OCELOTS

Online Content for Experiential Learning of Tropical Systems

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    Healing the scars: Tropical rainforest carbon cycling. Does it matter which tree species you plant?
    This online module explores how differences in traits of tropical tree species translate into differential effects on the carbon cycle, integrating ecological information across scales and the...
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    Restoring tropical forests: Is planting clusters of trees a cost-effective and ecologically-sound strategy to restore tropical forest?
    This module (available in four languages) provides a broad introduction to both ecological and social aspects of tropical forest restoration. It focuses on a long-term study comparing three...
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    What is a species? Using DNA barcodes to identify species and determine insect responses to global warming
    Combining ecology, molecular tools and physiology, students investigate insect adaptation to temperatures along tropical mountains. Students integrate species concepts, DNA barcoding and thermal...
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    Healing the scars: A tropical rainforest carbon cycling module implemented in a Systematic Botany course focused on the Brazilian Caatinga flora
    This resource describes my experience in implementing this OCELOTS module on tropical rainforest carbon cycling in a Systematic Botany course for undergraduate majors in Biology at Pernambuco...
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    Functional trait-based restoration. Can hybrid restoration enhance invasion resistance and ecosystem services?
    A hybrid restoration experiment in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, in an area of high biocultural conservation value, that address the ecological and philosophical issues involved in conducting restoration with a...
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    Fish, forests, and phosphorus: How do tropical fish, rainforest canopies, and volcanic groundwater inputs affect stream phosphorus cycling?
    Rainforest stream nutrient concentrations vary with groundwater source, and different stream fish species feed on aquatic and/or terrestrial prey. Explore how phosphorus cycling changes with stream...
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    Implementing an online module about plant functional traits in the context of restoration ecology for an undergraduate class in Brazil.
    This resource describes my experience in implementing this OCELOTS module in a Functional Trait-based Restoration class for undergraduate majors in the Forest Sciences Department / Escola Superior...
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    Colorful wings send messages: Why are butterfly wings colorful?
    Red postman butterflies live in tropical rainforests and have a mix of red, yellow, and black on their wings. These bright colors may warn predators or attract mates. Explore whether color alone or...
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    Plant-microbial mutualisms in canopy gap recovery: How do soil microbial symbionts help tropical forests recover from treefall gaps?
    This module uses tropical plant-soil microbial interactions in canopy gaps as a lens to better understand species interactions and disturbance ecology, while showing how scientists study these...
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    Sounds of the Tropics: Part 1. How can audio recordings improve tropical biodiversity conservation?
    This online module explores the terminology of sound and concepts of acoustic monitoring, the diversity of sounds produced by animals, how to study soundscapes, how humans modify soundscapes, and...
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    Sounds of the Tropics: Part 2. How are frogs responding to hurricanes, droughts, and climate change?
    This online module explores the response of a tropical frog community to hurricanes, drought, and climate change. We use acoustic monitoring and occupancy modeling to understand how frog...
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    Causes and consequences of resisting herbivory: How long-lived plants avoid damage from diverse short-lived insect herbivores
    This module guides students through decades-long studies of tropical plant-insect interactions to elucidate the ecology and evolution of plant defenses while encouraging students to consider the...
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    Snapshot Serengeti Online Lab
    Snapshot Serengeti is a fully online inquiry-based lab that uses real camera-trap data from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to explore themes of tropical ecology and animal behavior.
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    Implementing an online module on microbe-plant interactions in the context of ecological disturbance for Microbiology and Biochemistry courses in India
    This module explores tropical forest gap dynamics and helps students develop hypotheses about climate-related changes in plant-microbial interactions and was implemented in Microbiology and...
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    Between a rock and a hard place. What can turning rocks tell us about land-use change impacts on animals living in a rock outcrop?
    Unique rock outcrops in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India provide a setting that challenges students to develop a study to assess the impact of land-use change on threatened animals...
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    Implementing an online module about tropical seed dispersal and restoration in an undergraduate ecology course in the Pacific Northwest, USA
    This “Spreading Seeds” case study introduces students to ecology of seed dispersal mutualisms, and their importance for forest restoration. The implementation plan teaching notes, and associated...
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    Implementing an online module about acoustic biodiversity monitoring in the tropics for use in an undergraduate course
    This implementation plan for an online module organizes activities for understanding physical concepts and biological considerations regarding acoustic monitoring, and provides a Spanish version of...
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    SNAPSHOT SERENGETI: Analyzing Wildlife Ecological Relationships in an upper-level Ecology course
    Two assignments were created to develop skills in ecological hypothesis testing, data analysis and interpretation using the Snapshot Serengeti and Gorongosa camera trap data and graphical...
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    A rainforest with a gold chain? The impacts of gold mining on the trophic web of an Amazonian rainforest of SE Peru
    The use of mercury in artisanal gold mining affects aquatic and terrestrial food webs in the Peruvian Amazon. Learn about bioaccumulation, explore data on mercury deposition in vegetation and how...
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    Cold blood and wet skin in hot and dry secondary forests. How do amphibian traits determine persistence in secondary forests?
    Students will synthesize information from biological and physiological traits of amphibians and characteristics of secondary forests in the tropics to form hypotheses about persistence of...
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