Dr. Sedonia Sipes
Life Science II Room 473
Office and Lab Phone: 618-453-3213
email: ssipes at plant.siu.edu
COURSE DESRIPTION
435-3 Plant-Insect Interactions. (Same as Zoology 435) Plants and
insects have played major roles influencing each other’s
evolutionary diversification. This course will be evolutionary and
ecological examination of the interactions between plants and insects.
Topics will include herbivory, pollination relationships, antplant
mutualisms, host plant choice, specialization vs. generalized
relationship, seed and fruit dispersal, coevolution/cospeciation, and
chemical, and chemical ecology. Prerequisite: Biology 200a,b or
equivalent, Biology 307 or equivalent.
TEXTBOOK
No required text to purchase. Readings will be assigned from
several books (see attached references); these will be on reserve in
library, and available for copying outside my lab also.
Friday
discussions will involve reading assignments of classic and current
literature – expect to read a book chapter plus 1-2 papers
from
the literature each week.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
To gain an appreciation for the biodiversity of plants and
herbivorous insects.
To learn about the various kinds of relationships between
plants and insects.
To examine the concepts of ecological specialization and
generalization as they relate to these interactions.
To understand how plants and insects have directly and
indirectly affected each others’ evolution.
To examine some of the morphological, behavioral, and
physiological adaptations exhibited by plants and insects that have
evolved as a result of these interactions.
GRADING
Midterm 25%
Final 25%
Term paper 25%
Participation in discussions 10%
Homework 15%
A= 90% or above B =
80-89% C =
70-79% D =
60-69% F = below 60%
COURSE POLICIES
Discussions:
The paper
for the week will be made available outside my lab for copying, at
least by the preceding Monday. Part of your grade will be
participation in the discussions. I suggest you read the
paper
carefully and prepare notes ahead of time, including:
1. summary of the objectives, experimental design (if
applicable), results, and major conclusions (hard copy to turn in each
week as homework, 1 page typed or less)
2. any questions you had after reading the paper
3. your own comments and/or critique. Why is this work
important? Were the authors justified in their
conclusions?
How does it tie in with your research, or other topics we have covered?.
Term Paper:
The term
paper is meant to be a thoughtful exploration of an exciting and/or
controversial subject relating to plant-insect interactions.
I
will be happy to “pre-approve” your topic, help you
focus
or narrow it if necessary, and provide some assistance in finding
references. Your paper should contain a large component of
your
own thought and synthesis; I am not interested in how well you can
paraphrase existing review papers.
The exact number of pages or references
is
unimportant – content is. References should include
primary
literature (research papers, not just review articles or textbook
chapters). Read enough papers, and write enough pages, to
produce
a well-reasoned synthesis and argument that is based on the most
relevant, up-to-date sources. Typically, this requires around
10
double-spaced pages.
The term paper should be logically
organized and
well-written, with proper grammar and spelling. I do not care
in
what style you cite your reference, but the format should be
consistent. If you care to give me a draft before Nov. 14, I
will
be glad to look it over and provide you with comments for improvement.
Exams:
Will be in short
answer and essay format. Any material covered in readings
(including discussion papers) or lecture may show up in exams.
SYLLABUS
For MSWord copy of a previous syllabus, click HERE.
SIUC / College of Science / Plant-Insect Interactions
URL: http://www.science.siu.edu/PLB435/index.html
Last updated: 30-Aug-07 / dln
