in morphology, predominant breeding systems, dispersal syndromes, and other features between families of vascular plants in the Ontario flora are examined. Students learn key characteristics for identification of important families of free-sporing and seed-producing plants. EEB340H1 Evolution of vegetative and reproductive morphology of land plants is examined. Lecture topics cover evolution of meristems, shoot architecture and vascular tissue as well as evolution of the land plant life cycle, the ovule habit, fertilization processes, and pollination biology. EEB341H1 The microscopic structure of plants with emphasis on the characteristics of cells and tissues, how they are formed from plant meristems and how they function in transport, photosynthesis, transpiration, absorption, and reproduction. (Not offered in 2008-2009) EEB353H1 An examination of major ideas about biological evolution from the 18th century to the 1930s and of their impact on scientific and social thought. Topics include the diversity of life and its classification, the adaptation of organisms to their environment, Wallace’s and Darwin’s views on evolution by natural selection, sexual selection, inheritance from Mendel to T.H. Morgan, eugenics, and the implications of evolution for religion, gender roles, and the organization of society. EEB355H1 An examination of ideas about biological evolution from the 1930s to the present. Topics include the Modern Synthesis, population genetics, the concept of biological species, ecology, sociobiology, and creationism. EEB356H1 Lectures provide an introduction to the morphology, physiology, development, behaviour, evolutionary history and biological significance of insects. Practicals will include demonstrations, multimedia, and group discussions. (Offered in alternate years; offered in 2008-2009) EEB360H1 Introduction to the morphology, physiology, development, behaviour, ecology, evolutionary history, and biological significance of insects. Labs include making an insect collection. Mandatory one week of fieldwork in Algonquin Park at the end of August. EEB360H1 can be used to fulfil a program’s field course requirement. (Offered in alternate years; not offered in 2008-2009) EEB361H1 A field and laboratory course to provide practical experience in techniques for collecting and studying insects. Students will each prepare an insect collection and/or conduct a small-scale research project. EEB362H1 Explores patterns of large-scale evolutionary change, played out over large geographic expanses and extended periods of time. Integrates patterns with field and experimental studies to clarify evolutionary processes. Topics include: origins of species and their adaptations, historical biogeography, co-evolution, radiations and extinctions, fossils and macroevolutionary patterns, and the role of evolutionary information in conservation and biodiversity initiatives. Tutorials emphasize methods used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships and the sequence of character evolution. EEB365H1 Introduction to the study and conservation of biodiversity at all levels genes, species, populations, habitats and ecosystem functions. Includes threats to biodiversity and approaches to maintaining biodiversity. Practicals include small group discussions of lecture topics and computer labs. EEB370H1 Introduction to mathematical modeling techniques used in ecological and evolutionary theory. Applications include understanding the dynamics of populations and ecological communities and the evolution of ecologically important characteristics within species. Includes applied linear algebra, dynamic systems models, optimization techniques, and game theory. Requires good knowledge of first-year calculus, but not extensive mathematical background. Computer lab once a week. EEB375H1 A lecture and seminar course dealing with the effects of physical and chemical environments on animals. EEB384H1 Introduction to the natural history, evolution, and diversity of amphibians. (Offered in alternate years; offered in 2008-2009)) EEB386H1 Avian diversity and evolution; adaptations for flight; physiology; migration and navigation; reproduction and social behaviour; species, speciation, and hybridization; population trends and conservation. Local field trips. An activity fee may be collected. EEB388H1 Natural history of mammals emphasizing ecology, community structure, behaviour, reproduction, and life history strategies; form and function related to different modes of life and physical environments. Labs include a survey of Ontario mammals. (Offered in alternate years; offered in 2008-2009) EEB389H1 The origin, evolution, zoogeography, phylogenetic relationships, and diversity of mammals; speciation, extinction, and current issues in conservation biology. Labs survey mammalian orders, their characteristics, identification, and systematic relationships. (Offered in alternate years; not offered in 2008-2009) EEB398H0 EEB399Y0 An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. See page 48 for details. EEB428H1 An examination of organism, population, and ecosystem responses to long-term environmental change occurring at the global scale, with