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Introduction to Ecology: Historical Foundations

Overview of Ecology
and Developing Frontiers
Chapter 1 • Ecology: Study of relationships between
organisms and the environment.
 Simple definition does not convey the

extreme breadth of this discipline.

Dr. Freestone
Dr. Sanders • Ecosystem: Includes all organisms living in
an area (biotic), and the physical
environment (abiotic) with which these
organisms interact.
 Biosphere: Highest level of ecological

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Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Scope of Ecology Hierarchical Level of Organization

 Wide variety of approaches. Biosphere

 Variety of temporal and spatial scales. Region
 Field Note that
Landscape INTERACTIONS
 Lab
Ecosystem can occur between
 Observational
adjacent levels
 Manipulative Community AND
Population within any of these
levels.
Individual
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Levels of Organization Ecology of Bumblebees

- Bernd Heinrich: effects of temperature on
Individual bumblebee energy budget
- Physiological ecology: how individuals
 Bumblebees live in areas that are
survive / function in their physical environment
moderately cool
- Behavioral ecology: study of how behavior
 They must maintain
relates to an organism’s environment
- OVERLAP - a warm body
e.g., Thermoregulation temperature to fly
and feed

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Ecology of Bumblebees
• Energy budget resembles an economic budget
 Heinrich estimated energy budget of
individuals foraging on different flowers
and under different temperatures
 Energy Gain versus Energy Loss =
Energy Intake minus Energy Expenditure
 Nectar from flowers - (energy used for
flying, warming body, digestion,
growth)
 Any energy remaining is available
to put toward reproduction
Level of Organization
Community Ecology
The study of the patterns & interactions
among groups of species living in a
particular area
Interactions among species, and
between suites of species and the
environment
• Robert MacArthur: Distribution of warbler
species in northeastern U.S. forests
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Level of Organization: Population Ecology
The study of a collection of individuals from the
same species that occupy some defined area
Population ecology focuses on how and why
populations change in size and location over
time
Like an energy budget, population size is a
balance between opposing forces
What are these opposing forces ?
Birth / Immigration – Death / Emmigration
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J.H. Connell: settlement of barnacles in the intertidal zone
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Level of Organization Population Ecology
• Fun Facts from Philadelphia…..
• Benjamin Franklin was an early demographer
• Studied human population - including size
growth, distribution, etc.
•Franklin theorized that because of the
abundant space and resources that the
colonies in America would expand by
doubling in population size every 25 years
until they exceeded Britain around 1850.
• By 1850, the population of Britain was 21
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million, and the U.S. was 23 million.
Ecology of Forest Birds
• MacArthur studied ecology of 5 species of
warblers in spruce forests in North America
 All feed on insects in the same trees
 Competition theory predicted two species
with identical ecological requirements could
not coexist indefinitely
 Studies found warblers coexisted by feeding
in different zones of the same tree
 this effectively reduced competition and
allowed coexistence
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Warbler Feeding Zones
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Level of Organization
Ecosystem Ecology
• The interactions of organisms with the
transport and flow of energy and matter.
• Typically includes all of the physical and
chemical factors influencing the organisms
• Goal is to understand nutrient cycling and
energy flow through ecosystems
- Likens & Bormann: Effects of plants
(trees) on nutrient loss from a forested
ecosystem
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The study of landscape structure.
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Forest Dynamics Plots
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Forest Nutrient Budgets
The Facts
• Likens and Bormann estimated 90% of
nutrients in a New Hampshire forest
were locked up in soil organic matter
 Approximately 9.5 % was tied up in
vegetation
 Streamflow output amounted to < 1%
 All animals accounted for only 0.5%
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Level of Organization
Landscape Ecology
Landscape structure includes:
the size, shape, composition, number, and position
of different ecosystems within a landscape.
Landscape structure influences the flow of
energy, materials, and species within a landscape
Landscape ecology includes the biological
causes and consequences of patchiness in
the environment.
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The Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project

Habitat Fragmentation near Manaus, Brazil

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• “Corridors” have been employed by

conservation biologists and managers to help
connect isolated habitats for dispersal and
movement/behavioral patterns.

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Vegetation Change: Pollen Records Vegetation History from Pollen Sediments

• Many environmental changes occur

over large spatial or temporal scales.
• Davis monitored plant pollen deposited
in lake sediments in the Appalachian
Mountains.
 Documented large temporal changes

to nearby plant communities.

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Outline of Course

• Natural History and Evolution

• Adaptations to the Environment
• Population Ecology
• Interactions
• Communities and Ecosystems
• Large-Scale Ecology

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