After each lecture, I will update the calendar below, giving you information on which topic and sections within that topic were covered in that lecture. The match won't always be perfect - and there is much more information in the web pages than I am able to cover in lecture - but I hope this will help you to go back after class and look up things that you may have missed. If you come here to check and see that this isn't up-to-date, please remind me, and I'll do it!

LECTURE DATE/corresponding topic and subtopic(s)

Monday, Jan 7 -- Introduction to the course, what is an ecosystem and how do we model ecosystems? (NOTE -- also handed out syllabus and study guide for the first course unit). We'll get to Ecosystem services, and levels of causation in environmental science (and in life!) next time, and will move into talking about human population issues.

Wednesday, Jan 9 -- Talked about Ecosystem services, and levels of causation in environmental science and moved into perspectives on the importance of population size as a driver of environmental problems (Hardin, Commoner, Simon); I = fn(PAT); quick look at current human population situation and at historical factors affecting population growth. Handed out 25-word summary assignment (on Vitousek et al. reading on "Human domination of Earth's ecosystems," which is due on Wed. Jan 16.

Friday, Jan 11 -- Continued exploration of historical factors influencing the growth of the human population (see link above); introduced per capita and "crude" rates, b-d = r, G = (b-d)N = rN, r * 100 = percentage rate of natural increase, influence of N on G, exponential growth, sustainability?, cornucopian vs. neoMalthusian perspectives; logistic growth, carrying capacity as it does or doesn't apply to humans. (I forgot to mention crude rates, actually -- will catch that on Monday. )

Monday, Jan 14 -- Caught up on crude rates Did a quick overview of world population growth rate, changes in "r" over time, fast growth regions, slow growth regions and those that have reached "ZPG," talked about the demographic transition, alternative approaches to stabilizing population growth rates, population growth rate in the US and the influence of immigration on US population growth rate at the population as opposed to the per capita level. We pondered the puzzle: total fertility rates in the US have been lower than replacement level fertility rates for over 30 years, but we're not at ZPG yet -- why? First quiz will be this Friday -- details to come on Wednesday.

Wednesday, Jan 16 -- Examined the influence of age structure and the momentum it introduces into population growth -- whether negative or positive momentum. We talked about trends in total fertility rates in developing nations, and how to resume the decrease in those rates: meet unmet demand for contraception, decrease desire for large families, and decrease momentum. Discussed patterns of change in TFR in various regons of the world (areas where TFR is already < RLF, areas of high and unchanging TFR, and areas where TFR is dropping rapidly). First quiz on Friday -- covers lecture up through today; bring a calculator. Remember that the study guide has links back to sections of notes that deal with the topics we've considered!

Friday, Jan 18 -- Reminded ourselves about the underlying causes for patterns in change in TFR (see above) and discussed China as an example of a nation that has decreased TFR's rapidly, but with some potential ethical concerns. Fihisned our discussion of human population growth, including projections for the future (and how HIV/AIDS may influence future population growth). Decided to quit there and give a quiz, rather than moving right into talking about how we're doing in terms of feeding everyone....

Readings reminder:

At this point, you should have read all of the readings that were assigned for Week 1. It would be good to read at least the first two of the articles assigned for weeks 2 - 5 during the upcoming week ("Feeding nine billion" and "Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change").

25-word summary comments:

Nice job on the summaries themselves -- some were very creative, in addition to being good summaries. Poetry, even! Most of you included the word count too -- thanks for that! There was some confusion about the citation format that we wanted to see. Here's information related to that:

Preferred citation format for most science journals:

Vitousek, P.M., H.A. Mooney, J. Lubchenco, and J.M. Mellilo. 1997. Human domination of Earth's ecosystems. Science 277: 494 - 499.

Notes:

Order of authorship generally reflects contributions of the various authors, and so it shouldn't be changed (e.g., to alphabetical) in citing the work. All authors should be listed.

Use initials for first (and middle) names, rather than writing them out

First letters in words in journal article titles are generally not capitalized (except the first word and any proper names) -- however, first letters in book titles generally are capitalized

In general, it isn't necessary to cite the month of the publication -- the year, volume number, and page numbers convey that information

Page numbers correspond to journal pages, not packet pages.

Do not include annotations after the citations (unless you are asked to provide an annotated bibliography!)

We were liberal in grading the citation format, given the various styles that were used. We took off ½ pt, though, if your format would have made it difficult to find the article using a search engine (e.g., misspelled author names or key words in title, name of journal omitted, etc.)

Wednesday, Jan. 23 Started talking about agriculture by talking about how we're doing with regard to feeding people and producing grain. Introduced the origins and concepts of the Green Revolution and looked at some trends in cultivated acreage and yields (total and per capita). Handed out Resource Use Reduction project forms -- these are due next Wednesday (Jan. 30).

