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E&EB 122 - Lecture 35 - Alternative Breeding Strategies

Breeding strategies differ both among males and females of the same species as well as among different species. The difference in breeding strategies among members of the same species can usually be linked to frequency dependence. If the species is at evolutionary equilibrium, the relative fitnesses of these different strategies will be identical. Differing strategies have been found at the level of the gamete as well as at the level of different organisms and species.

E&EB 122 - Lecture 34 - Mating Systems and Parental Care

Mating systems and parental care vary tremendously from species to species. Every species differs in how it protects its young from predators and provides its young with food, if it does so at all. The physical environment as well as behavioral dynamics in intraspecies relationships all influence parental care. Often the mating system, which sex is dominant in mating, and whether fertilization is external or internal will determine much of the process of parental care.

E&EB 122 - Lecture 33 - Evolutionary Game Theory: Fighting and Contests

The economic concept of game theory can be readily applied to evolution and behavior. By analyzing encounters between organisms as a mathematical “game,” important information such as fitness payoffs and the proportions of “strategies” played by each group within a population can be inferred. While oftentimes these games are too simplified to apply directly to actual examples in nature, they are still useful models that help convey important concepts.

E&EB 122 - Lecture 32 - Economic Decisions for the Foraging Individual

There are several ways to examine the behaviors of organisms when they forage or hunt for food or mates. These behaviors become more complex in higher organisms, such as primates and whales, which can hunt in groups. Foragers and hunters have been shown to examine the marginal cost and marginal benefit of continuing an action and then adjust their behaviors accordingly. They are also able to handle risk by hoarding resources.

E&EB 122 - Lecture 31 - Why So Many Species? The Factors Affecting Biodiversity

One can look at biodiversity from several perspectives. An ecological point of view tries to determine how necessary diversity is for an ecosystem to function. An economic point of view tries to capture the value of the “services” nature provides for mankind. An evolutionary point of view shows how artificial the human “right” to dominance is. Finally, a personal point of view captures the emotional basis for the values that humans place on biodiversity.

E&EB 122 - Lecture 30 - Energy and Matter in Ecosystems

The movement of matter and energy around the planet is very important, and its study draws on geology, and meterology in addition to chemistry. Energy tends to flow upwards from plantlike producers to herbivores to carnivores before being decomposed by detritovores and cycling back into energy usable by producers, in addition to the photosynthesis or chemosynthesis used by producers to produce energy. Like energy, compounds vital to life such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous flow around the planet in cycles.

E&EB 122 - Lecture 29 - Island Biogeography and Invasive Species

Geography is very important in ecology. Two major systems have been designed to model this, island biogeography and metapopulations. The idea of metapopulations is more recent, and has emerged as the dominant theory. Metapopulations are populations in multiple neighboring areas. The population of a species in any individual area may go extinct, but the metapopulation still survives. The theory of metapopulations has gained momentum in recent years because of its applications to epidemiology, the study of diseases.

ENGL 220 - Lecture 20 - Paradise Lost, Books XI-XII (cont.)

In this final lecture on Paradise Lost, Book Twelve’s justification for the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden is examined alongside the Genesis account. The nature of Milton’s God, whether literal or liberal, is examined at length. The poem’s closing lines are closely read, with substantial attention paid to Milton’s final, complicated take on the poem-long consideration of Providence and free will.

ENGL 220 - Lecture 19 - Paradise Lost, Books XI-XII

Books Eleven and Twelve of Paradise Lost and their radical departure from the poem’s previous style are discussed. The transformation of Milton’s famously sonorous verse into a more didactic mode is closely documented, and the poem’s increasing emphasis on visual instruction is underscored in a study of the Archangel Michael’s lesson on the history of the post-fallen world. Considerable time is devoted to both a consideration of Milton’s late politics and Book Eleven’s depiction of the destruction of paradise.

ENGL 220 - Lecture 18 - Paradise Lost, Books IX-X

This second lecture on the Fall traces Milton’s use of the word < em>wander, in all of its forms, across the poem. The transformation of wander from its pre-fallen sense to its more nefarious incarnation following the transgression is examined closely. The wider literary context of the concept of wandering, with particular emphasis placed on its importance to the romance genre, is briefly discussed.

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