DR. WASER'S COURSES

BIOL286: INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY
Interactions between the biotic and abiotic components of natural systems. The process of natural selection and how it affects adaptive change in ecological systems. Ecological principles associated with individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems.

BIOL287: LABORATORY IN INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY
The lab associated with Biol 286. Includes both laboratory exercises and field trips.

BIOL585: ECOLOGY
BIOL 585 is a general course in population and community ecology, designed to build on the coverage of these topics provided in BIOL 121-122. Beginning with a review of natural selection, topics include physiological, behavioral, and life history adaptations of animals and plants. "Life tables" provide a bridge to population dynamics: how do intra- and interspecific competition, predation and parasitism influence population growth and limitation? In turn, how do these processes determine which and how many species can coexist? The final part of the course focuses on the determinants and consequences of biotic diversity. Emphasis is on basic principles, but the applied consequences are not far in the background: how do life-history characteristics influence species' vulnerability to hunting or habitat loss? How can humans act as "prudent predators" to harvest, but not eliminate, biotic resources? What are the consequences of disturbance and habitat loss for species diversity? What difference does it make to the rest of the community if species are lost?

BIOL592: THE EVOLUTION OF BEHAVIOR
BIOL 592 treats animal behaviors as adaptations, driven by natural selection. Most of the course therefore deals with the behavior, and especially the social behavior, of animals in natural settings, a field generally termed "behavioral ecology." We spend the first few weeks reviewing mechanisms of evolution, discussing the assumption that differences in behavior can reflect differences in genes. We then move on to discuss some examples of specialized behavioral machinery: "escape" circuitry in invertebrates, directional hearing mechanisms in owls, echolocation by bats, electric communication by fish, specialized learning capabilities required for animal communication and orientation. Animal communication provides the bridge to social behavior. Topics covered in the second half of the course include territorial defense, group living, animal conflict, mating systems, social cooperation and altruism, and the processes that might lead to those behaviors. Examples emphasize birds and mammals but are broadly chosen to represent unfamiliar, as well as familiar, taxonomic groups. In the final lecture, we discuss the implications of these ideas for our own behavior.