Friday, Jan. 25 -- Discussed some reasons that the agricultural productivity "engine" seems to be slowing (resource limitations); talked about emerging land limitations (didn't say much about water limitations -- will later, but you can read a brief version of it here if you want); took a look at the role of fossil fuels in modern agriculture, focusing on US corn production as an example, and talked a bit about fertilizers, particularly nitrogen-based. We began talking about problems that have emerged with the Green Revolution, including effects on human population growth and crop diversity, Resource use reduction tally sheets are due next Wednesday (Jan 30).

Monday, Jan 28 -- Guest lecture by Brandon Trelstad, OSU's Sustainability Coordinator -- if you missed it, try to get notes from someone who was there! Resource use reduction project tally sheets are due on Wednesday, and Quiz #2 will be on Friday

Wednesday, Jan 30 -- Quiz #2 on Friday. If you missed the guest lecture on Monday, you could check out OSU's sustainability web site to learn at least some about what is going on in that regard at OSU. Today we continued talking about some problems engendered by green revolution style agriculture focusing on problems that derive from reliance on inorganic fertilizers -- in particular, effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on water quality and on inherent soil fertility and structure .

Friday, Feb 1 -- Took up where we left off Wednesday, and then took a brief look at human influences on the global nitrogen budget. Introduced the topic of pesticides and agriculture. I gave some background on why we need pest control in the first place and that's about as far as we got. Quiz #2

Monday, Feb 4 -- I gave a brief history of pesticide use including the "DDT story." We took a quick look at trends in pesticide use overall, in the US and globally (a much more cursory look than is given in these web pages -- you are responsible only for material that I discussed in lecture!). We looked at whether losses to pests have decreased substantially in the face of this pesticide use, and began exploring reasons for why we aren't making more progress even though we are well-armed with chemical defenses. Also presented some highlights from your valiant resource use reduction efforts -- way to go, and thank you!

Wednesday, Feb 6 -- Continued exploring reasons for why we aren't making more progress against pest losses in agriculture, even though we are well-armed with chemical defenses, including including the issue of genetic resistance to pesticides and the emergence of "secondary pests " We talked about what controls pests in natural ecosystems and the extent to which pesticides do or don't interfere with these natural controls. We looked at a couple of case studies that demonstrate the way that pesticides can interfere with natural control agents, and then developed the conceptual model of negative feedback regulation over pest populations. We had a brief discussion of why it matters if we keep using pesticides as heavily as we are now, with more to follow! Friday's quiz will focus on material from Monday's and today's lecture -- see material related to questions 13, 4 and parts of 5 from the agriculture study guide.

Friday, Feb 8 -- Took up where we left off on Wed, and moved into a brief discussion of whether pesticides are bandaids or cures for the problems of pest and disease outbreaks in agriculture. (We'll talk more about pesticides in the context of alternatives to them when we discuss alternative agriculture, starting next week.) We began talking about land degradation related to agriculture in general terms, and just barely introduced overgrazing as one cause of land degradation. Took Quiz 3.

Monday, Feb 11-- Continued discussion of overgrazing as one cause of land degradation. I described the typical pattern of change in vegetation and soils that overgrazing sets in place, and then went on to talk about livestock grazing on western public rangelands more specifically.

Wednesday, Feb 13 -- Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow! "Finished" talking about grazing issues (see links above) and moved on to a discussion of soil erosion -- amounts and consequences. Then talked about irrigation and problems associated with it, including salinization and waterlogging of soils. Exam Friday. Use the sample exam from last year, the Population Study Guide and Questions 1 - 7 on the Agriculture Study Guide, to help focus your studying. Bring pencil(s) and a calculator!

Friday, Feb 15 -- Midterm exam

Monday, Feb 18 -- Congratulations on fine exam outcomes to most of you! If you are someone for whom the exam didn't go as well as you would have liked, remember that the four retained quizzes are, collectively, worth more towards your final grade than is the midterm -- and don't forget the 2% for communication and the 4% for an outside activity. Began talking about alternative agriculture ("sustainable agriculture") beginning with some general definitions, including discussion of what the label, "organic" means. Discussed trophic issues as they relate to agricultural practices and intensity, and began talking about ways to conserve soil -- including conservation tillage.

Wednesday, Feb 20 -- Continued discussion of conservation tillage (see link, above) and then went on to talk about conservation compliance, the Conservation Reserve Program and other ways to decrease soil erosion. We included discussion of methods to decrease reliance on synthetic fertilizers by maintaining and enhancing inherent soil fertility. Moved on to talk about ways to decrease use of irrigation water, and started talking about methods to decrease reliance on synthetic pesticides, introducing the concept of IPM .

