Instructor:                              Dr. Matthew J. Gray (mattjgray@utk.edu)

Phone:                                     974-2740 (office)

Office:                                     247 Ellington Plant Sciences Building

Meeting Time and Place:       8:30–12:00 and 1:30–5:00        M,Tu,W,Th,F   156/157 PBB

 

Course Goal:                          To expose students to the basic principles of wetland ecology and management via class lectures and field experiences.

 

Required Text:                       Wetlands, 2000, 3rd edition (ISBN 047129232X)

Authors:                                  William J. Mitsch and James C. Gosselink

 

Course Credits:                      2 credits

Course Duration:                   2–23 March 2007

 

Tentative Schedule:

 

26 February–2 March:

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wed

Thursday

Friday

Morning

 

 

 

 

Wetland Definition, Wetland Regulations

Waterbird, Amphibian, and Wetland

Plant ID

Afternoon

 

 

Wetland Classification via Cowardin et al. (1979)

Human Impacts

 and Wetland Values

 

5–9 March:

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wed

Thursday

Friday

Morning

Wetland Management (agriculture & moist-soil management)

 

Carrying Capacity Estimation

PRACTICUM

(Classification & Waterbird, Amphibian, and Plant ID)

 

Annual Meeting of the TN Chapter of The Wildlife Society

 

Townsend, TN

 

 

Spring Break Begins for Spring Camp

Afternoon

Wetland Management

(green-tree reservoir management)

(Finish up if necessary)

 

OPEN

(Study)

TN TWS Meeting

 

(leave at:

11:00 am)

 

19–23 March:

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wed

Thursday

Friday

Morning

 

Wetland Impoundment Construction

EXAM (7:30−9:30)

 

Leave for Noxubee (10:00 am)

Noxubee NWR

(moist-soil units, GTRs, aquatic plant management)

Meet Dr. Rick Kaminski,

MSU Waterfowl

Presentations

 

 

Drive back to Knoxville

(7−8 hours)

Afternoon

Answer DUD Questions, Final Exam Review

 

Visit Briefly with Refuge Staff, Watch Video

Noxubee NWR

(wood duck and RCW management, bat research)

Meet Dr. Steve Demarais,

MSU Captive Wildlife Facility

1NOTE:           Lab practicum will be in Hollingsworth Auditorium.

 

2NOTE:           Lecture exam starts at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, 20 March, in 156/157 PBB. 

                                               

Academic Assessment:

 

Weights of Academic Assessments and Grading Scale:

 

The exam, lab practicum, homework assignment, and participation (field trip attendance) will be weighted as follows:

 

            ● Exam:                                                50%     (Tuesday, 20 March 2007 at 7:30 am in 156/157 PBB)        

            ● Lab Practicum:                                  30%     (Wednesday, 7 March 2007 at 8:30 am in Hollingsworth Auditorium)

            ● DUD Assignment:                              10%     (due Friday, 23 March 2007 before 5:00 pm)

            ● Participation:                                     10%

 

Your course grade will be determined using the following scale:

 

Grade

Final Weighted Percent

 

Grade

Final Weighted Percent

A

90–100%

 

C

70–76%

B+

87–89%

 

D

60–69%

B

80–86%

 

F

<60%

C+

77–79%

 

 

 

 

Extra Credit: 

You can positively influence your grade as much as 4.5% by volunteering for extra credit.  Your volunteer work however must be related to wetlands or wetland fauna (e.g., amphibians, waterbirds).  For every 8 hours of volunteer work, your final grade will be increased by 1.5% up to 4.5% (24 hours total).  All volunteering must be completed by 27 April 2007.  A volunteer form (see below) must be filled out by the supervising individual.

 

            VOLUNTEER FORM

 

Attendance:   

Attendance on the field trip to Mississippi will count for 10% of your final grade.  You must participate in all field trip activities to receive 10% (2% deduction for each missed activity). Attendance at lectures is not mandatory.

 

Full Syllabus

 

Teaching Resources:

Homework Assignment

          DUD Calculations          (Due: Friday, 23 March 2007)

Handouts

          Required Wetland Plants

          Required TN Anurans

          Required Waterfowl

            Required Shorebirds

 

Required Readings

          •What are Wetlands?               Chap 2, Chap 6 (155–164, Hydric Soils), Chap 21 (754–758)

          •Wetland Regs & Programs     Chap 18, Chap 19 (653–668)

          •Wetland Classification            Chap 21 (737–744)

USFWS (Cowardin) Classification System (pages 9-44 if questions after lecture)

          •Wetland Losses & Impacts     Chap 4 (71–89), Chap 17 (611–625)

•Bottomland Sedimentation     Hatchie River Shoals and Valley Plugs (Diehl 2000)      

          •Wetland Values                      Chap 16 (571–591)

•Wetland Construction            Chap 19 (668–680)

NWRC Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook 13.4.8

Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook for LMRV

          •Wetland Management            Chap 17 (625–638)

NWRC Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook 13.4.6

NWRC Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook 13.2.1

Greentree Reservoir Handbook (Fredrickson and Batema 1992; Chaps 1, 2, 5, 6, & 8)

 

