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What is ecology?
- The study of interactions between organisms and their environment (or other organisms).
- Inlcudes biotic and abiotic factors
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What are the scales used in ecology?
- Biosphere: the earth (all ecosystems)
- Ecosystem: all living/nonliving components (species, energy flow, nutrient cycling, etc)
- Community: all species/populations
- Population: one type of species
- Individual: single organism
- Temporal (time) scale is also involved
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What are the steps in the scientific method?
- Observation
- Question
- Research
- Hypothesis
- Experiment
- Analyze Data
- Conclusion
- Publish data
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What is life history?
- The major events of an organisms life that allows it to successfully reproduce
- How many seeds produced?
- Age of sexual maturity?
- Age of reproduction?
- How many offspring?
- What are the life stages?
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What are the two types of reproductive selection?
- R selection: many offspring, not heavily invested, short lifespan
- K selection: Few offspring, heavily invested, longer lifespan
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CASE STUDY: Robert MacArthur and 5 Warbler's occupying the same tree.
- Competitive exclusion: If there is a competition for identical resources the more fit species will drive the other to extinction
- Resource partitioning: Using identical resources differently (space, time, etc)
- Robert MacArthur noted that the Warbler's had becomes specialized to a specific areas of the trees rather than driving each other to extinction.
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CASE STUDY: Dan Jansen and the decline of the Guanacaste tree
- Guanacaste tree is an angiosperm with very large fruits
- Determine that the population decline was tied to the seed dispersers going extinct 10,000 years ago
- Wrote a plan to use the exotic cattle and horses in the area as dispersers
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What defines the terrestrial biomes?
Terrestrial biomes are distinguished by flora and climate.
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What is the cause of the climactic variation on the earth? (re: heat)
- Uneven heating by the sun: seasonal change occurs because the earth's axis of rotation is tilted 23°
- Summer solstice: sun is directly overhead the tropic of Cancer
- Equinox: sun is directly over the equator
- The farther away from the equator causes a greater change in amount of sun received and thus, a greater seasonal change.
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What is the cause of the climactic variation on the earth? (re: air)
- Sun heats the air at the equator causing it to expand/rise
- Warm/moist air cools as it rises, and forms clouds which produce heavy rainfall (tropics)
- This air spreads north and south, cools, and sinks back to the earth around 30°
- This air draws moisture from the lands over which it flows, creating deserts
- Air moves from 30° toward the equator (completing that air cycles)
- Warm air moves from 30° toward the poles rising and condensing to form clouds/precipitation, this air spreads northward and southward
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Describe the Coriolis effect with directions.
- The wind actually moves east and west rather than directly north and south due to the rotation of the earth
- Polar north: east to west (down)
- 30°-60°N: west to east (up)
- E-30°N: east to west (down)
- 30°S-E: east to west (up)
- 60°S-30°S: west to east (down)
- Polar south: east to west (up)
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Information about soil
- Defined by texture (particle size), horizons (layers), organic particles, and inorganic particles
- Creation: bedrock begins to disintegrate, organic materials facilitate disintegration (moss, lichen), horizons form, developed soil supports vegetation
- O horizon: organic layer
- A horizon: top layer, most fertile, most important for plants
- B horizon: less weathered, less organic material
- C horizon: parent materials (bedrock)
- Sand, silt, or clay
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