BISC 326
Biology of Non-Vascular Plants
03-1
Professor:
James E. Rahe B-8224, email <rahe@sfu.ca>, phone: 291-4801Teaching Assistants: To be announced
Prerequisites: BISC 101 and 102
Course Description:
BISC 326 is about algae and fungi: their nature and diversity, their classification, current concepts regarding their evolution and ecology. Considerable emphasis will be placed on their importance as primary producers and decomposers, and their significance in human affairs.
The course consists of lecture and lab components, and a weekend field trip to the Bamfield Marine Station. A fee to partially offset the costs of transportation and accommodation that are associated with the field trip was included in the tuition that you paid for this course. No additional charges will be assessed.
Schedule of topics: A schedule of lecture and lab topics is listed on the reverse side of this page.
Textbooks: Two texts are required: 'Algae' by Linda Graham and Lee Wilcox, and 'The Fifth Kingdom' by Bryce Kendrick. Many of the lectures and some of the labs will have assigned reading from these texts, and 'Algae' will also be useful in relation to the BMS field trip.
These texts and several others will be on reserve in the library.
Basis for Grading:
1st term exam, on algae (midterm, 50 minutes) 29%
2nd term exam, on fungi (50 minutes; no final exam) 29%
Bamfield field trip quiz (equivalent to 3 labs) 9%
Lab reports (8 @ 3% each) 24%
Algal lab projects (life in the pond; fungal decomposers @ 4.5% each)9%
Grading: Breaks between letter grades of A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, and F will occur at 95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, and 50%
Lecture topics Lab topics
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Algae and fungi - an evolutionary perspective (Ch 2, 1, 7) |
Microscopy; Cyanobacteria (Friday section only) |
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Algae - nature, diversity, life histories, levels of organization, bases for classification (Ch 1, 5) |
Microscopy; Cyanobacteria (Wednesday and Thursday sections only) (Ch 6) |
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Cyanophyta (Ch 6) |
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Bamfield Marine Station Field Trips 11-13 Jan*, or 17-19 Jan* (Ch 23, 22, 3, 4) |
Dpt SFU 3:00 PM Friday; rtn 6:00 PM Monday Dpt SFU 3:00 PM Thursday; rtn 6:00 PM Sunday |
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(no lectures and no labs at SFU during the week |
of 13-17 Janauary) |
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Microalgae and Phytoplankton: Glaucophytes, Euglenophytes, Cryptophytes, Haptophytes |
Ochrophytes, Diatoms Dinoflagellates, et al. |
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Phytoplankton: Diatoms and Dinoflagellates |
(Ch 8, 11, 12-15 |
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Endosymbiosis and Algal Diversity; Bases for Classification of Algae |
Algal projects: identification of algae from local sources |
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Macroscopic algae - reds, greens, browns: the field trip in perspective (Ch 23) |
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Chlorophyta (green algae) - nature, life histories, levels of organization (Ch 17, 18, 19, 20, 21) |
Green algae (Ch 17, 18, 19, 20, 21) |
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Green algal diversity, ecology, importance; Caulerpa taxifolia (Ch 17-21) |
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Rhodophyta (red algae) (Ch 16) |
Algal project 'mini symposium' presentations |
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Phaeophyceae (brown algae (Ch 15) |
in your usual lab section |
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First term exam - Algae |
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Mid-semester break |
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Absorptive heterotrophs: importance, diversity, bases for classification (K, Ch 1) |
Microbial culture, aseptic technique; slime moulds. Algal project reports due. |
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Slime moulds (K, Ch 2) |
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Protoctistan fungi: Chytrids and Oomycota (K, Ch 2) |
Oomycete and Zygomycete fungi; |
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Eumycotan fungi: Zygomycota (K, Ch 3) |
Fungal projects: dung decomposers et al. |
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Ascomycota: nature, life histories, classification (K, Ch 4) |
Ascomycetes: teleomorphs and fungal anamorphs |
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Ascomycota: diversity and selected examples (K, Ch 4) |
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Basidiomycota: nature, life histories, classification (K, Ch 5) |
Basidiomycetes; mushrooms & mushroom culture; |
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Basidiomycota: diversity: selected examples (K, Ch 5) |
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Fungal symbioses: mycorrhizae (K, Ch 17) |
Lichens and mycorrhizae |
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Fungal symbioses: lichens (K, Ch 7) |
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Fungal evolution |
Fungal project 'mini symposium' presentations; |
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Fungal ecology: guest lecture by Bryce Kendrick (K, Ch 11) |
written reports also due at this time |
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Second term exam - Fungi |
Term exam covering fungi only; 50 min in duration |
* two field trip dates are available, but individual students will participate in only one field trip
Texts/chapter reading assignments: no letter = Graham and Wilcox, K = Kendrick