Wildlife Population Analysis |
WILD
7250 (001) 3 Credits |
Time: Lecture
– TTh 11:00-12:15 am SFWS 1223 Labs
– T 12:00a-1:50p SFWS 2216 |
Instructor:
Dr. James (Barry) Grand, |
Office: 3236 Forestry and |
E-mail: grandjb@auburn.edu |
|
GENERAL
INFORMATION |
Studies
measuring survival and success rates are of great interest to scientists faced
with managing or researching wild populations. The overall theme of this
course is to provide graduate students with the skills necessary to design,
analyze, and make inferences from such studies. Lecture and laboratory material will focus
on maximum-likelihood estimation of population parameters: survival, recruitment, abundance,
distribution (patch occupancy), model-based estimation, use of information
theoretic methods for model selection, and parameterization and analysis of
matrix population models. |
COURSE
OBJECTIVES |
1. Introduce state-of-the art methods for
design and analysis of studies of animal distribution, abundance, and
demography 2. Provide experience in sample design,
analysis, and inference from data sets for the analysis of presence/absence
surveys and studies of marked populations. 3. Introduce methods for using matrix
models in the analysis of wild populations. 4. Provide experience in matrix model
design, analysis, and inference for wildlife populations |
TEXT |
|
No textbook
is required for this course. Suggested
text: Williams, BK, JD Nichols, and MJ
Conroy. Analysis and management of
animal populations. Academic
Press. (on reserve) Readings will be
assigned or provided prior to each class meeting. |
|
Other
reference materials: |
|
Burnham,
KP and DR Anderson. 2008. Model
selection and multimodel inference: a practical
information theoretic approach.
Springer-Verlag New York. |
|
Caswell,
H. 2001. Matrix population models: construction,
analysis, and interpretation. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Mass. |
|
COURSE
FORMAT |
|
Two
hours lecture and 1 three hour lab meeting each week. All participants are expected to read
assigned readings prior to class.
Students will develop a term project in population analysis based
original data, data gleaned from the primary literature, or simulations. Term projects will be presented to the
class in a 20 minute slide presentation with handouts. |
|
GRADING |
|
There
will be no examinations. Grades will be assigned on a 10-point scale (e.g. 90-100=A,
80-89=B, etc.) and calculated in the following way: |
|
Participation |
25% |
Laboratory
exercises |
50% |
Term
project |
25% |
All
graded items (e.g. lab assignments, term projects) must be delivered on time for
full credit. Exceptions will be granted only under the most stringent
conditions, requiring official medical or university documentation. In the
event of an unavoidable conflict with class attendance or submission of
assignments, make every attempt to notify me prior to class meetings or due
dates. |
|
TERM
PROJECT |
|
Students
will be required to develop a term project.
Although students will be free to choose a subject related to
population analysis, I must approve the subject. Although not required, students are
encouraged to prepare manuscripts on the subject material. Presentations must include introductory
material which synthesizes the pertinent literature, a description of the
methods used to collect the data, description of the quantitative techniques
used in the analysis, and interpretation of the results, and recommendations
or conservation implications. There
is a time schedule for this project to which students must adhere. A change
in subject part way through the semester will not result in a penalty,
provided the schedule is still observed; subject changes must be discussed
with me. The term project schedule will be determined during the first week
of class. Here are the required stages in
project development: |
|
Subject
choice: Includes a rough outline of the project.
The rough outline need only list the project objectives. |
|
Detailed
outline: Formal outline or free-form outlines are
fine; bibliography must be included. |
|
Presentation:
A 15-minute presentation of the term project in a format suitable for
a symposium or professional scientific meeting. The presentations will be delivered using
PowerPoint® . Presentations will be scored by the class
and the instructor, and the final grade will be based on a weighted average. |
|
Originality
– Was the project
based on an original idea or was it simply repetition of an existing study?
(20%) |
|
Content
– Looking for good scientific process (40%) |
|
·
Introductory
material that relates to existing theory ·
Working
hypotheses that will be tested ·
Description
of the models that are derived from the hypotheses ·
Description
of the methods used to collect or generate the data ·
Description
of the quantitative techniques used in the analysis ·
Interpretation
of results |
|
Organization
– Was the
presentation organized logically? (20%) |
|
Response
to questions – Were
responses to questions from the audience appropriate? (20%) |
|
CLASS
ATTENDANCE |
|
This
is a graduate course. Attendance will not be taken, because I assume all students
will attend every class meeting, unless emergencies or research precludes it.
Obviously, missing discussions will reduce points assigned for discussion
participation. |
|
ACADEMIC
HONESTY |
|
Students
should be familiar with the Student Academic Honesty Code that is published
in the latest version of the Tiger Cub, each will be expected to strictly
adhere to this code. Any violations of this code will be brought before the
Academic Honesty Committee. |
|
OTHER
POINTS |
|
Office
hours are by appointment only. However, feel free to just stop by anytime; if
I cannot meet with you immediately I will be happy to set up a mutually
convenient time for us to talk. If you have any questions, please ask
them. If I don’t know the answer, we
will find it out together. Remember, asking questions after final grades have
been assigned is too late. Particularly in a graduate course, questions are
an integral part of learning and there are no stupid questions! |
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