1.1 Ecology is the Study of the Relationship between the Population
Organisms - Group of individuals of the same species that occupy a given area Environmentalism - Population of plants and animals are not - Activism; protecting the natural environment independent of one another from the negative impacts of human activities Community - Takes form of public education programs, - Population of different species living and advocacies, legislation and treaties interacting within an ecosystem Ecology 1st level: Individual organisms both respond to - Scientific study of the relationships between and influence the abiotic environment organisms and their environment 2nd level: Individuals of the same species form - Includes physical and chemical conditions; populations (oak, squirrels) biological or living components or organisms’ 3rd level: Individuals of these populations surroundings interact among themselves and with - “oikos”: the family household individuals of other species to form a - Economics: mass management of the household community - Coined by German Zoologist Ernst Haeckel in Landscape 1866 - Area of land (or water) composed of patchwork Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species of communities and ecosystems Haeckel: “struggle for existence” - Spatial scale: communities and ecosystems are - The study of the complex web interactions linked through such processes such as the between organisms and their environment at all dispersal of organisms and the exchange of levels of organization materials and energy 1.2 Organisms Interact with the Environment in the Biomes Context of the Ecosystem - Geographic regions having similar geological and climatic conditions (patterns of temperature, Physical and chemical conditions precipitation and seasonality) support similar - Ambient temperature, moisture, concentrations types of communities and ecosystem of O2 and CO2, and light intensity Ex. Warm temp. & high precipitation = Ultimate goal: to pass their genes on to successive Equatorial regions = tropical rain forests generations Ex. Grasslands and deserts Place: physical location in time and space Biosphere Ecosystem - Highest level of organization of ecological - Where organisms interact with the environment system - “eco” relates to environment; while “system” - Thin layer surrounding the Earth that supports implies to a collection of related parts that all of life function as a unit - Linked interactions: atmosphere, hydrosphere, Ex. Automobile: ignition & fuel pump and geosphere - 2 basic interacting components: Biotic: living * Individual -> Population -> Community -> Plants, animals, microbes Ecosystem -> Landscape -> Biome -> Biosphere Abiotic: nonliving (physical & chemical) 1.4 Ecologists Study Pattern and Process at Many Levels Atmosphere, climate, soil, and water Morphology, physiology and behavior 1.3 Ecological Systems Form a Hierarchy Individual level