Date

Leaders

Topic

Reading

Notes

4/1

Faculty

Warfare ecology

Machlis & Hanson. 2008. Warfare ecology. BioScience 58:729-736.

4/8

Matt

Urban tree inventories / citizen science / technology

Abd-Elrahman et al. 2010. A community-based urban forest inventory using online mapping services and consumer-grade digital images. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 12:249-260.

[Background: Pickett et al. 2011. Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress. Journal of Environmental Management 92:331-362.]

4/15

Jake

Environmental justice

Heynen. 2003. The scalar production of injustice within the urban forest. Antipode 35:980-998.

-How does reforestation and/or restoration factor into Heynen's analogy of human metabolization of the environment?

-What are the institutions and/or agencies that impact urban reforestation at various scalar levels?

-Which scale is more important?

-What is more important; social justice or ecological efficiency?  Do you agree that they are mutually exclusive?

4/22

Dan

Ecosystem services and poverty relief

Turpie et al. 2008. The working for water programme: evolution of a payments for ecosystem services mechanism that addresses both poverty and ecosystem service delivery in South Africa. Ecological Economics 65:788-798.

4/29

Kat

Tropical rainforest preservation

Mendelsohn & Balick. 1995. The value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals in tropical forests. Economic Botany 49:223-228.

[Background: Hartshorn. 1995. Ecological basis for sustainable development in tropical forests. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 26:155-175.]

Questions are here

5/6

No Class

Lab Meetings

5/13

Natalie and Evelyn

Pollinators

Menz et al. 2011. Reconnecting plants and pollinators: challenges in the restoration of pollination mutualisms. Trends in Plant Science 16:4-12.

[Supplemental (warning: 38 MB!): Frankie et al. 2009. Native bees are a rich natural resource in urban California gardens. California Agriculture 63(3):113-120.]

Questions are here

5/20

Matt and Jenny

GMO crops and agriculture

Singh et al. 2006. Composting: a potentially safe process for disposal of genetically modified organisms. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology 26:1-16.

[Background: Snow et al. 2003. A Bt transgene reduces herbivory and enhances fecundity in wild sunflowers. Ecological Applications 13:279-286.]

[Background: Gulden et al. 2005. Quantitation of transgenic plant DNA in leachate water: real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53:5858-5865.]

[Background: Chouinard & Brown. 1997. Going organic: converting Patagonia’s cotton product line. Journal of Industrial Ecology 1:117-129.]

Please read the Singh et al. review of composting as this will be the basis for our discussion.  In addition, we have attached two articles on GM agricultural methods [Snow et al; Gulden et al] that we would like you to read the abstracts for and if you have time skim the rest of the article. Finally, we would like you to read the abstract of the Chouinard and Brown paper.

5/27

Kava

Urban forest sustainability

Clark et al. 1997. A model of urban forest sustainability. Journal of Arboriculture 23:17-30.

Nowak & Walton. 2005. Projected urban growth (2000-2050) and its estimated impact on the US forest resource. Journal of Forestry 103:383-389.

--Can specific criteria (as the ones presented by Clark) be used to accurately measure the sustainability of urban forest and its management?

--Is this approach realistic?

--Does projected urban growth affect this model?

6/3

Heather

TEK / LEK

Charnley et al. 2007. Integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into forest biodiversity conservation in the Pacific Northwest. Forest Ecology and Management 246:14-28.

[Skim: Turner et al. 2000. Traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. Ecological Applications 10:1275-1287.]

1)  There is apparently some debate as to whether the dichotomy between western science and traditional knowledge is real.  Does a dichotomy between western science and traditional ecological knowledge exist?  Why or why not?

2) This article mentions the causal relationship between culturally diverse forest management practices and biodiversity has not been adequately assessed in the Pacific NW.  Why do you think this is the case?  How would you assess such a relationship?  

3)  Is there a program utilizing TEK or LEK that is not influenced by land ownership?  

4) Would TEK or LEK have use in our urban settings?  If so, how might it be utilized? 

5) What ways could we preserve TEK or LEK from becoming a lost or "endangered" tool within the context it is intended?

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2010-11

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2008-09

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Contact: cfr503@uw.edu