Introduction

• Ecology was coined by Ernst Haeckel, derived from the Greek words "Oikos" meaning "Household, home" and "Logos" meaning "Study of"
• Ecology is the study of interactions of organisms with each other and with the environment
• Environment includes other organisms and physical surroundings, involving relationships within populations and between different populations
• Historical background:

  • Ecology evolved from the natural history of ancient Greeks, particularly Theophrastus
  • Theophrastus was a student of Aristotle and first described the interrelationship between organisms and their environment
  • In the early 1900s, European botanists studied composition, structure, and distribution of plant communities, while American botanists focused on plant community development and succession
• Population dynamics:

  • Field of life science investigating population size, age, birth rate, and death rate
  • Thomas Malthus highlighted the conflict between expanding populations and Earth's food supply
• Dynamics of Community and Population:

  • Raymond Pearl, Alfred Lotka, and Vito Voltera developed mathematical foundations for studying populations in the 1920s
  • Studies led to experiments on predator-prey interactions, competitive relationships, and population regulation
• Energy Budget Concerns:

  • Ecology studies energy in populations
  • Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen, Vero Wynne-Edwards, and August Thienemann contributed to understanding energy flow and social behavior in populations
• Concept of Ecological Niche:

  • Charles Elton developed the concept of ecological niches and pyramids of numbers
  • Edward Binge and Chancey Juday measured energy budgets in lakes and introduced the idea of primary productivity
• Levels of Ecological Organization:

  • Individual: organism level studied by physiological and behavioral ecologists
  • Population: group of organisms of the same species in a particular place at a particular time
  • Community: populations of different species interacting in a specific place
• Ecosystem:

  • Made up of biotic and abiotic components
  • Ecosystem ecology involves the flow of energy and nutrient cycling
• Biome:

  • Large regions with similar climate and vegetation
  • Classified based on fauna and flora present, such as tropical rainforests
• Biosphere:

  • Largest spatial scale including land, water, and air
  • Where biomes interact by exchanging nutrients, organisms, and energy
• Scientific Method in Ecology:

  • Observation, question, hypothesis, literature search, experimentation, and conclusion are steps in the scientific method
• Warbler Seedling Zones:

  • Robert H. MacArthur studied warblers co-existing by feeding on different parts of trees
  • Charles Darwin's study in the Galapagos showed birds with different beak morphologies adapting to their environment
• Ecology is the study of relationships among organisms and between organisms and the physical environment
• Environment involves relationships between individuals within a population and between individuals of different populations
• Historical background has no firm beginnings.
• Succession is the altering characteristics of new species
• Birth rate and death rate determines the population
• Thomas Malthus called the attention to the conflict between expanding populations and the capability of Earth to supply food. 

   
• In the 1920s they developed mathematical foundations for the study of populations, and these studies led to experiments on the interaction of predators and prey, competitive relationships between species, and the regulation of populations. - Raymond Pearl, Alfred Lotka, Vito Voltera
• Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen developed concepts of instinctive and aggressive behavior.
• August Thienemann introduced the concept of trophic, or feeding, levels by which the energy of food is transferred through a series of organisms.
• Ecology is also a study of energy in a population
• Charles Elton further developed an approach with the concept of ecological niches and pyramids of numbers.
• Edward Binge and Chancey Juday measured the energy budgets of lakes, developed the idea of primary productivity and discovered that their primary productivity is the rate at which food energy is generated, or fixed, by photosynthesis
• Raymond L. Lindeman developed the trophic-dynamic concept of ecology, which details the flow of energy through the ecosystem in 1942.
• Eugene Odum and Howard Odum quantified field studies of energy flow through ecosystems
• J.D. Ovington early work on the cycling of the nutrients.
• Charles Darwin (evolution of the fittest) strong traits evolve, weak traits do not and they will not survive
• Behaviors evolve to allow animals to survive and reproduce despite environment
• Alfred Russel Wallace organisms evolves because of its environment
• Levels of Ecological Organization - multi-disciplinary because it often encompasses several fields such as biology, geography, earth science, etc.
• Ecosystem ecology can be measured by:

  1. predation
  2. parasitism
  3. competition
• Observation - must be the first step about the environment, phenomena
• Question - related to what you observed
• Hypothesis - must be formulated and is the proposed answer to your question; must be testable or can make observations so that it can support the hypothesis
• Search of literature - To find out what is already known in order to find gaps in knowledge of your topic to investigate.
• Experimentation/observation - can conduct to gather data to reject the null hypothesis; make observations to test your hypothesis
• • Control group - group with no treatment
  • Experimental group - receives the treatment
  • Independent variable - cause of change; those that you manipulate
  • Dependent variable - outcome or what is affected