Course weblog for BIO 697, a 3-credit graduate level course for the Fall 2004 semester at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Professor: Dr. Jennifer Forman Orth

Friday, October 29, 2004

Reading Assignments for 11/2 - 11/4

Tuesday, Nov. 2 - Negative Impacts: Economic
  • "ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES IN THE UNITED STATES" By David Pimentel, Lori Lach, Rodolfo Zuniga, and Doug Morrison. (1999) Link]
  • Article handed out in class about Economics of Invasions, from the book Invasive Species in a Changing World (extra copies in the Biology Copy Room)

Thursday, Nov. 4 - Negative Impacts: Ecological
  • Impact and Extinction [.pdf on Prometheus]
  • Impact of Trout [.pdf on Prometheus]

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Reading Assignments for 10/26 - 10/28

Tuesday, Oct. 26 - The Future of Invasions
  • "Mail Order, the Internet, and Invasive Aquatic Weeds." By Stratford H. Kay and Steve T. Hoyle. (2001) Journal of Aquatic Plant Management. 39, pp. 88-91. [via Prometheus]
  • "Bt TRANSGENE REDUCES HERBIVORY AND ENHANCES FECUNDITY IN WILD SUNFLOWERS." By A. A. SNOW, D. PILSON, L. H. RIESEBERG, M. J. PAULSEN, N. PLESKAC, M. R. REAGON,
    D. E. WOLF, AND S. M. SELBO. (2003) Ecological Applications. 13(2), pp. 279-286. [via Prometheus]

    And, from back in September:
  • "Hybridization as a stimulus for the evolution of invasiveness in plants?" by Ellstrand and Schierenbeck (2000) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 97(13): 7043-7050 (link)

Thursday, Oct. 28 - Modeling and Predicting Invasions
  • "Can we predict the effects of alien species? A case-history of the invasion of South Africa by Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck)." By George M. Branch and C. Nina Steffani. (2004) Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 300, pp. 189-215. [via Prometheus]
  • Chapter 2 of Biological Invasions: Theory and Practice. By Nanako Shigesada and Kohkichi Kawasaki. (1997) Oxford University Press, New York. [handed out in class]

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Readings for 10/19-10/21

Last week we looked at vectors of non-native species introduction from a historical point of view. This week we take a look at the present, with a focus on the species you chose for your semester projects.

Tues 10/19
  • Each of you has been assigned two readings, based on the type of organism you are studying. That means some of the articles will only be read by one person, others will be read by many. You should be prepared to discuss the key points of your paper, and think about these questions: What are the specific pathways discussed? Are they obvious or obscure? Are they vectors for a few species or many? What are the specific vectors for your study species?
  • At least one of the articles each of you is reading comes from this book:
    Invasive Species - Vectors and Management Strategies, edited by James T. Carlton and Gregory M. Ruiz. Island Press, 2003.
  • Some of you will also be reading part of this paper, which I posted on Prometheus: "Horticulture as a pathway of invasive plant introductions in the United States." (2001) by Reichard, S.E. and P. White. Bioscience 51: pp. 103-113
  • Others will be reading portions of this report: "Pathways and Management of Marine Nonindigenous Species in the Shared Waters of British Columbia and Washington" (1997)

Thurs 10/21
  • Each of you received a copy of the Final Report of the Invasive Species Pathways Team. The ISPT is an offshoot of the national Invasive Species Advisory Council. Anyone can get a copy of the report here, but the margins in this original version make it difficult to print out.
  • Each of you also chose a main pathway to research for this day's class. You will need to choose a specific subpathway to focus on - expect an email from me about it.

    Collect as much information as you can about this subpathway, and we will fill out our risk assessments together in class. Feel free to use web-based resources, but be sure to consider their validity. This will be a graded homework assignment - I will collect your risk assessments and any related sources or source lists at the end of class.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Readings for 10/12-10/14

Vectors of Invasion - The Early Years

All readings are available through Prometheus this week.

10/12 (Tuesday)

  • "The Crown's Relationship with Acclimatization Societies" Chapter 8 in Effective Exclusion?, a report prepared by the Waitangi Tribunal. Read pp. 495-512 (8.1 through 8.3.1) and 529-533 (8.8) (This is a large document, you do not need to print the entire thing)
  • "Weeds" - Chapter 7 in Crosby, A. W. (1986). Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. New York, Cambridge University Press.

10/14 (Thursday)

  • "Changes in the Sea." Chapter 5 in Elton, C. S. (1958). The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. London, Chapman and Hall, Ltd.
  • Fosberg, F. R. (1958). “Man as a dispersal agent.” The Southwestern Naturalist 3: 1-6.