Ecology and Related Concepts Ryan Mondy
Ecology Defined -Ecology is a multifaceted and diverse branch of science -Commonly defined as the scientific study of the relationships between organisms and their environment -Many disciplines and scientific concepts feed into what makes ecology both important and a science http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/ecosystems/ecosystem-useful-n otes-on-our-ecosystem-with-diagram/9878/
History of Ecology - Ecology likely arose from a need/desire to understand how and why living things functioned the way that they were observed to do so -The man who coined the phrase “ecology”, German Biologist Ernst Haeckel, said “Ecology is the study of all those complex interactions referred to by Darwin as the conditions of the struggle for existence." -Ecology became institutionalized in British and American ecological societies in 1913 and 1915, respectively.
Key Concepts in Early Ecology Still Used Today 1. Food chain or cycle (later called food web or trophic structure): the sequence by which nutrients and energy passed from plants to herbivores to predators then to various forms of decomposers and back to the inorganic environment. 2. Niche: Each species had adaptations that fitted it to a particular status in a community. 3. Pyramid of numbers: More small animals are required to support fewer large organisms in a food chain because some nutrients and energy are lost from the food chain.
Why Ecology is Important -Understanding of Ecology is important for purposes such as maintaining biodiversity, ensuring food supplies and cultivating healthy human/environment relations such as those required for basic health needs and resources. -Key for a healthy environment, without considerations of human health
Why Ecology is Important -Particularly important in the present day as humans currently have a desire to develop infrastructural and economic systems while maintaining a degree of environmental health -creating healthy, ecologically-based relationships between organisms in the diverse, partially man-made environments we see so often today is paramount to maintaining healthy relationships with our resources
Maintaining Ecology in a Man Made Environment -Imporant in our ever-developing world -Unique challenges presented, as “natural functions” are often lost -Resources that are required to maintain our rate of economic development in turn require a degree of healthy ecological relationships- food, cash crops, healthy air/water, timber, etc. uvm.edu
http://urbaneco.washington.edu/wp/urban-ecosystem-signatures/
Classifying Organisms Species- smallest classification “Since Darwin's time, biological classification has come to be understood as reflecting evolutionary distances and relationships between organisms. The creatures of our time have had common ancestors in the past. In a very real sense, they are members of the same family tree.” http://anthro.palomar.edu/animal/animal_1.htm
Classifying Organisms- Importance for Ecology Knowing how organisms are related- both similarly and differently, is important to understanding what makes an environment (all different types) functionally healthy https://sites.google.com/a/canacad.ac.jp/sl-hl -1-biology-4-ferguson/unit-11-ecology/5-3-cla ssification-of-biodiversity
Evolutionary Biology -Long process of creating diversity in living organisms -Has provided the foundation for modern day ecology in that the intricacies of the relationships between living things that exist today are due to millions of years of changes and developments in life http://www.zo.utexas.edu/faculty/sjasper/bio301L/science.ht ml
Organisms, Ecology & Human Health Agriculture- - The intricacies of the relationships going on at a microbial level in soil are incredibly important to the success or failure of agricultural endeavors, and therefore human health -Harnessing the natural abilities of a soil’s ecosystem to benefit crops can reduce costs, promote genetic diversity and crop rotation, and greatly reduce pollution -Currently have an agricultural system of trying to control the soil and its ecosystem instead of working with it (monocultures, pesticides/herbicides
Organisms, Ecology & Human Health Clean Water- -Clean water, besides being the basis for life itself, is necessary in a great variety of human uses. -With massive levels of pollution taking place all around the world, especially affecting waterways, natural filtration methods are more important than ever (filtration done by organisms living in nearly every natural body of water) -We use water out of natural waterways for things such as irrigation, drinking water, food prep, energy, etc. -The ecology at the microbial level in natural water systems enables the effects of pollution to be curbed and human endeavors requiring these water systems to carry on
Organisms, Ecology & Human Health Clean Air- -Air pollution in the form of CO2, Methane, CFCs and more are a recurring problem in modern society, creating a variety of human health hazards such as respiratory diseases, cancers and overall climate change -Luckily, there exists a network of plants and microorganisms that are built to contain and reverse such forms of pollution -Plants of course convert CO2 to Oxygen, and microorganisms filter various contaminants out of the air -Having multitudes of healthy communities of plant life and microorganisms means we feel less effects of the many forms of air pollution currently happening all across the world
http://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/S0169-5347(14)00023-8
Ecology & Environment -We naturally tend to look at ecology through a “how it benefits humans” lens -It is true that many of our resources are dependent on healthy ecosystems -However, assuming there is a general agreement that nature has value outside of just what it can do for humans, ecology can be seen as a crucially important science of processes that work to maintain that value.
Ecology & Environment -Ecological balance is necessary for maintaining nature’s systems -Ecology provides the base maintenance for water, air, soil and overall biological health of the planet’s environments https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/bio logy/?cid=nrcs142p2_053865
Population Dynamics of Organisms -A large part of ecology is understanding and interpreting the intricacies and health of a given organism’s population, especially how it relates to a certain area and the health of that area
Population Cont. Examples: -Populations of species are intimately affected by the availability of resources, presence of predators, human interaction and habitat availability, weather, and more. http://slideplayer.com/slide/4865222/
Population Cont. -Typical predator/prey relationship where each population is interdependent on the other https://ipmworld.umn.edu/radcliffe-populati on-ecology
Population Dispersal -Population of an organism defined as all of the organisms of a particular species living in a given area -The organisms in a population may be distributed in a uniform (evenly spaced), random (no obvious reason), or clumped (grouping) pattern. -Understanding the overall size, density and health of a population is key to knowing what humans can do to maintain health in that population
Quadrat Method of Population Counting -For immobile organisms such as plants—or for very small and slow-moving organisms—plots called quadrats may be used to determine population size and density. -Each quadrat marks off an area of the same size—typically, a square area—within the habitat. -A quadrat can be made by staking out an area with sticks and string or by using a wood, plastic, or metal square placed on the ground,
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-scuba-diver-scient-using-photo-quadrat-to-estimate-coral-cover-and-89256032.html
Mark-Recapture Method of Population Counting -Used on species that move around -When captured, usually marked with an electronic tags, bands, paints or some other visible method -When later surveys are taken, scientists examine the ratio of marked to unmarked individuals to determine the number of individuals in a population
https://www.slideshare.net/ChristopherHassall/capturemarkrecapture-cmr-as-a-method-for-species-monitoring-at-a-landscape-scale
Ecology & Climate Change -Climate Change is perhaps the single greatest threat to, if not the biggest agent of change, of current ecological patterns -unnatural, man-made and accelerated climate change has too many negative effects on ecology to list here -Potential to affect every biome and defining aspects of nearly every species
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/260007153_fig5_Fig-5-Flow-diagram-of-the-impacts-of-human-activities-and-climate-change-on-R oatan%27s
Ecology & Climate Change - Effects of climate change on organisms are already being seen, especially in the world’s oceans - Fish and other marine life are having to adapt to new places, resources, - Example: Shrimping season in the Gulf of Maine has been cancelled for a number of years in the mid 2010’s due to what scientists have called “long term trends in environmental conditions” namely “rising ocean temperatures.”
http://slideplayer.com/slide/3515077/
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v481/n7381/fig_tab/nature10717_F1.html
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