*** CANCELLED as of 2/24/17 *** Overview: Thousands of species of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes have been transported by humans to new locations. Yes, without human assistance, species have always managed to spread, but much less often, much more slowly, and not nearly so far. This geographic rearrangement of the earth’s biota is one of the great global changes now underway. Although many introduced species fail to establish populations or remain restricted to the immediate vicinity of the new sites they land in, other species establish populations and invade new habitats, spreading widely and sometimes well beyond the initial point of introduction.
Many invasions have such idiosyncratic and bizarre effects that they cannot fail to arouse our curiosity simply as fascinating tales of natural history. For example, who would have thought that…

• Introducing kokanee salmon to Flathead Lake, Montana, and many years later, opossum shrimp to three nearby lakes would ultimately have led to population crashes of grizzly bears and bald eagles through a complicated chain reaction?
• Introducing myxoma virus to Great Britain to control introduced rabbit populations would have led to the extinction of the large blue butterfly there?
• Introducing a particular grass species would lead to hybridization with a native congener, subsequent polyploidization, and the origin of a new vigorous invasive species that would change entire intertidal systems?

Teasing apart such intriguing causal chains is a scientific accomplishment of the first order. The variety and idiosyncrasy of effects challenges biologists to produce general laws or rules to be able to explain why some introductions have no major impacts, while others lead to huge invasions. Being able to predict which species will fall in the latter category if introduced, and which in the former, is the elusive holy grail of invasion biology.

Schedule: Class meets daily, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Some Saturday activities may be planned to accommodate fieldwork. Lectures/discussions/debates, laboratory/field work, and individual/group activities will each comprise approximately 1/3 of the course meeting time, with the percentage of lecture decreasing and discussions and practical activities increasing as the course progresses.

Course Description: In this course, students will study the history, biology, and management of biological invasions. The course will begin with background and terminology. Students will then learn about the geography and scale of invasions, ecological effects, impacts to humans, and the evolution of introduced and native species. Differences between “introduced” and “invasive” species will receive particular attention and will inform discussions about prevention, regulation, detection, management, and eradication. Each concept will include comprehensive consideration of a variety of interesting case studies. Students will be challenged to apply this knowledge in a variety of scenarios (e.g., research, management, policy making, regulatory compliance) and fields (i.e., education, conservation, resource management, agriculture, law, real estate development, urban planning). The course will conclude with discussion of controversies surrounding biological invasions and prospects for the future of invasions, considering, e.g., biotic homogenization, animal rights, human activity, climate change, and management with new technologies.

Student Projects: Through observation and experimentation, students will consider how ecological interactions influence the impacts of introduced species. Each student will follow a local invasive species, performing field observations and a literature review to describe its taxonomy, distribution, natural history, interactions, and impacts. Students will develop factsheets that include mini-studies focusing on the interactions and impacts of their species. Students will also address the introduction and trajectory of their species alongside course content, sharing what they learned and serving collectively as information sources for comparative considerations, e.g., of spread and establishment, interactions and impacts, regulatory applications and outcomes, etc.

Learning Goals: (1) understand, with the benefit of hands-on experience, concepts of invasion biology; (2) read, critique, and synthesize literature; (3) use research methods and tools to develop and conduct a research project; (4) organize information in a focused and clearly written factsheet; and (5) think critically about current hypotheses and societal environmental issues related to invasion biology.

Required text:

Invasive Species: What Everyone Needs to Know by Daniel Simberloff. 2013. Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford. 329 pages. ISBN: 978-0-19-99201-7 (hardback) or 978-0-19-99203-1 (paperback)

Suggested Supplemental Text (several copies will be provided for use in class):

Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions, edited by Daniel Simberloff and Marcel Rejmánek, University of California Press, 2011, 765 pages. ISBN: 978-0-520-26421-2

Instructors for this course are:

• Dr. Daniel Simberloff, University of Tennessee: Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
• Dr. Christy Leppanen, University of Tennessee: Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Enrollment limited to 15 students.

Note: Student transcripts from University of Washington will list “FHL 568: Special Topics in Advanced Ecology and Biomechanics”