After each lecture, I will update the calendar below, giving you information on which topic and sections within that topic were covered in that lecture. The match won't always be perfect - and there is much more information in the web pages than I am able to cover in lecture - but I hope this will help you to go back after class and look up things that you may have missed. If you come here to check and see that this isn't up-to-date, please remind me, and I'll do it!

LECTURE DATE/corresponding topic and subtopic(s)

Monday, Jan 4 -- Introduction to the course -- took longer than anticipated, but next time we'll talk about what is an ecosystem how we model them, what ecosystem services are and how we depend on them, and we'll start to discuss human population issues.

Wednesday, Jan 7 -- Talked about ecosystem models and the importance of ecosystem services; levels of causation in environmental (and other!) problems; and moved into a discussion of human population. Presented varying perspectives on whether or not human population is an ultimate cause of environmental problems (Hardin, Commoner, Simon; I = fn(PAT); quick look at current human population situation just barely began looking at historical factors affecting population growth.

Friday, Jan 9 -- Handed out 25-word summary assignment (on Vitousek et al. reading on "Human domination of Earth's ecosystems," which is due on Wed. Jan 14). Continued discussing historical factors affecting population growth, introduced per capita and "crude" rates, b-d = r, G = (b-d)N = rN, r * 100 = percentage rate of natural increase, influence of N on G, exponential growth, sustainability, cornucopian vs. neoMalthusian perspectives; logistic growth, carrying capacity as it does or doesn't apply to humans.

Monday, Jan 12 -- First quiz this Friday -- see sample from last year, which is the last entry in the Course Documents section of BlackBoard. Did a quick overview of current world population growth rate, changes in "r" over time, fast growth regions, slow growth regions and those that have reached "ZPG," talked about the demographic transition, alternative approaches to stabilizing population growth rates and the current population growth rate in the US including the influence of immigration on US population growth rate at the population as opposed to the per capita level.

Wednesday, Jan 14 -- We pondered the puzzle: total fertility rates in the US have been lower than replacement level fertility rates for over 30 years, but we're not at ZPG yet -- why? Examined the influence of age structure and the momentum it introduces into population growth -- whether negative or positive momentum. We talked about trends in total fertility rates in developing nations, and how to resume the decrease in those rates: meet unmet demand for contraception, decrease desire for large families, and decrease momentum. Discussed patterns of change in TFR in various regons of the world (areas where TFR is already < RLF, areas of high and unchanging TFR, and areas where TFR is dropping rapidly). First quiz on Friday -- covers lecture up through today; bring a calculator. Remember that the study guide has links back to sections of notes that deal with the topics we've considered!

Friday, Jan 16 -- Handed out Resource Use Reduction summary sheets, which you should start filling in this Sunday (the 18th) -- due in class on Monday the 26th. Note that the column headers start with Wednesday, for some reason -- please substitute Sun for the first day, and so on!

Discussed China as an example of a nation that has decreased TFR's rapidly, but with some potential ethical concerns. Fihisned our discussion of human population growth, including projections for the future (and how HIV/AIDS may influence future population growth).

Readings reminder:

At this point, you should have read all of the readings that were assigned for Week 1. It would be good to read at least the first two of the articles assigned for weeks 2 - 5 during the upcoming week ("Feeding nine billion" and "Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change").

Wednesday, Jan 21-- Returned quizzes and 25-word summaries (and will have them in class again on Friday) -- I posted a key to both posted by email to your onid accounts. Please fill in the Resource Use Reduction data sheets, and turn them in on Monday! Started talking about agriculture by talking about how we're doing with regard to feeding people and producing grain. Introduced the origins and concepts of the Green Revolution and looked at some trends in cultivated acreage and yields (total and per capita). Discussed some reasons that the agricultural productivity "engine" seems to be slowing (resource limitations); we talked a bit about emerging land limitations (didn't say much about water limitations -- will later, but you can read a brief version of it here if you want)

Friday, Jan 23 -- Remember that your Resource Use Reduction data sheets are due on Monday -- with totals filled in for each row (Olivia will thank you for that!). Reviewed trends in agricultural production and the land base and took a look at the role of fossil fuels in modern agriculture, focusing on US corn production as an example. We talked a bit about fertilizers, particularly nitrogen-based. We began talking about problems that have emerged with the Green Revolution, including effects on human population growth and crop diversity, --more to come!

Monday, Jan 26 -- I presented results from your valiant efforts at resource reduction -- (in addition to linking to them here, I posted those in Course Documents on the Blackboard site; the Blackboard version includes comparison to previous years, while this version contains links to lots of web sites about ways to reduce your use of resources). Today we continued talking about some problems engendered by green revolution style agriculture, focusing on problems that derive from reliance on inorganic fertilizers -- in particular, effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer on water quality and on inherent soil fertility and structure . We akso took a brief look at human influences on the global nitrogen budget. Quiz # 2 will be this Friday, covering material related to agriculture that we've discussed since the last quiz and running through this coming Wednesday's lecture.

