מאקרואקולוגיה (0431.4616) Macroecology

What are the distribution patterns of animals on the planet? Where can we find different taxa and how do we study geographic distribution? Which environmental conditions affect the distribution and traits of species and assemblages? What are the interrelationships between form, function and distribution? We will see how such questions are posed in contemporary ecology, and point out possible avenues for answering them. Focusing mainly on terrestrial vertebrates we will try to discuss examples from contemporary scientific research papers on the type of emergent phenomena studied in Macroecology, and try to understand the philosophical underpinnings of the science, as well as some of the statistical methods used to study ecological and evolutionary phenomena with strong spatial and phylogenetic underpinnings Students will select a topic for a short macroecological research question whereby they will select data relevant to a contemporary hypothesis, analyse them, write the project up in publication format and present it in class The class will run for 28 hours during one week (in January 2016). The grade will comprise of the work and its presentation (40%), active participation in class discussions (10%) and a home exam (50%). probable lecture titles will include 1. what Macroecology is? 2. Patterns in species richness: latitudes and beyond 3. Mapping biodiversity – from point localities to species richness surfaces 4. A biogeographic-statistical interlude: spatial autocorrelation, non-stationarity 5. Geographic ranges and range sizes 6. Body size: distributions and allometry 7. A statistical-evolutionary interlude: phylogenetic comparative methods 8. Biogeography of size: Bergmann’s Rule 9. Biogeography of size and life history: island rules and syndromes Preliminary requirements: Ecology, evolution, introduction to animal life and biostatistics

דרישות קדם: Ecology, evolution, introduction to animal life and biostatistics

נוכחות חובה

הרכב ציון: The grade will comprise of the work and its presentation (40%), active participation in class discussions (10%) and a home exam (50%).

ספרות: Brown, J. H. 1995. Macroecology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Gaston, K. J. and Blackburn, T. M. 2000. Pattern and process in macroecology. Blackwell Science, Oxford. Lomolino, M. V., Riddle, B. R., Whittaker, R. J. and Brown, J. H. 2010. Biogeography. 4th edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA.