Plant Ecology in a Changing World
  • Topics
    • Topic Overview
    • Biomes and Climates in a Changing World >
      • Adaptation, biodiversity, and environment
      • Climate constrains plant distributions
      • Biome and climate relationships
      • Deserts
      • Grassland, savanna, and shrub biomes
      • Forest biomes
      • Alpine and tundra biomes
    • Plant adaptation >
      • Plant microclimate 1
      • Plant microclimate 2
      • Leaf energy budgets
      • Water movement through the soil-plant continuum
      • Principles of photosynthesis
      • Photosynthesis responses to light and temperature
      • Environmental stresses limit resource capture and use
      • Nutrients in the environment
      • Adaptation to environmental stress
    • Resource Allocation Changes with Environment >
      • Architecture and canopy processes
      • Plant phenology and resource allocation enhance performance
      • Leaf economic spectrum
      • Life history and reproduction
      • Defense against herbivory
      • Plant competition
    • Plant Responses to a Changing World >
      • Global changes occurring today
      • Invasive species
      • Atmospheric CO2 impacts plant
      • C3/C4 photosynthesis and climate
      • Climate change and the global carbon cycle
      • Climate warming and its impacts
    • Engineering Plant Communities >
      • Remember Utah's past and envision our future
      • Restoration ecology
      • Managed ecosystems
      • Utah urban ecology
      • Urban ecological futures
  • Assignments
    • Assignment Overview
    • Discussion
    • Problem sets
    • Ecology & Global Changes
    • Plant ecology policy
    • Defense of policy
    • Exam #1
    • Exam #2
  • Campus
    • Campus Overview
    • Grasses
    • Green infrastructure >
      • GI Overview
      • Stormwater >
        • GI 1
        • GI 2
        • GI 3
        • GI 4
        • GI 10
      • Green roof
      • Pollinator >
        • Pollinator species
    • Trees of the Wasatch
    • Shrubs of the Wasatch
    • Invasives
  • Biomes
    • Biome Overview
    • Climate diagrams
    • Vegetation sight-seeing trip
    • Biome images
  • Models
  • Lab

Ecology and Global Changes â€‹Paper

The Coleogyne ramosissima and Quercus harvardii desert shrublands south of Hanksville, Utah; Ephedra and both C3/C4 grasses are interspersed between these two dominant C3 shrub species

In this project, between 3-5 students (a self-selected group) will collaborate as a team to research a topic, select and develop figures/tables, and to identify the 15 literature citations. Each group of students will submit a single paper (and receive the same score).

The objective of this assignment is to produce an interesting and informative synthesis on aspects of natural vegetation or of a specific species found on campus or nearby in the Wasatch Mountains. Once a topic is selected, then the objective is to relate aspects of that species (or its biome) to either the ecology of the biome or to global changes currently underway. This provides a fair amount of latitude for groups to develop their synthesis paper. As you may know, the University serves as the State Arboretum and there are more than 13,000 trees on campus. The University's Grounds staff work hard to achieve a broad diversity of plants for us to enjoy, with hundreds of shrub and grass species. Within this assignment, you are to inform and educate your reader about your selected topic. Creativity, clear and organized writing, synthesis, informative figures, and the use of appropriate scientific literature citations are essential elements of this assignment. The walking tours during the first five weeks will introduce you to broad categories of plants on campus.

Think broadly about topics and link them to vegetation on campus. For instance, you may be very interested in avalanche ecology. As your entry point, consider that both willows and aspens are often found in avalanche chutes and these trees are also found on campus; that is one possible way to eatablish a link. 

Click here to see the document preparation guidelines and the grading instructions for this assignment.

References in your papers must follow the Ecology style format.
  • Click here to get full details on the Ecology style format.
  • Click here for examples using the Ecology style format
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Your graded paper will include detailed feedback documenting your score and listing the ways in which the paper could be improved. If your score is less than 90, then you can revise and resubmit the paper within one week after receiving the graded paper, addressing the constructive comments for an improved score. 
Jim Ehleringer, University of Utah