Syllabus

Teaching Assistant: Erin Donley
Email: edonley@u.washington.edu

Office: FSH 238C
Office Hours: By appointment
Telephone: 206-221-5406

Fishery Science Building (Room FSH 102)

Thursday 9:30 - 11:20

In the current debate over the scope of watershed and ecosystem management, it is widely recognized that there are significant technical and cultural constraints to effective implementation. These constraints relate to such important issues as identifying appropriate spatial and temporal scales, monitoring and assessment, developing an adaptive management process, and using cultural values and philosophies that allow watershed management to be successful. Nonetheless, the ability of a rapidly increasing human population to alter watershed characteristics makes it essential to incorporate an ecological perspective into management if there is to be a healthy resource base for future generations.

This course explores fundamental ecological processes at the watershed scale (focusing on aquatic systems), identifies human-induced changes to ecological systems at local to global scales, and discusses approaches to improve watershed management. Specific topics include linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, pervasive human alterations and their consequences, designing monitoring and assessment protocols, role of social organizations and institutions, legal and economic perspectives, and emerging approaches to effective management.

The course format consists of lectures by the instructor and invited speakers, readings from River Ecology and Management (Naiman and Bilby 1998), BioScience and other sources, class discussion, two field trips, and a skills workshop. The course is designed to give students a broad overview of both the ecology and management of watersheds at local to global scales.

SUGGESTED TEXTBOOKS & REFERENCES (not required)
Naiman, R.J. and R.E. Bilby (eds.). 1998. River Ecology and Management. Springer-Verlag, New York. (On reserve in the Fisheries-Oceanography Library)

Brooks, K.N., P.F. Folliott, H.M. Gregersen, and L.F. DeBano. 2003. Hydrology and the Management of Watersheds. Iowa University Press, 3rd Edition. (On reserve in the Fisheries-Oceanography Library)


Others
Postel, S. and B. Richter. 2003. Rivers for Life. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
Cech, T.V. 2003. Principles of Water Resources. J. Wiley & Sons, New York.
Naiman, R.J., H. Decamps, & M.E. McClain. 2005. Riparia: Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Streamside Communities, Elsevier/Academic, San Diego.
Heathcote, I.W. 1998. Integrated Watershed Management. J. Wiley & Sons, New York.

20%     Contributions to class discussions
You are expected to play an active role in class discussions. Be prepared for each lecture. Think critically and educate your classmates with personal insight, knowledge, and experience whenever possible. Demonstrate academic integrity at the highest level. Also, you are expected to read assignments before lecture, work to integrate new concepts and terminology as the lectures progress, discuss concepts and questions inside and outside class, and keep the big picture in mind, but be familiar with the details.

20%     Field trips
Attendance is mandatory, since these trips are designed to compliment the classroom lectures and are an integral part of the learning experience in this class. Please note - Failure to attend any of the field trips will result in a proportional reduction of your grade. There are no 'make-ups'. If you have extenuating circumstances that prevent your attendance, you must contact Bob & Erin at least 24 hours prior to the trip. Field trip insurance is recommended for all students registered in any SAFS course which includes field trips (See website for details).

30%    Final exam
Take home exam due at the end of the assigned final exam period.

30%    Written Assignments
You will be expected to write two 3-4-page reports on an assigned topic. Topics will usually pertain to the past and/or upcoming lectures. For each report there will be 2-3 topics to choose from.  A DRAFT of the first report is due on 29 January and the final version on 12 February. The final version of the second report is due on 5 March (a DRAFT is not required). All assignments are due at the beginning of class.