ESCI 499/599 WILDLIFE ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Department of Environmental Sciences
Huxley College of the Environment
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA 98225-9181

499/599 WILDLIFE ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Winter 2004
Fridays 9-11am (may change); room TBA

Instructor: John McLaughlin

Office: ES 440
Phone: 650- 7617
E-mail:
Office Hours: F 11-noon
Course Web Site: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~jmcl/seminar.htm

Course Description:

In this seminar we will assess current understanding of wildlife ecology and conservation. Our assessment tool will be discussion of the primary literature. Topics will include issues in basic wildlife ecology and applications to conservation, including: wildlife habitat relationships, population processes, spatial distributions, recreational impacts on wildlife, interspecific interactions, impacts of climate change, conservation of problematic species, and other topics addressed in the current literature.

The seminar format will consist of student-led discussion of journal articles. Each class meeting will be led by two discussion leaders, with two alternates prepared to lead should one or both leaders succumb to illness, etc. Journal articles are listed under each topic. Except for articles available online, one copy of each article will be put in a course binder in the Huxley Library, ES 545. Discussion leaders may substitute alternative papers, provided they obtain instructor approval at least one week in advance. In preparation, leaders should consult at least two papers related to their topics in addition to the papers selected for discussion. Each student must turn in a bibliography of these supplementary papers (by e-mail, in ASCII format) by the last class meeting.

Suggestions for discussion preparation, participation, and leadership:
Article critique: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~jmcl/crit_paper.pdf
Discussion participation, by Gene Myers: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~gmyers/ehe/discpart.html
Discussion leadership, by John Miles: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~gmyers/ehe/disclead.html

Course Evaluation:

Grades (S/U) will be based on participation during discussions (50%), leadership of two discussions (40%), and submission of a bibliography (10%). If the bibliography is not submitted, the course grade will be an incomplete.

Seminar Schedule:

Date	Topic and Articles
Jan. 9	Introduction and Organization
Jan. 16	Wildlife Responses to Climate Change
	Oberhauser K, and Peterson AT. 2003. Modeling current and future potential wintering distributions of eastern North American monarch butterflies. PNAS 100:14063-14068. Available online: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/24/14063 Thomas CD, et al. 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature 427:145148. Available online: http://www.nature.com/nature/links/040108/040108-1.html See also: Pounds JA and Puschendorf R. 2004. Ecology: Clouded futures. Nature 427:107-109. Available online: http://www.nature.com/nature/links/040108/040108-1.html
Jan. 23	Avian Extinctions in Fragmented Habitats
	Ribon R, Simon JE, and De Mattos GT. 2003. Bird extinctions in Atlantic forest fragments of the Vicosa region, southeastern Brazil. Conservation Biology 17(6)1827-1839. Ferraz G, Russell GJ, Stouffer PC, Bierregaard RO Jr., Pimm SL, and Lovejoy TE. 2003. Rates of species loss from Amazonian forest fragments, PNAS 100: 14069-14073. Available online: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/24/14069 Vance MD, Fahrig L, and Flather CH. 2003. Effect of reproductive rate on minimum habitat requirements of forest-breeding birds. Ecology 84(10)2643-2653.
Jan. 30	Recreational Impacts on Wildlife
	Swarthout ECH and Steidl RJ. 2003. Experimental effects of hiking on breeding Mexican spotted owls. Conservation Biology 17(1)307-315. Taylor AR and Knight RL. 2003. Wildlife responses to recreation and associated visitor perceptions. Ecological Applications 13(4)951-963.
Feb. 6	Hunting and Trapping
	Coltman DW, et al. 2003. Undesirable evolutionary consequences of trophy hunting. Nature 426:655-658. See also: Whitfield, J. 2003. Nature, nurture, and landscape. Nature 426:595. Fox CH. 2003. Cull of the wild. Wild Earth 13(4)54, 56-58. Williams S. 2003. An important tool for conservation. Wild Earth 13(4)55, 59-60. See also: Fischman R. 2003. The crazy-quilt refuge system. Wild Earth 13(4)36-42. Roosevelt T. 2003. The conservation of wild life. Wild Earth 13(4)10-11. (reprinted)
Feb. 13	Species Interactions
	Kelly EG, Forsman ED, Anthony RG. 2003. Are barred owls displacing spotted owls? Condor 105(1)45-53. Peterson AT and Robins CR. 2003. Using ecological-niche modeling to predict barred owl invasions with implications for spotted owl conservation. Conservation Biology 17(4)1161-1165. Sinclair ARE, Mduma S, and Brashares JS. 2003. Patterns of predation in a diverse predator-prey system. Nature 425:288-290.
Feb. 20	Wildlife Restoration
	McCoy, ED, and HR Mushinsky. 2002. Measuring the success of wildlife community restoration. Ecological Applications 12(6)1861-1871. Courchamp F, Woodroffe R, and Roemer G. 2003. Removing protected populations to save endangered species. Science 302:1532. Pyare S and Berger J. 2003. Beyond demography and delisting: ecological recovery for Yellowstone's grizzly bears and wolves. Biological Conservation 113(1)63-73. Available online: http://www.library.wwu.edu/cgi-bin/persearch/persearchbu.pl
Feb. 27	Carnivores and Neighboring Humans
	Oakleaf JK, Mach C, and Murray DL. 2003. Effects of wolves on livestock calf survival and movements in central Idaho. J. Wildlife Management 67(2)299-306. Laliberte AS and Ripple WJ. 2003. Wildlife encounters by Lewis and Clark: A spatial analysis of interactions between native Americans and wildlife. BioScience 53(10)994-1003. Musiani M and Paquet PC. 2004. The practices of wolf persecution, protection, and restoration in Canada and the United States. BioScience 54(1)50-60. Other papers of interest: Naughton-Treves L, Grossberg R, and Treves A. 2003. Paying for tolerance: Rural citizens' attitudes toward wolf depredation and compensation. Conservation Biology 17(6)1500-1511. Charudutt M, et al. 2003. The role of incentive programs in conserving the snow leopard. Conservation Biology 17(6)1512-1520. Nielsen CK, Anderson RG, and Grund MD. 2003. Landscape influences on deer-vehicle accident areas in an urban environment. J. Wildlife Management 67(1)46-51. Luck, GW, TH Ricketts, GC Daily, and Imhoff M. 2004. Alleviating spatial conflict between people and biodiversity. PNAS 101(1)182-186. Available online: http://www.pnas.org/content/vol101/issue1/index.shtml
March 5	Grizzly Bear Conservation and Management
	Stringham SF. 2002. Smokey and mirrors: The war between science and pseudoscience in grizzly bear conservation. Wild Earth 12(3)36-41. Boyce MS and Walker JS. 2003. Grizzly bears for the Bitterroot: Predicting potential abundance and distribution. Wildlife Society Bulletin 31(3)670-683. Mattson DJ and Merrill T. 2002. Extirpations of grizzly bears in the contiguous United States, 1850-2000. Conservation Biology 16(4)1123-1136.
March 12	Ecosystem-Level Effects
	Berger J. 2002. Wolves, landscapes, and the ecological recovery of Yellowstone. Wild Earth 12(1)32-37. Berger J, Stacey PB, Bellis L, and Johnson MP. 2001. A mammalian predator-prey imbalance: Grizzly bears and wolf extinction affect avian neotropical migrants. Ecological Applications 11:947-960.
March 19	Exam week (no class)

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