e

cology
digest

ISSUE 01 OCTOBER 2012

Monthly journal of St. Louis College
Valenzuela

In this issue:
Editorial
1 page: What is Ecology?

2
The Food Chain
3 The Brachyphelma Species
In Focus:
Discovering
Rafflesia in the Philippines
4
Ecological
Movies
5
Must-read
Books about ecology
6
Articles:
Eology
7
Eco-photography
8

EDITORIAL PAGE: Facts About Ecology:

WHAT
IS ECOLOGY

The term ecology was coined by

the German zoologist, Ernst Haeckel,
in 1866 to describe the economies
of living forms. The theoretical
practice of ecology consists, by and
large, of the construction of models
of the interaction of living systems
with their environment (including
other living systems). These models
are then tested in the laboratory and
the field. (Field-work in ecology also
consists of data collection that need
not be inspired by any theory.)
Theory in ecology consists of the
heuristicsor principlesused to
construct models. Unlike
evolutionary theory, ecology has no
generally accepted global principles
such as Mendel's (and other) rules of
genetic inheritance. Contemporary
ecology consists of a patchwork of
sub-disciplines including population
ecology, community ecology,
conservation ecology, ecosystem
ecology, metapopulation ecology,
metacommunity ecology, spatial
ecology, landscape ecology,
physiological ecology, evolutionary
ecology, functional ecology, and
behavioral ecology. What is common
to all these fields is the view that: (i)
different biota interact in ways that
can be described with sufficient
precision and generality to permit
their scientific study; and (ii)
ecological.

The latter aspect makes ecology a

central part of biology. As van Valen
once put it: evolution is the control
of development by ecology.
However, the creation of a unified
theoretical framework for evolution
and ecology remains the task for the
future and will be of no further
concern in this entry.

Ecology as the sole study derived from the natural

sciences
at the end of the 19th century.
Ecology studies not only present ecosystems but
also includes past data which helps make future
predictions about different ecosystems on our planet.
Biology is more general science when compared to
ecology, biology studies generally all life on Earth
while ecology is more specific study that studies
relationships within any given
ecosystem.
Ecology is interested in both biotic as well as a biotic
components of certain ecosystem, as well as the
connection and interaction between these two
elements.
Ecology is the vital science that
explains to us how the
organisms on Earth interact,
behave, and change through
time.

In this entry, attention will largely be

restricted to population, community, and
ecosystem ecology since these have
been the focus of the little philosophical
attention that has so far been afforded to
ecology; there will also be some limited
treatment of spatial ecology. However,
because ecology has not received the
degree of professional philosophical
attention it deserveswhile popular
ecological philosophies aboundthis
entry concentrates more on foundational
and interpretive issues raised by the
science of ecology rather than only on
what philosophers have written about
the subject.

ECOLOGY DIGEST ISSUE 01 OCTOBER 2012

THE
FOOD
CHAIN
A food chain is a linear sequence of links in a food
web starting from a trophic species that eats no other
species in the web and ends at a trophic species that is eaten
by no other species in the web. A food chain differs from a
food web, because the complex polyphagous network of
feeding relations are aggregated into trophic species and
the chain only follows linear monophagous pathways. A
common metric used to quantify food web trophic structure is food
chain length. In its simplest form, the length of a chain is the number of
links between a trophic consumer and the base of the web and the mean
chain
length of an entire web is the arithmetic average of the lengths of all
chains
a foodElton,
web.
Food chains were first introduced in a book published in 1927
by in
Charles
which also
introduced the food web concept .
The food chain length is a
continuous variable that
provides a measure of
the passage of energy
and an index of
ecological structure that
increases in value
counting progressively
through the linkages in a
linear fashion from the
lowest to the highest
trophic (feeding) levels.
Food chains are often
used in ecological
modeling (such as a
three species food chain).
They are simplified
abstractions of real food
webs, but complex in
their dynamics and

Ecologists have formulated

and tested hypotheses
regarding the nature of
ecological patterns
associated with food chain
length, such as increasing
length increasing with
ecosystem size, reduction
of energy at each
successive level, or the
proposition that long food
chain lengths are unstable.
Food chain studies have
had an important role in
ecotoxicology studies
tracing the pathways and
biomagnification of
environmental
contaminants

Food chain vary in length

from three to six or more
levels. A food chain
consisting of a flower, a
frog, a snake and an owl
consists of four levels;
whereas a food chain
consisting of grass, a
grasshopper, a rat, a snake
and finally a hawk consists
of five levels. Producers,
such as plants, are
organisms that utilize solar
energy or heat energy to
synthesize starch. All food
chains must start with a
producer. Consumers are
organisms that eat other
organisms. All organisms in
a food chain, except the

he Brachyphelma Species
Mexican Red-Leg
Tarantula

The Mexican red leg tarantulas

native habitat is the arid
scrublands of Mexico and
Panama. Its abdomen is usually
a reddish brown color and its
legs are dark with red hairs.
The red hair color varies from
light to dark. The spider will
grow to have about a five to six
inch leg span. Males usually
live to be five years old.
Females may live up to twenty
years. The spider is very docile,
calm and easy to handle if you
choose to do so.
This spider is a very popular
pet tarantula.It needsvery
little care and does not require
a big cage. The Mexican redleg tarantulais suitablefor
Usambara
beginners and Orange
experienced
owners.
Baboon Tarantula

Pterinochilus
Murinus
Commonly known as the
Usambara Orange Baboon
Tarantula (OBT) but also
referred to as the Mombassa
Golden Starburst Tarantula,
Mombassa Golden Sunburst
Baboon and the True Starburst.
This is a very attractive species
that will deliver a painful bite if
given the oppurtunity. The
Usambara Orange Baboon is a
beautiful tarantula. For this
reason they have become more
and more popular among
experienced hobbyists. The
Usambara Orange Baboon
Spider, or Pterinochilus sp., is
native to the Usambara region
of Africa, a dry area near Kenya.

Mexican Red Rump

Brachypelma vagans is a
species of tarantula known
commonly as the Mexican red
rump or Mexican black velvet. It
ranges predominantly in Mexico,
but can be found as far south as
Belize, El Salvador, and
Guatemala. They are terrestrial,
burrowing spiders. The reason for
the name red rump is because of
its distinctive red hairs on its
abdomen. Like most tarantulas,
they will eat anything they can
overpower, which is usually
insects, but small lizards and
rodents may also be consumed.
They can grow to a 5inch leg
span, with males typically being
smaller and thinner than the
Avicularia
versicolor
females. They prefer scrubland
The Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula
habitats.
(Avicularia versicolor) is a species
of tarantula that is native to
Guadeloupe and Martinique in the
Caribbean Sea. Sometimes called
the Antilles Pink-toed Tree Spider,
or Martinique Red Tree Spider, this
is a popular pet due to its docile
character and unique colouration.
The Avicularia genus is the most
widespread group of spiders in the
Americas and contains about 20
species. This genus was also the
very first of the tarantulas to be
described by science