The number of flowers produced by the aspen sunflower (Helianthella quinquenervis) in a particular year is affected by the date of the start of the growing season, which is in turn influenced by the date that the winter snowpack melts. Years with low winter snowfall and warm springs have more rapid snowmelt and an earlier start to the growing season than years with a heavy snowpack or a cool...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

• More Info

A graph (modified from Boggs and Inouye 2012, Ecology Letters) demonstrating that Speyeria mormonia (Mormon fritillary) butterfly visits are proportionally greater when their food plant, Erigeron (fleabane), produces many flowers. Frost damage reduces the number of available flowers. When flowers are abundant, they produce more nectar and attract more butterflies. In turn, the greater...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

• More Info

The ratio of flowers/butterfly (Erigeron speciosus to Speyeria mormonia) in year t is a good predictor of the change in the size of the Mormon fritillary butterfly population from year t to the next year (measured here by number of males). Years having few flowers per butterfly result in a population decline the following year. In contrast, population growth is higher when many flowers are...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

• More Info

Extinction has been a fact of life since long before humans arrived on Earth. Now that humans have contributed to the issues of scale and novel causes of endangered species, questions addressing how many species there are in the US, and which ones are at risk, are increasingly relevant. Wilcove and Master [attached] provide an estimate of the number of described species in the US that may be...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

• More Info

We use the Kappel article [attached] to model ways to engage students in active homework to advance learning both inside and outside the classroom. Kappel’s article provides an overview of threats to marine environments, pointing out that overharvest, habitat loss, and invasive species have major effects on marine communities. The following activities are examples designed to enable students t...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

• More Info