Welcome to the Biology 418 web site. This course presents an overview of current knowledge and modern research into evolutionary ecology.

Check the Info tab for course times and other information, and the Outline tab for a course outline. Note: The contents of these page are updated frequently. Click the reload button on your browser button to ensure you are seeing the most recent version.

Meeting times and locations for tutorial/discussion sections will be decided after the first lecture of term. Attendance at the first lecture is mandatory or chosen tutorial times may conflict with timetables of absent students. Space in the course for students absent during the first week may be withdrawn and given to an attending student on the wait list.

 Bibliography for lectures

These links provide the reference source materials for lectures. Some may provide useful additional reading for tutorials and essays. The references will be updated through the term. Links in parentheses are to pdf files containing the overheads given in lecture which I will make available before each lecture. You will require Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat to read the lecture overheads.
  1. Intracellular symbionts and sex ratio (Lecture overheads)
  2. Natural selection (Lecture overheads)
  3. Variation in natural populations (Lecture overheads)
  4. Evolutionarily stable strategies (Lecture overheads)
  5. Optimal foraging (Lecture overheads)
  6. Coevolution of competitors (Lecture overheads)
  7. Predator-prey coevolution (Lecture overheads)
  8. Host-parasite coevolution (Lecture overheads)
  9. Coevolution of mutualists (Lecture overheads)
  10. Sexual selection (Lecture overheads)
  11. Evolution of sexual reproduction (Lecture overheads)
  12. Ecology and speciation (Lecture overheads)

Readings for discussions

Required and supplementary readings for the tutorials. These readings will be updated through the term as we cover the topics. To access the manuscripts, go to the Library Website, and under Journals, search for the Journal Name (e.g. Evolution). Once you find the right journal, click on it and select Online Access. Such access is available immediately from campus computers. To access online library subscriptions from off-campus see the UBC Library information page on remote access. You will require Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat to read papers in pdf format.
  1. Introduction
  2. Natural selection in the wild Essay due September 30th!
  3. Group Selection
  4. Tit-for-tat Essay due October 14th, via email, by 5 PM!
  5. Optimal Foraging
  6. Character displacement Essay due October 28th, via email, by 5 PM!
  7. Plant and insect coevolution
  8. Evolution of virulence Essay due November 12th, Saturday, via email, by 5 pm!
  9. Evolution of sexual reproduction Optional essay due November 25th, Friday, via email, by 5 pm!
  10. Life history and predation
  11. Senescence