Ecology and Environmental Science

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Ecology and Environmental Science

• William Marose
• Archbishop Spalding HS
• Maroseb_at_archbishopspalding.org

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Homework

• Read chapter 1 pp 3 10
• Answer Study Questions 1-8 on page 10

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• What is ecology?

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Ecology

• Oikos Greek meaning household or home
• Derived from the same root word as Economics.
• Ecology is considered the Economics of Nature.

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Ecology

• Did not exist as a science before the 1960s.
• Ecology became a household word as a result of
  the environmental movement during the 1960s.

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Ecology is a Science

• Ecology is the scientific study of the
  relationship between organisms and their
  environment
• Ecology includes not only the physical
  conditions, but the biological or living
  components that make up an organisms
  surroundings.
• Ecology is an interdisciplinary science?

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Ecology

• Study of the structure and function of nature.
• Developed from many roots with its beginnings
  tracing back to natural history and plant
  geography.
• The principles of ecology provide the scientific
  basis for the solution to many of our
  environmental problems.

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Ecosystem

• The major unit of ecological study is the
  ecosystem.
• Biotic the living portion of the ecosystem
  the living or natural community.
• Abiotic the non-living portion of the ecosystem
  the physical environment.

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Ecosystem

• Ecosystem components form a hierarchy.
• Population a group of individual of the same
  species occupying a given area. Populations do
  not function independently of each other.
• Community all populations interacting within an
  ecosystem (food chain or food web)
• Species a members of a population that can
  interbreed and produce fertile offspring

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Biosphere

• All ecosystems combined on Earth.
• Limits of life on the planet.

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Ecology

• Ecology has strong ties to other scientific
  disciplines.
• Involves many other sciences biology, botany,
  chemistry, earth science, climatology, physics,
  genetics, biochemistry, behavioral studies.

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Ecology

• Much of ecology appears to be common sense!
• (predator prey model)
• Models are used as predictive tools.

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Models and Predictions

• A model is an abstract representation of a real
  system.
• Models are developed from research data of a
  sample (sub-sample) and a mathematical formula
  developed to represent the sample.

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This graph shows the relationship between the
amount of grassland production and annual
rainfall. The more annual rain the more the grass
grows. This model can be used to predict the
production of the ecosystem based on the amount
of rain. The points are actual data and the line
is the model.
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This model shows how the hare population
increases as the density of plants stems
increases. The food source increases allowing
the hare population to increase. Points are the
real data and the line represents the model. An
equation can be determined from the line.
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Ecology

• Science is not a process of cataloguing facts.
• Uncertainty and debate are an important part of
  the scientific process.
• Important to understand that science is a
  process of collecting evidence to test ideas,
  eliminating incorrect hypotheses along the way.

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Types of Ecology

• Plant Ecology
• Animal Ecology
• Physiological Ecology - responses of individual
  organisms to temperature, moisture, light, etc.
• Population Ecology
• Ecosystem Ecology

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Ecology

• You cant just do one thing!

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You Cant Just Do One Thing!

• Human Activities Effects
• Land Clearing Deforestation
• Water Diversion Pollution
• Mineral Extraction Sedimentation
• Fossil Fuel Use Waste Disposal
• Urbanization Altered Landforms
• Recreation Loss of Habitat
• Acid Precipitation

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Grassland Model