Ch.01- What Is Ecology?

Question 0

Ecology is not…

Answer 0

• environmental science (human/environment interactions)
• conservation biology (threats to biodiversity)
• environmentalism (social ideology)

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment

Question 2

Ecology scale… (From smallest to biggest)

Answer 2

Individual➡️population➡️community ➡️ecosystem ➡️landscape ➡️global (earth)

Question 3

All scales focus on?

Answer 3

• patterns= observation of natural phenomena (Darwin ➡️finches)
• process= mechanism explaining a pattern (finches➡️natural selection)

Question 4

How do we study ecology? (1)

Answer 4

Field surveys
~easily applied at all scales
~best at identifying patterns not processes

Question 5

How do we study ecology? (2)

Answer 5

Experiments

• best at identifying processes
• requires manipulation,replication , and randomization for experiment

Question 6

How do we study ecology? ( 3)

Answer 6

Ecological modeling

• best used to predict patterns based on processes and vice versa
• powerful tools used together with experiments

Question 7

Major ecological concepts (a)

Answer 7

• an organism never does just one thing, everything is connected
• matter always goes somewhere-it doesn’t disappear
• no population can increase in size forever
• life would be impossible without species interactions

Question 8

Major ecological concepts (b)

Answer 8

• an organism’s resources are finite
• evolution matters:species change over time
• times matter: ecosystems change over time
• space matters: conditions change from one place to another

Question 9

Why Study ecology?

Answer 9

Practical reasons: -human interaction with their environment - sustainable use of the envir. services needed by humans - nature can be a guide to new innovations