Conservation Biology

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I do not require a textbook for this course. Readings will be drawn from the primary literature and links to the readings will be provided, both for individual lectures and as a cumulative reading list for the course.

I used the second edition of Meffe & Carroll's Principles of Conservation Biology (Sinauer Associates; 1997) when it was first issued, but I found that I used it too little to justify requiring it form the course. If you'd like to have a one volume reference, however, I recommend that you purchase a copy of the third edition (Groom, Meffe, & Carrol, Principles of Conservation Biology, Sinauer Associates, 2005). We won't be explicitly using the book in the course, but you are likely to find it a valuable resource. You won't find a better single-volume reference work on conservation biology.If you decide not to buy a copy, you may still want to take a look at the companion web site. It provides essays, suggested readings, and web links for each of the chapters.

Virtual copies of the lecture schedule (click on Schedule), the list of suggested readings (click on Readings), and a collection of lecture notes (click on Notes) for the course are available here. You should plan to check the lecture schedule regularly, because I'll be adding links to related information and updating lecture notes for many of the lectures. I will also be updating the list of readings as the semester moves along. You may also find the collection of links under Resources useful.

If you are not already familiar with the journals Conservation Biology and Conservation Magazine , you should become familiar with them. They are excellent resources. Browsing some recent issues is likely to give you good ideas for your semester project and to suggest some references that you can use to find your way into the literature. You'll find links to some other journals you may find useful (and some that are less relevant for this course) on my Biology Journals page.