Wednesday, Jan 28 -- Finished off our discussion of effects of inorganic fertilizer on inherent soil fertility and structure (see link, just above), and then introduced the topic of pesticides and agriculture. I gave some background on why we need pest control in the first place and offered a brief history of pesticide use including the "DDT story." I also presented collective results from your Resource Use Reduction Project (thanks to Olivia for summarizing them!), and have posted those in Course Documents on the Blackboard site -- last entry in that section. Quiz 2 on Friday covers material on agriculture -- focus on material related to Questions 1, 2 and 4 from the Ag Study Guide.

Friday, Jan 30 -- We took a quick look at trends in pesticide use overall, in the US and globally (a much more cursory look than is given in these web pages -- you are responsible only for material that I discussed in lecture!). We looked at whether losses to pests have decreased substantially in the face of this pesticide use, and began exploring reasons for why we aren't making more progress even though we are well-armed with chemical defenses. Reasons are many and we'll continue with those on Monday, but we did talk about including the issue of genetic resistance to pesticides. Took Quiz 2.

Monday, Feb 2 -- Continued exploring reasons for why we aren't making more progress against pest losses in agriculture, even though we are well-armed with chemical defenses, including the emergence of "secondary pests " We talked about what controls pests in natural ecosystems and the extent to which pesticides do or don't interfere with these natural controls. We looked at a couple of case studies that demonstrate the way that pesticides can interfere with natural control agents, and then developed the conceptual model of negative feedback regulation over pest populations. We had a brief discussion of why it matters if we keep using pesticides as heavily as we are now, with more to follow! Returned Quiz 2 -- I'll post a key to it on Blackboard, Course Documents, momentarily. Quiz 3 will be this Friday, covering today's and this coming Wednesday's lectures.

Wednesday, Feb 4 -- Took up where we left off on Wednesday (see link above to "why it matters"), and moved into a brief discussion of whether pesticides are bandaids or cures for the problems of pest and disease outbreaks in agriculture. (We'll talk more about ways to diminish our reliance on pesticides when we discuss alternative agriculture, starting next week.) We began talking about land degradation related to agriculture in general terms, and introduced overgrazing as one cause of land degradation. I described the typical pattern of change in vegetation and soils that overgrazing sets in place, and then went on to talk about livestock grazing on western public rangelands more specifically. A few more topics relative to that to cover Friday, then on to soil erosion -- and Quiz 3!

Friday, Feb 6 -- "Finished" talking about grazing issues (see links above) and moved on to a discussion of soil erosion -- amounts, with consequences to come on Monday. Monday we'll talk about land degradation related to irrigation and then will start talking about alternatives that are being implemented to help decrease the impacts we've talked about to-date!

Monday, Feb 9 -- Finished up our discussion of soil erosion, and then talked about irrigation and problems associated with it, including salinization and waterlogging of soils. Introduced the topic of alternative agriculture ("sustainable agriculture") beginning with some general definitions, including discussion of what the label, "organic" means. (NOT that sustainable = organic; farmng systems can be sustainable without being "organic"). Midterm exam is this Friday. Use the sample exam from last year, the Population Study Guide and Questions 1 - 7 and parts of questions 8 & 12 (the items within those that sound familiar to you! ( maybe more -- we'll see how far we get on Wednesday!) on the Agriculture Study Guide, to help focus your studying. Bring pencil(s) and a calculator! Quiz 3 key is posted in Course Documents on the Blackboard site.

Wednesday, Feb 11-- See above for a link to the midterm exam from 2008, and information on which questions (or parts thereof) from the Agriculture Study Guide are fair game. Bring pencils and a calculator to the exam, please. Today, we talked about local foods, and then discussed trophic issues as they relate to agricultural practices and intensity. We began talking about ways to conserve soil -- including conservation tillage. and then went on to talk about conservation compliance, the Conservation Reserve Program and other ways to decrease soil erosion.

Friday, Feb 13 -- Midterm exam

Monday, Feb 16 -- "Finished" discussion of means by which soil erosion can be decreased, and moved on to talk about means by which we could decrease reliance on synthetic fertilizers by changing application methods and by maintaining and enhancing inherent soil fertility. Moved on to talk about ways to decrease use of irrigation water, and started talking about methods to decrease reliance on synthetic pesticides, introducing the concept of IPM . We talked about environmental controls and just started talking about biological controls of pests.

Wednesday, Feb 18 -- Took up where we left off with biological controls as part of an IPM pest control strategy, then continued with discussion of reproductive and genetic controls. With the latter, we talked about genetically engineered organisms, but didn't quite finish that topic -- will do so on Friday, along with talk about chemical controls as part of an IPM strategy. Quiz 4 on Friday.