emphasis on human caused perturbation to climate and the carbon, nitrogen, and hydrolic cycles and their ecological effects. EEB440H1 Major concepts in ecology and evolution from the perspective of plant-animal interactions. The richness of interactions between plants and animals are explored, including antagonistic interactions (e.g., herbivory, carnivorous plants), mutualistic interactions (e.g., seed dispersal and ant-plant associations), and interactions involving two to many species and across trophic levels. (Not offered in 2008-2009). EEB459H1 A focus on theoretical population genetics, using mathematical models to understand how different evolutionary forces drive allele frequency change. Students learn how to mathematically derive classic results in population genetics. Topics include: drift, coalescence, the relationship between population and quantitative genetics, selection in finite populations, and mutation load. (Offered in alternate years; not offered in 2008-2009) EEB460H1 Processes of evolution at the molecular level, and the analysis of molecular data. Gene structure, neutrality, nucleotide sequence evolution, sequence evolution, sequence alignment, phylogeny construction, gene families, transposition. EEB461H1 Study of the evolution of genes and genomes. Topics include: gene and genome duplication, molecular phylogenetics, methods of detecting selection, adaptive evolution of proteins, genome size evolution, comparative genomics. EEB462H1 Computer-assisted methods for constructing and testing phylogenetic hypotheses are introduced through lectures and labs. Molecular data are emphasized although morphological data may also be considered. Character coding, maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, and nested clade analyses are discussed. Students prepare a comprehensive term paper based on analysis of individual data sets. (Offered in alternate years; offered in 2008-2009) EEB465H1 Conservation biology from a Canadian and global perspective, including targets for conservation, methods of assessment, tools for recovery and key philosophical issues and legislation. This course teaches theory and methodology and provides practical in-class training using real-world conservation issues. Opportunities include preparing assessments of species at risk, presenting analyses, and possible publication of reports. EEB468H1 Interactions between biological, chemical and physical processes in lake/stream ecosystems. Waves, currents; temperature, light, oxygen dynamics; microbes, algae, plants, invertebrates and fish; food web interactions; water-land-air landscapes. Basic ecological principles and lake management issues discussed. Assignments and a major paper are required. (Offered in alternate years; offered in 2008-2009) EEB469H1 Basic ecological principles and applied issues of physical, chemical, and biological (microbes, algae, plants, invertebrates, fish) interactions in lakes and streams. Same lectures as EEB468H1. Mandatory field trip(s) to learn sampling techniques and data analysis and integrate principles learned in class. An activity fee may be collected. (Not offered in 2008-2009) EEB471H1 This course examines aspects of quantitative ecology including approaches to ecological sampling, multivariate analysis of ecological communities and environmental conditions, null models, and spatial ecology. EEB494Y1 Topics include evolutionary ecology and genetics, biodiversity, and behavioural ecology. Primary literature and research seminars form the basis for class discussion and short seminars. Discussions are led by students. EEB495Y1 Analysis and discussion of current topics in ecology. The topics vary from year to year. The seminar activities include both oral and written analyses of current research articles, and may include group projects. Critical discussion of research methods is an important component of the course. EEB496Y1 Topics in behavioural ecology including predator-prey interactions, mate choice, and foraging. May include general discussions about animal consciousness, culture and welfare. Evaluation is based on presentations, participation in class discussions and written assignments. EEB497H1
An original research project (a literature review alone is not sufficient) requiring the prior consent of a member of the Department to supervise the project. The topic is to be one mutually agreed on by the student and supervisor. They must arrange the time, place, and provision of any materials and submit to the Undergraduate Office a signed form of agreement outlining details prior to being enrolled. This course is normally open only to Fourth-Year students with adequate background in ecology, evolutionary biology or behaviour. A copy of the final written report is submitted to the Undergraduate Office. Students are also required to give an oral presentation of the results and/or participate in a poster session. Students should contact their potential supervisor no later than April/May for projects that commence in September. EEB499Y1 Allows students to do a second independent project, supervision of which must be different from EEB497H1/498Y1. Operates in the same manner as EEB498Y1. |