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BIO 421/521  Landscape Ecology

SYLLABUS 2024

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Landscape ecology is the science of studying and influencing the relationship between spatial pattern
and ecological processes across scales and organizational levels.

BIO 320 or any other ecology/environmental science course at the college level; otherwise instructor's approval

Landscape ecology deals explicitly with the interactions between spatial pattern and ecological processes, including various human influences.  This course covers the basic concepts, principles, and methods of landscape ecology, as well as its important applications in nature conservation, resource management, and landscape planning and design.

Upon successful completion of the course, the student is expected to be able to demonstrate:

• an understanding of the basic concepts and principles in landscape ecology;
• knowledge of quantitative methods to characterize landscape patterns and relate them to ecological processes;
• a broad understanding of why and how spatial heterogeneity and scale matter to the ecology and sustainability of landscapes.

For both undergraduate and graduate students; three (3) credit hours.

• All reading materials will be provided by the instructor.

• Lectures/Discussions: 

• Class meetings consist of lectures and student presentations.

• Student presentations (Student Presentation Schedule):
• All graduate students are required to give one class presentation individually.  Undergraduate students are not required to give class presentations.
  

• The class presentation should be based on 2 related research papers on a particular topic in landscape ecology, which must be published in a peer-reviewed journal.  The selected papers are preferably empirical studies based on field observations or experiments.  There are multiple ways to find your papers: 
  

• Option #1: Go to the web site of the journal, Landscape Ecology, to find research papers of your interest. 
  

• Option #2: You may find your papers using Google Scholar or Scopus.

• Option #3: Ask the instructor to recommend papers for you.
  

• Once you have selected your papers for class presentation, please email the instructor the following two items: (1) the PDFs of the 2 papers that you have chosen (the papers will be put on the class web site for the entire class to read); and (2) your preferred presentation dates.  For your presentation date, please provide 3 choices in the order of preference (first come, first served).

Presentation format

• 20 minutes in total for each student presentation
  
• 12-15 minutes for presenting the objectives, research questions, methods, major findings and conclusions of the study
• 5-8 minutes for questions and discussion.  The presenting student must prepare 3 questions ahead of time.


• PowerPoint (PPT) presentation is required.  Send your PPT to the instructor (Jingle.Wu@asu.edu) at least 24 hours before the time of your presentation. 
  

• Term paper [Required only for graduate students]
  

• Each graduate student is required to write a term paper.  An undergraduate student may also write a term paper, with the instructor's permission, to get extra points (up to 5% of the total points).

• Instructions for the term paper:

• Topic: The student may choose any specific subject area that is relevant to the key topics of landscape ecology (see Aims and Scope of Landscape Ecology).  The term paper should be a short review or a perspective paper on a relevant landscape ecological topic. 
  

• Approval: Before starting to write the term paper, the student must send the instructor (Jingle.Wu@asu.edu) the tentative title and a brief description of the contents for approval.

• Format: The term paper should include the following sections: introduction, research objectives, methods, results, conclusions, and references (the IMRaD format for scientific writing may be followed with modifications as necessary).  The total length of the term paper should be between 3000 - 5000 words, including references but excluding figures/tables.

• The term paper must be submitted to Jingle.Wu@asu.edu by the deadline (see the course schedule page).
  

• Assessment Methods
• There are 2 exams and 3 quizzes for this course.
  
• Three quizzes: 15-minutes each; closed-book; given randomly during the semester.  The quizzes may consist of multiple-choice questions and short essay questions.
  
• First exam (open-book): For instructions of open-book exams, please click here.  For using AI tools, see instructions.
  
• Final exam (closed-book): The final exam is cumulative, meaning that it covers all the contents of the course.  For some sample questions of closed-book exams, click here. 
  

• No make-up exams will be offered unless an approval is given prior to the exam by the instructor as per relevant University rules.

• The final grades will be based on the following system:
  

	Undergrads / Total Points	Graduate Students / Total Points
Quizzes (3)	21	21
First exam (open-book)	30	30
Final exam (closed-book)	40	40
Class attendance & participation	9	9
Class presentation (grads only)		10
Term paper (grads only)		15
Total Points	100	125*
Percentage	Grade	Grade
97% - 100%	A+	A+
94% - 96%	A	A
90% - 93%	A-	A-
87% - 89%	B+	B+
84% - 86%	B	B
80% - 83%	B-	B-
76% - 79%	C+	C+
70% - 75%	C	C
60% - 69%	D	D
< 60%	E	E (Fail)