Friday, Feb 20 -- Continued talking about uses of GMO's in agriculture (although there's lots more to say-- we just need to move on!)....Then talked briefly about chemical controls as part of an IPM strategy, and then took a quiz.

Monday, Feb 23 -- Returned Quiz 4 -- key is posted in Course Documents on BlackBoard. Moved on -- changed subjects! -- to discuss some general considerations about air quality, focusing on the criteria that would be met in an ideal world if one wanted to establish whether or not a pollutant was affecting an ecosystem, and cntrasting observational and experimental approaches to the study of air pollution effects on ecosystems. Barely began talking about tropospheric ozone pollution, and started talking about pollutants that lead to its formation,

Wednesday, Feb 25 -- Continued discussion of tropospheric ozone, including discussion of the pollutants that lead to its formation and a very brief treatment of the chemistry of their interaction (web notes have more detail on this than I expect you to master!!), described "criteria pollutants" and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Talked about where tropospheric ozone levels tend to be elevated and discussed its effects on humans, crops, and natural vegetation. Quiz on Friday will cover today's and Monday's lectures.

Friday, Feb 27 -- Took Quiz 5. Haiku poem on some aspect of air quality or of climate change is due on Wednesday, March 4, no later than the end of class. Electronic submission is encouraged! Format for haiku: three lines; 1st and 3rd lines contain 5 syllables each; 2nd line contains 7 syllables. Continued discussion of tropospheric ozone pollution, how it is regulated, and ,ost of the way through talking about how we attempt to control it. (Additional information on ethanol fuel tradeoffs is found with my previous treatment of land limitations in agriculture.)

Monday, March 2 -- Returned Quiz 5 -- key is posted in Course Documents on the Blackboard site. Remember that haiku are due no later than 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4 -- electronic submission preferred! Today we "finished" talking about attempts to control tropospheric ozone pollution (very cursory!) and then moved on to talk about stratospheric ozone -- basic background about the protective function it serves (absorbing uv-B radiation) and some of the history of how we began to realize that it was in trouble. Moved on to talk about the discovery of the Antarctic "hole," whether natural explanations sufficed, why it happens, more to come on Wednesday.

Wednesday, March 4 -- Took up where we left off re the Antarctic ozone hole (see links above), and moved on to talking about what's happening with global levels of stratospheric ozone, and the biological implications. Took a welcome break from gloom and doom -- -- gave some good news in terms of policy steps that have been taken, when ozone concentrations are likely to demonstrate noticeable repair, and what substitutes for "ozone eaters" have been found. Haiku poured in over the past 24 hours, and I posted the compilation of them in Corse Documents on the BlackBoard site.

Friday, March 6 -- I'm about to post the last weekly outside event listing -- many of you have not submitted anything relative to this assignment yet -- please get on it! I will not accept submissions that arrive after 3:00 pm on Friday March 13. Today, we moved on to the topic of global climate change: I gave some basic background about "the greenhouse effect," carbon dioxide and human influences on it. We then looked at trends in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, at what has happened to concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, and moved on to talk about links between atmospheric CO2 and temperature; recent temperature trends and, next time we'll get to the question of whether the warming we've been experiencing is natural or unnatural;

Monday, March 9 -- We took up where we left off, with the question of whether the recent warming trend is natural or unnatural (see link above). We looked at the role of other trace gases as greenhouse gases, including water vapor, tropospheric ozone, and CFC's, N2O and methane, and black carbon ("soot") and then talked about predictions about what is likely for future climate change -- which depends, of course, on what is likely to happen to emissions of greenhouse gases and consequences for their concentrations in the atmosphere (this included discussion of feedbacks that might be important). . Next time, lots to cover, including what the associated climate changes may be!

Take a look at last year's final exam for an idea about what to expect this year.

Last reminder -- outside activity reports and communication initiatives must be completed by 3:00 PM on Friday, March 13. Late submissions of either will not be accepted .

Wednesday, March 11 -- We reviewed what is now estimated for future climate change (temperature, in particular) and also what the associated climate changes may be (including rising sea levels). Talked, oh so briefly, about likely consequences of climate changes for nonhuman systems. We'll take up there next time. One person asked me if I plan to do a review session on Friday. Answer is "no" -- time is too precious! BUT, for review in anticipation of the final exam, I encourage you to look at the various study guides and also last year's midterm and final exams!

Friday, March 13 -- Started off with course evaluations. If any of you who weren't in class today want to fill one out, just stop by the Biology Program office in 2042 Cordley, and you can complete one there. I always hope for the most complete representation of opinions that I can get! Then, we took up where we left off (see links above), and continued on to talk about consequences of climate change for human systems, and a little about policy steps that have been taken (or not, depending on where you live in this world). I hope final exams go well for all of you, and that you have fine spring breaks!

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