Friday, Feb 22 -- Talked about environmental controls and biological controls of pests, as well as reproductive and genetic controls. With the latter, we talked about genetically engineered organisms, but didn't finish that topic -- will do so on Monday, along with talking about reproductive controls -- AND with moving into topics related to air pollutants! Took Quiz 4 today.

Monday, Feb 25 -- "Finished" talking about GMO's in agriculture (although there's lots more to say-- we just need to move on!)....

Wednesday, Feb 27 -- Talked briefly about chemical controls as part of an IPM strategy, and then moved on to discuss some general considerations about air quality, focusing on the criteria that would be met in an ideal world if one wanted to establish whether or not a pollutant was affecting an ecosystem, and cntrasting observational and experimental approaches to the study of air pollution effects on ecosystems. Barely began talking about tropospheric ozone pollution. Quiz on Friday will cover today's and Monday's lectures.

Friday, Feb 29 -- A day that happens only every four years!!! Continued discussion of tropospheric ozone -- pollutants that lead to its formation, BRIEF treatment of the chemistry of their interaction (web notes have more detail on this than I expect you to master!!), briefly described "criteria pollutants" and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Talked about where levels of tropospheric ozone tend to be elevated. Took Quiz 5. NOTE: haiku poem on some aspect of air quality that we've talked about is due on Friday March 7. Format for haiku: three lines; 1st and 3rd lines contain 5 syllables each; 2nd line contains 7 syllables.

Monday, March 3 -- Continued discussion of tropospheric ozone pollution, including what its effects are, how it is regulated, and got part way through talking about how we attempt to control it. See reminder above about haiku assignment, which is due this coming Friday.

Wednesday, March 5 -- First, a warning: I'm not sure if I'll have time to update all the web pages about stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change before you want to use them. HOORAY! I did just finish updating the strat ozone pages so the info in those is fine; climate change notes, however, may not get updated, SO, if you see information in those web notes that differs from that I gave in lecture, go with the lecture version! I'll do my best to get things updated, but...........Second, a reminder that haiku are due no later than class on Friday the 7th! Today we talked about stratospheric ozone -- basic background about the protective function it serves (absorbing uv-B radiation) and some of the history of how we began to realize that it was in trouble. Moved on to talk about the discovery of the Antarctic "hole," whether natural explanations sufficed, why it happens, what's happening with global levels of stratospheric ozone, and began talking about the biological implications.

Friday, March 7-- See the warning, above, about the liklihood that I won't get all of the web notes re climate change updated. Finished talking about biological implications of stratospheric ozone depletion, and took a break from gloom and doom -- -- gave some good news in terms of policy steps that have been taken, how long it is likely to be before concentrations of ozone undergo noticeable repair, and what substitutes for "ozone eaters" have been found. We moved on to the topic of global climate change: I gave some basic background about "the greenhouse effect," carbon dioxide and human influences on it and we'll take up there on Monday!

Monday, March 10 -- Started with folks doing course evaluations. Many of you weren't present, and, since I like to have as large a sample of responses as possible, I'll bring the evaluation "stuff" with me on Wednesday, so if you didn't have a chance to respond today, you can do so before class, or after, bringing the completed responses to class on Friday. Took up where we left off (see Friday, above), and looked at trends in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, at what has happened to concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, and moved on to talk about links between atmospheric CO2 and temperature; recent temperature trends and whether the warming we've been experiencing is natural or unnatural;

Outside activity reports are due no later than class time on Friday the 14th!

Wednesday, March 12 -- NOTE: Numbers on CO2 concentrations, observed temperature and sea level increases, and predictions relative to those are moving targets. I have tried to update these notes to match the IPCC's 2007 report, whose numbers I give in lecture, but I might have missed an item or two here -- learn the information I give in lecture rather than that given here if there are discrepancies. We looked at the role of other trace gases as greenhouse gases, including water vapor, tropospheric ozone, and CFC's, N2O and methane, and then talked about predictions about what is likely for future climate change -- what is likely to happen to emissions of greenhouse gases and their concentrations in the atmosphere, and then what the associated climate changes may be.

Friday, March 14 -- Who can believe it? My last calendar update for the term....Well, we reviewed what is now estimated for future climate change (temperature, in particular) and also what the associated climate changes may be (including rising sea levels). Talked, oh so briefly, about likely consequences of climate changes for nonhuman systems and for human systems, and a little about policy steps that have been taken (or not, depending on where you live in this world). There is more to say about policy, but time ran out! Remember that web notes for this section of the course might not be fully updated, so go with what you heard in lecture if the two disagee. Remember also that my coverage in lecture for this section is concise -- you are responsible only for what I said in lecture! Good luck with final exams and I hope you have fantastic spring breaks!

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