Assignment (for September 12): Find an article that applies an ecological principle to pest management. Hand in one page containing a copy of the abstract of the article (with title and reference) and a brief description of the study and how an ecological principle was applied to a pest management problem. Everyone will make a 4-5 minute presentation on his or her article.

	2.1.	Why Study Ecology?
		2.1.1.	Case Study: the cane toad, Bufo marinus
		2.1.2.	Pesticides (treadmill, the 3 R's)
		2.1.3.	Low diversity
	2.2.	Ecological Concepts and Definitions
		2.2.1.	Biological Units
				Species : "groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups" (Ernst Mayr) Population: a collection of individuals of one species that exists in some defined geographical area Guild: a group of species that exploit the same resource in a similar manner Community: a group of populations occurring in the same geographical area Ecosystem: a community of living organisms and the abiotic framework that supports them Landscape: a cluster of interacting ecosystems
		2.2.2.	Defining Concepts
				Diversity: the level of variation in a given component of ecosystem organization (i.e. species diversity, genetic diversity) Trophic pyramid: representation of density (or energy/nutrients) at several trophic levels Biological magnification: sucessive increase in toxin concentration up through a food pyramid Trophic web: diagram of connections between trophic levels Stability: the ability of an ecosystem to return to equilibrium following a perturbation Succession: progressive changes in community structure through time Selection: the differential reproduction of genotypes Nutrient cycles: the cyclic transition of nutrients through multiple forms Productivity: the amount of material or energy formed by a community in a specific time period
	2.3.	The impact of Homo sapiens on ecosystems
		2.3.1.	Just another organism
		2.3.2.	Origins of agroecosystems
		2.3.3.	Anthropological consequences
		2.3.4.	Ecological consequences
	2.4.	Comparison of natural vs agroecosystems
	2.5.	Stability in agroecosystems
		2.5.1.	What is it and why do we want it?
		2.5.2.	Does diversity contribute to stability?
		2.5.3.	Predicting the impact of diversity
	2.6.	Why is the World Green?
		2.6.1.	Bottom-up forces
			2.6.1.1.	Competition
			2.6.1.2.	Variability
			2.6.1.4.	Plant defenses
		2.6.2.	Top-down forces
			2.6.2.1.	Short-term control vs long-term regulation Dynamic example of regulation
			2.6.2.2.	Density dependence
				functional responses numerical responses
		2.6.3.	Tri-trophic level interactions
		2.6.4.	Complex Trophic Interactions
			2.6.4.1.	Tri-trophic level interactions
			2.6.4.2.	Indirect effects
			2.6.4.3.	Intraguild predation
			2.6.4.4.	Omnivory
	2.7.	Life History Approach
		2.7.1.	Life history tables
		2.7.2.	Logistic Growth Model
		2.7.3.	r vs k strategies
	2.8.	Island Biogeography
		2.8.1.	General pattern
		2.8.2.	Factors affecting equilibrium level
			2.8.2.1.	Distance from source of colonists
			2.8.2.2.	Richness of pool of colonists
			2.8.2.3.	Niches available on islands
				island size island heterogeneity
		2.8.3.	Island biogeography theory
		2.8.4.	Relevance of island biogeography to crop pests

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