•Duck-use Days                        TME for Acorns & Other Foods (Kaminski et al. 2003)

(need for assignment)                 Predicting Seed Yield (Laubhan 1992)

Predicting Seed Yield (Gray et al. 1999a)

                                                New Method to Predict Seed Yield (Gray et al. 1999b)

                                                Current DUDs for LMAV (Reinecke and Kaminski 2005)          

 

•Wood duck Biology                Population Status (Davis 2005)

                                                Wood Duck Brood Ecology (Davis et al. 2002)

 

Supplemental Resources

          USACE Wetland Delineation Manual (1987)

          USACE Wetland Delineation Form

          TN Hydric Soils List

          NRCS Keys to Soil Taxonomy

          NRCS Field Indicators of Hydric Soils

          USFWS National Hydrophyte List (1996)

          USFWS Wetland Status and Trends (2000)

          Bottomland Hardwood Guidebook: GTRs (King and Fredrickson 1998)

          Shorebird Management Handbook (Helmers 1992)

          North American Waterfowl Management Plan (2004)

          USFWS Moist-soil Management Guidelines (Strader and Stinson 2005)—New Publication**

          PARC Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles—New Publication**

Testing Preparation

          Lab Practicum Requirements  

Exam Review

 

 

Internet Resources:

Lectures: 

          “What is a Jurisdictional Wetland?”           “What is a Jurisdictional Wetland?” (PDF)

                   Podcast1: “Jurisdictional criteria for determination of a wetland”

                   Podcast2:  Finish up: Wetland Regulations

          “USFWS Wetland Classification”                “USFWS Wetland Classification” (PDF)

                   Podcast: “Wetland Classification as per Cowardin et al. (1979)”

          “Wetland Losses & Human Impacts”          “Wetland Losses & Human Impacts” (PDF)

                   Podcast: “Impacts of humans on wetlands”

          “Wetland Values”                                       “Wetlands Values” (PDF)

                   Podcast1: “Biological, environmental and social values of wetlands”

                   Podcast2: “Biological, environmental and social values of wetlands”

          “Moist-soil Management”                           “Moist-soil Management” (PDF)      

                   Podcast1: “Managing wetlands as a complex: integrating moist-soil and agriculture management”

                   Podcast2: “Managing wetlands as a complex: integrating moist-soil and agriculture management”

          “Green-tree Reservoir Management”          “Green-tree Reservoir Management” (PDF)

                   Podcast1: “Greentree reservoir management: managing hardwood bottomlands for waterfowl in winter”

                   Podcast2: “Greentree reservoir management: managing hardwood bottomlands for waterfowl in winter”

          “Wetland Carrying Capacity”                     “Wetland Carrying Capacity”  (PDF)

                   Podcast1: “Techniques used to calculate duck-use days”

                   Podcast2: “Techniques used to calculate duck-use days”

          “Wetland Impoundment Construction”      (slides, handouts, video)

                   Podcast: “Moist-soil impoundment construction: lessons learned from Puerto Rico”

MSU Guest Lectures: 

          “Aerial surveys to estimate abundance of wintering waterfowl in Mississippi”

                   Podcast: By Dr. Aaron Pearse, Mississippi State University

          “Duck Food For Thought in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley”

                   Podcast: By Dr. Rick Kaminski, Mississippi State University

 

Websites (Class)

          USFWS Hydrophyte List

          USGS Wetland Hydrology Site

          USGS Wetland Loss Site

          Louisiana Coastal Wetland Loss

          RAMSAR Wetland Values

          NWRC Waterfowl Management Site

Websites (Wetland Conservation Programs)

          Wetland Reserve Program       WRP Brochure      Tennessee WRP Website 

          Tennessee Partners Program    TPP Brochure

Conservation Reserve Program (Forested Riparian Buffer Practice)  Iowa Brochure

Websites (Wetland Conservation & Professionals)

            Society of Wetland Scientists           

RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands

            Ducks Unlimited

Lab Resources:

Lectures:

 

          “Tennessee Anuran Identification”              “Tennessee Anuran Identification” (PDF)

                   Podcast: “Identification of common Tennessee anurans: 15 of 21 Species”

          “Shorebird Identification”                           “Shorebird Identification” (PDF)

                   Podcast: “Identification of 15 common shorebird species that migrate through Tennessee” by John Laux

          “Waterfowl Identification”                          “Waterfowl Identification” (PDF)

                   Podcast1: “Identification of 23 common waterfowl species migrating through or breeding in TN”

                   Podcast2:  Finish up: Waterfowl ID

Websites

          Vascular Plant Identification and Taxonomy:      http://tenn.bio.utk.edu/vascular/vascular.html

 

Tennessee Amphibian Identification:                  http://www.leaps.ms/ and http://www.state.tn.us/twra/frogs.html

 

Waterfowl Identification:           http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/duckdist/duckdist.htm and http://www.ducks.org/waterfowling/gallery/                  

 

Shorebird Identification:            http://samigbird.fws.gov/shorid.htm (click on ‘Learn to identify Shorebirds’)

 

 

 

Wetlands Class Photos

Spring Camp 2007

 

 

 

Lab and Lecture Exam

 

Mississippi Trip