Plant Ecology Afield

In this small, far ranging program, students will come face to face with questions at the heart of plant ecology across diverse and changing climates. Our program will address questions such as: How does plant community diversity, natural history, and composition change across environmental gradients? What are differences in approaches to understanding the distribution of plants, identifying plants, and using technical plant keys and guides in diverse environments? How do biotic interactions like pollination, herbivory, and competition relate to patterns in plant diversity in arid vs. mesic ecosystems?

We will closely examine plant ecology, vascular plant identification, and analysis of vascular plant communities in diverse environments from local forests and prairies to the Grand Canyon of the Southwestern US. Our studies will be divided between learning about general plant ecology, identification, and field methods. Topics will include plant physiology, plant taxonomy, use of technical keys, plant family traits, pollination, symbioses and facilitation, plant water use, photosynthesis, plant growth and form, community analysis, invasive species ecology, and natural history of vascular plants.

Field experiences in the Grand Canyon (a 16 day trip), local Puget Sound Forests, and local Washington Prairies will frame our learning by giving students direct experiences measuring, identifying, and interpreting patterns in plant distribution and ecology. Students develop plant lists in each habitat, identify species using commonly used technical keys, keep journals, investigate natural history and ecology of plants, learn field methods, and conduct short field studies. Our readings and seminars will be divided between current widely used texts in plant physiology and ecology, recent popular non-fiction texts on plant ecology and the environment, and current and historic research papers from peer-reviewed scientific journals. Workshops will center on techniques for identifying plants (plant taxonomy) and field methods for measuring plant communities. Communication skills are essential, particularly in reading scientific articles and writing for scientific audiences. We will also practice skills for communicating to a broader public using non-fiction and technical writing found in major botanical journals.

We will develop our close community of scholars through many days of working, camping, and living together. Students should be comfortable working independently, traveling over extremely rugged terrain, and spending extensive amounts of time living in primitive conditions. Students should be committed to clear communication and engaging in group process, potentially across significant differences. Enrollment will be by application only. Applications will be available outside Lab II, room 3265 by January 15th, 2010.