Syllabus (ZOOLOGY)

Course Type: MAJ-3

Semester: 3

Course Code: BZOOMAJ03C

Course Title: Ecology and Evolution

(L-P-Tu): 4-2-0

Credit: 6

Practical/Theory: Combined

Course Objective:

Learning Outcome: • Become familiar with the variety of ways that organisms interact with both the physical and the biological environment. • Develop an understanding of the differences in the structure and function of different types of ecosystems. • Learn techniqu

Ecology and Evolution

Theory - 4 credits

Objectives:

Ecology deals with concept of ecosystem. The goal of this course to understand the basics of ecology. It includes population growth models, population genetics, community characteristics ecological succession etc. These disciplines of ecology help to develop an appreciation of the modern scope of scientific inquiry in the field of ecology and develop an understanding of the differences in the structure and function of different types of ecosystems.

In evolutionary study it aims to acquire knowledge about the evolutionary history of earth - living and non-living, to acquire basic understanding about evolutionary concepts and theories. It also includes the distribution of animals on earth, its pattern, evolution and causative factors which impart basic knowledge on animal behavioural patterns and their role.

. Group A:

Ecology

Theory

• Concept of ecosystem – Structure and function.

Autecology and synecology, levels of organization, laws of limiting factors.

Linear and Y-shaped food chains, food web, energy flow, ecological pyramids and ecological efficiencies.

• Population attributes – Demographic factors.

Life tables, fecundity tables.

Survivorship curves.

Dispersal and dispersion.

Age distribution.

• Population growth models – Natality and mortality.

Geometric, exponential and logistic growth, equation, deduction and patterns.

r and K strategies.

Density dependent and independent factors.

• Population interactions – Emergence of competition by Tansley, Gause and Park.

Competition exclusion principle.

Intraspecific and interspecific competition.

Lotka-Volterra model.

• Community characteristics and resource partitioning.

Species diversity, abundance, dominance, richness, ecotone and edge effect.

• Ecological succession – Types of ecological succession with examples.

Concept of climax.

Connell and Slatyer model of succession.

Tilman’s resource ratio hypothesis.

• Types of ecosystem with an example (in detail) – Freshwater and tropical rainforest.

• Resource utilization – Coupled oscillation of predator and prey population modeling.

Group B:

Evolution

Theory

• Life’s beginnings – RNA world hypothesis.

Origin of life (Chemical origin only).

• Historical review of Evolutionary concepts – Lamarkism, Darwinism and Neo Darwinism, Neutral theory of molecular evolution, punctuated equilibrium.

• Natural selection – concept of fitness, types of selection, selection coefficient, mode of selection heterozygous superiority.

Synthetic theory.

Concept of selection: stabilizing, directional and disruptive with example.

• Population genetics – Hardy-Weinberg law, statement and derivation of equation, application of law to biallelic population.

Calculating allele and genotype frequency.

Evolutionary forces upsetting H-W equilibrium.

Mathematical calculation of frequency changes in mutation, and migration.

LOD score

• Genetic drift mechanism – founder’s effect and population bottleneck phenomenon.

• Species concept – Isolating mechanisms, modes of speciation.

• Zoogeographical realms – names and animal distribution according to Wallace scheme, Avian and Mammalian faunal distribution in different realms.

• Colouration and mimicry (Batesian and Müllerian mimicry).

• Adaptation – Fossorial, cursorial, scansorial and arboreal.

• Adaptive radiation/macroevolution of beak of Galapagos finches.

• Geological time scale and Zoogeographical realms.

Molecular clock.

Fossil records of hominids (from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens), molecular analysis of human origin.

• Phylogenetic trees – Construction and interpretation of phylogenetic tree using parsimony.

Convergent and divergent evolution.

Practical - 2 credits

Ecology and Evolution

• Study of life tables and plotting of survivorship curves of different types from the hypothetical / real data provided.

• Determination of population density in a natural / hypothetical community by quadrat method and calculation of Shannon-Wiener diversity index for the same community.

• Study of an aquatic ecosystem - Quantitative and qualitative estimation of freshwater zooplankton, Measurement of Temperature, Transparency of light by Secchi disc, Determination of pH, and Dissolved O₂ content (Winkler’s method), Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and free CO₂.

• Report on a visit to National Park / Biodiversity Park / Wild life sanctuary / Sea coast.

• Study of fossils from models / pictures.

• Study of homology and analogy from suitable specimens.

• Study and verification of Hardy-Weinberg Law by chi square analysis.

• Graphical representation and interpretation of data of height / weight of a sample of minimum 100 humans in relation to their age and sex.

References

Group A: Ecology

Krebs, C.J. (2014). Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance, 6^th Edition.

Odum, E.P. (2008). Fundamentals of Ecology, 2^nd Edition.

Smith, R.L. (1998). Ecology and Field Biology.

Stilling, P. (2012). Ecology: Global Insights and Investigations.

Bowman, W.D., Hacker, S.D. and Cain, M.L. (2017). Ecology, 4^th Edition.

Ricklefs, R.E. and Miller, G.L. (2001). Ecology, 4^th Edition.

Smith, T.M. and Smith, R.L. (2012). Elements of Ecology, 8^th Edition.

Group B: Evolution

Campbell, N.A. and Reece, J.B. (2011). Biology, 9^th Edition.

Futuyma, D.J. (2005). Evolution.

Moody, P.A. (1962). Introduction to Evolution, 3^rd Edition.

Rastogi, V.B. (2012). Organic Evolution, 13^th Edition.

Ridley, M. (2004). Evolution, 3^rd Edition.

Russell, P.J. (2016) iGenetics: A Molecular Approach, 3^rd Edition.