ecology 1 lec 1

• Ecology is the study of the interactions of organisms in and with their environment, showing the interdependence of species
• Two schools of thought in ecology:

  • Arcadian ecology: promotes a simple, humble life for man and a harmonious relationship between humans and nature
  • Imperial ecology: emphasizes man's dominance over nature
• Ernst Haeckel coined the term Ecology in 1866 from the Greek "oikos" meaning house or home
• Scope of Ecology:

  • Studied at different levels from narrowest to broadest: individual, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere
  • Many sub-disciplines in Ecology based on levels of study, taxonomic groups, or content area
• Modern Ecology traces its roots to Natural History and incorporates knowledge from various disciplines such as Physiology, Geology, and Climatology
• History of Ecology:

  • Greek inquiry: Aristotle, Theophrastus, Herodotus, and Plato
  • 16th to 18th Century: Carolus Linnaeus, Alexander von Humboldt
  • 19th Century: Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Warming, Bates, Justus von Liebig
  • Early 20th Century: Frederick Frost Blackman, Victor Ernest Shelford, Thomas Robert Malthus, Pierre Verhulst, Lotka and Volterra, Georgii Gause, Karl Mobius, Henry Cowles, Arthur Tansley
• Key figures and concepts in Population Ecology:

  • Thomas Robert Malthus (exponential growth)
  • Pierre Verhulst (logistic growth)
  • Lotka and Volterra (predator-prey model and competition interactions)
• Key figures and concepts in Community Ecology:

  • Karl Mobius (coined "biocoenosis" as a community of organisms)
  • Henry Cowles (studied succession in plants)
  • Arthur Tansley (proposed and defined the term "ecosystem")
• Important events in the development of Ecology:

  • Formation of the first Ecological Societies in 1913 and 1915
  • Modern ecological thought in the 1950s with the niche concept by George Evelyn Hutchinson
  • Publication of the first textbook on Ecology by Eugene and Howard Odum
  • Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" brought Ecology to the public eye, launching the environmental movement
• The start of modern ecological thought occurred in the 1950s with the creation of the niche concept proposed by George Evelyn Hutchinson (considered as the Father of Modern Ecology); and the publication of the 1st textbook on Ecology by the brothers Eugene and Howard Odum (the book paved the way for Ecology to be part of the college curriculum in Universities)
• Georgii Gause – Competitive Exclusion Principle = two species competing for the same resources cannot coexist if other ecological factors are constant
• Victor Ernest Shelford – Law of Tolerance = each individual or population has a certain minimum, maximum, and optimum environmental factor or combination of factors that determine success
• Frederick Frost Blackman – Law of Limiting Factors = when a process depends on a number of factors, its rate is limited by the pace of the slowest factor
• Justus von Liebig – Law of the Minimum = a plant’s development is limited by the one

  essential mineral that is in relatively shortest supply; visualized as Liebig’s barrel
• Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace – Theory of Natural Selection

  Warming – considered both abiotic and biotic factors in the assembly of communities

  Bates – first to scientifically document mimicry
• Carolus Linnaeus – phenology and taxonomy of flowering plants

  Alexander von Humboldt – Father of Ecology and Biogeography; studied interactions between organisms and the environment
• The first Ecological Societies were formed in 1913 (British Ecological Society, headed by Arthur Tansley) and 1915 (Ecological Society of America, headed by Victor Ernest Shelford)
• •Aristotle – wrote Historia Animalium based on second hand data

  • Theophrastus observed plants and animals brought to him by those who accompanied

  Alexander the Great

  • Herodotus and Plato believed that nature provides for all organisms (Providential Ecology)