(Note: Slides from lectures for individual sections of the course are posted after they are presented in class. All slides from lectures except guest lectures are © Copyright by Robert S. Nowak, 2005 and Kimberly G. Allcock, 2007)
Jan. 22 Introduction and definitions
Jan 24 State and federal laws
Jan 26 Ecological definitions and characteristics
Jan 29 Locating and tracking invasive species
Jan 31 Hypotheses of invasion: species characteristics, 'vacant niche', allelopathy
Feb 2 Hypotheses of invasion: global change
Feb 7 Hypotheses of invasion: resource variability and competition
Feb 9 Hypotheses of invasion: genetic change and enemy release
Feb 12 Hypotheses of invasion: enemy release and biodiversity
Feb 14-16 Hypotheses of invasion: disturbance and human activity
Feb 19 President's day - no class
Feb 21 Mid-term #1 (link to answer key)
Feb 23 Impacts of invasive species: introduction
Feb 26 Ecological impacts of invasive species: community and ecosystem effects
Feb 28 Guest lecture: invasive plants and fire in the great Basin (Lisa Ellsworth)
March 2 Ecological impacts of invasive species: ecosystem effects cont'd; endangered species
March 5 Guest Lecture: Dawn Rafferty, state noxious weeds program coordinator
March 7 Environmental impacts of invasive species: cost assessment and case study
March 9 Environmental impacts of invasive species: case studies cont'd; social impacts
March 12-14 Scope of problem, regulating entry
March 16 Decision-making, prioritizing control
March 19-23 Spring Break - no class
March 26
Controlling invasive species: herbicide
March 28
Controlling
invasive species: mechanical means
March 30 Biological control
April 2 Biological control cont'd
April 4 Eradication VS maintenance management
April 6 Integrating weed management and restoration on Great Basin Rangelands
April 9 Mid-term #2 (link to answer key)
April 11 guest lecture: using remote sensing to map extent of annual grass invasion (Eric Peterson, NNHP)
April 13 Guest Lecture: Invasive tree pathogens: chestnut blight and sudden oak death (David Appel, Texas A&M)
April 16 Lab: collecting and preparing plant specimens for ID
April 18 Lab: identifying plant material using dichotomous keys (Christy Malone, UNR herbarium)
April 20 cheatgrass case study
April 23-May 7 student presentations
May 7 review
May 14 7:30 AM FINAL EXAM
(Back to Dr. Nowak's courses list)
Reading assignments:
You are responsible to know the material in these references for your exams.
1. Richardson et al. 2000. Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity and Distributions 6:93-107.
2. Strauss, S., C. Webb, and N. Salamin. 2006. Exotic taxa less related to native species are more invasive. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 103:5841-5845.
6. Melbourne et al 2007. Invasion in a heterogeneous world: resistance,
coexistence or hostile takeover? Ecology Letters 10: 77-94.
8. Keane, R. Crawley, M. 2002. Exotic plant invasions and the enemy release hypothesis. TREE 17:164-170
9. Shea K, Chesson P. 2002. Community ecology theory as a framework for biological invasions. TREE 17:170-176
10. Strayer, D., V. Eviner, J. Jeschke, and M. Pace. 2006. Understanding the long-term effects of species invasions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution (TREE) 21:645-651.
11. D'Antonio and Vitousek. 1992. Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass-fire cycle, and global change. Annual Review of Ecology and Sytematics 23:65-87.
12. Brooks et al. 2004. Effects of invasive alien plants on fire regimes. BioScience 54: 677-688.
13. Crooks 2002. Characterizing ecosystem-level consequences of biological invasions: the role of ecosystem engineers. Oikos 97:153-166.
14. Gurevitch, J., and D. Padilla. 2004. Are invasive species a major cause of extinctions? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:470-474. (handout)
15. McKinney, M., and J. Lockwood. 1999. Biotic homogenization: a few winners replacing many losers in the next mass extinction. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14:450-453. (handout)
16. Pimentel, D., R. Zuniga, and D. Morrison. 2005. Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics 52:273-288. (only plant-related sections are required reading).
17. van Klinken, R. and Raghu, S. 2006. A scientific approach to agent selection. Australian Journal of Entomology 45: 253-258.
18. Denslow, J., and D’Antonio, C. 2005. After bio-control: assessing indirect effects of insect releases. Biological Control 35:307-318.
19. Kirby et al. 2000. Biological control of leafy spurge with introduced flea
beetles (Apthona spp.). Journal of Range Management 53(3): 305-308.
21. Simberloff, D. 2003. Eradication – preventing invasions at the outset. Weed Science 51:247-253
22. Panetta, F. D. 2007. Evaluation of weed eradication programs: containment and extirpation. Diversity and Distributions 13:33-41