This upper level undergraduate/graduate course will provide up-to-date and comprehensive syntheses of recent advances in our understanding of the roles that interactions between aboveground and belowground communities play in regulating the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems, and their responses to global change. The course will chart the historical development of this field of ecology and evaluate what can be learned from the recent proliferation of studies on the ecological and biogeochemical significance of aboveground-belowground linkages. Key synthesis lectures will be given in the main topic areas, discussion and demonstration of molecular tools and stable isotope methods to identify and study the linkages between above and below-ground organisms will also be conducted in the laboratory, but there will be an emphasis on reading, criticism, and discussion of recent journal articles from the primary literature in this field.
The course will be structured around three key topics:
- Biotic interactions in the soil.
- Plant community effects.
- The role of aboveground consumers.
Lectures
Tuesday’s & Thursday’s 4.00pm – 5.30pm. FSC 1003.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will examine, discuss and appraise the current scientific understanding of the role of aboveground and belowground linkages as terrestrial ecosystem drivers.
- Students will evaluate, summarize and critique published scientific articles.
- Students will assemble, organize and communicate scientific information in a concise, but complete manner typical of presentations at scientific conferences.
- Students will formulate and lead a discussion on a particular topic.
- Students will synthesize current scientific literature in one aspect of belowground ecology and compose a concise, critical review of the topic.
Course Structure
The course will consist of three modules. In the first module, the students will be provided with 2 review papers and relevant additional reading and a lecture by each professor or given lecturer in their particular area of expertise. Applications of state-of-the-art methodology (stable isotopes (natural abundance, labeling and probing; phylogenetic and functional gene analysis) to unravel the complexity of belowground forest ecosystems and their functioning will be discussed. Students will visit the Belowground Ecosystem Group (BEG) laboratories in the Forest Sciences Centre (FSC) and the Faculty of Forestry Stable Isotope Facility (SIF), where demonstrations of these novel methodologies will be given.
In Module 2, both undergraduate and graduate students will each present a summary and lead a discussion on a recently published article that they consider to be of particular interest or importance to the field. Students will provide the class with the title, author and journal information for the paper one week prior to its discussion.
The student will lead a question and discussion session, which will include a critique of the published study. Students will be provided feedback from the instructors regarding the positive and negative aspects of their presentation/discussion, which the graduate students in the course can use to improve their second and final presentation/discussion.
In Module 3, each graduate student in the course will present a 30 minute lecture in which they summarize the current scientific understanding of one aspect of belowground ecology or research question that is of particular importance or interest, followed by a question-answer discussion period that they will lead. All students in the course will also write a short review paper (10 pages double-spaced) on a current topic in this area, which they will submit at the end of the term.
Course Context and Prerequisites
This course is an option for any students wishing to improve their understanding of aboveground-belowground interactions at the B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. levels. It is strongly recommended for students in the Interfaculty Soil Science program. The course will also be of interest to Biology students' in particular to students in Honours Plant Biology, Ecology, and Conservation. Permission is required for registration and this will be at the instructors’ discretion, based on assessment of the student’s knowledge base. Undergraduate courses in Soil Biology (FRST 342) or Soil Processes (AGRO 401) may be recommended for students to take prior to this course, if they are lacking sufficient background in these areas.
Assessment, Grading, Evaluation
There will be no formal examinations. Students will be awarded a grade based on their presentation(s), their review paper, and their participation during discussion sessions.
Learning objective 1 will be met through the instructor’s presentations on advanced topics in aboveground-belowground interactions as well the research required by students to prepare their presentation and paper.
Learning objective 2 will be met through assigned readings and discussion of the strong and weak points of each paper.
Learning objective 3 will be met through student and instructor feedback after each student presentation.
Learning objective 4 will be met through instructor feedback after each student presentation.
To meet learning objective 5, students will be given opportunity to revise their papers after receiving feedback from an instructor, and thus will receive instruction to improve their written communication skills.
Grading
Undergraduate students Graduate students
Presentation 30 First presentation 15
Second presentation 25
Participation* 30 Participation* 20
Review paper 40 Review paper 40
Total 100
* Participation includes attendance of, and showing focused attention in, all classes and active participation in discussions. Students will be expected to ask relevant questions of each of the other students in the class during their paper and review presentation. Each week there are at least two recommended recent review articles (in the area covered in the lecture) for the students to read and comment on the following week (students will be expected to come up with a key fact they learned from each review article at the beginning of the following week). The class size is expected to be small enough that the instructor can accurately assess the participation of each student.
Schedule
Week Date Topic
1 Jan 11 Introduction to course, organization of course.
1 Jan 13 Topic 1. Biotic interactions in soil.
Lecture: Sue Grayston: Introduction to soil microbial and faunal diversity
2 Jan 18 Biochemical and molecular techniques of analysis.
2 Jan 20 Guest Lecture: David Levy-Booth: Microbial nitrogen
cycling in terrestrial ecosystems
3 Jan 25 Topic 2. Plant community effects.
Lecture: Sue Grayston: Plant species influences on soil microorganisms.
3 Jan 27 Lecture: Sue Grayston: Plant species influences on soil
microorganisms – importance of rhizosphere C flow
4 Feb 1 Guest Lecture: Cindy Prescott: Carbon cycling and decomposition
processes.
4 Feb 3 Guest Lecture: Suzanne Simard: Mycorrhizal networks.
5 Feb 8 Guest Lecture: Jennifer Grenz: Indigenous perspectives on
aboveground-belowground connections
5 Feb 10 Topic 3. The role of aboveground consumers.
Lecture: Sue Grayston: Herbivore–mediated effects on plant-soil feedbacks
6 Feb 15 Herbivore–mediated effects on plant-soil feedbacks Part II.
6 Feb 17 Guest Lecture: Tara Martin: Deer density and plant palatability predict shrub cover, richness, diversity and aboriginal food value in a North American archipelago
7 Feb 22 Reading Break
7 Feb 24 Reading Break
8 March 1 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
8 March 3 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
9 March 8 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
9 March 10 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
10 March 15 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
10 March 17 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
11 March 22 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
11 March 24 Student presentation and discussion of current papers
12 March 29 Graduate Student presentation of literature review
12 March 31 Graduate Student presentation of literature review
13 April 5 Graduate Student presentation of literature review
13 April 7 Graduate Student presentation of literature review; course wrap-up