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1.1

Introductions
Syllabus

Clickers We will use the H-ITT brand infrared (IR) clickers. Same as used by Dini, Bernal, others. Available at bookstore or used. TX3000 or model 3100. Register you clicker at http://www.h-itt.com/webreg.php. Class ID schwilk-biol3309-2013 Remote ID This is the 6 digit remote serial number of your clicker (found on back) First Name Your rst name Last Name Your last name School ID Your R-number eg R12345678. This is the letter R followed by 8 digits Email address Your TTU email address Homework Due every Tuesday (Except for test weeks) Due at beginning of class (11:00 AM). If you will be late for class, you may email the assignment to Russell but it must be received at the TTU server before class starts. Homework must be typed. I will post the homework assignments on the course website each Tuesday.

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2.1

What is Ecology?
Early history of ecology

When did ecology emerge as a science? Nineteenth century: Age of exploration. Massive collections of plant and animal specimens Vegetation patterns emerged that indicated the earth was a very patchy place. Early map of vegetation types The patchy globe The great "patches" of vegetation were called formations 1. What are these formations like? 2. Why are they there?

Figure 1: A.K. Johnston & Arthur Henfrey: Map of Schouws Phyto-geographic Regions with the Distribution of Plants Especially Inuencing the Physiognomy of the Vegetation of the Globe. 1854 Formations (Biomes) Ecology by any other name Linnaeus, 1707-1778 In 1749 Linnaeus published The Oeconomy of Nature: nature may seem chaotic and unpredictable, but actually existed in a balanced state of order as designed by the creator. von Humboldt, 1769-1859 Alexander von Humboldt argued that the world was not as static as Linaeus suggested and that organisms were interconnected. Darwin, 1809-1882 Charles Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection (On the Origin of Species 1859) provided a mechanism for interpreting patterns in the distribution and abundance of species. Ecology as a recognized science Haeckel, 1834-1919 Ernst Haeckel was the rst to provide a name for the science in (Morphology of Organisms 1866). 1885 First book with oekology in the title published in Germany by Hans Reiter 1895 Term starts being used in the United States and the term and ideas are quickly adapted especially by botanists. Denitions Origin of the word: oikos the family household logy the study of

Denitions Haeckel (1870): By ecology we mean the body of knowledge concerning the economy of Nature - the investigation of the total relations of the animal to its inorganic and organic environment. Odum (1963): The structure and function of Nature Krebs (1972): Ecology is the scientic study of the processes regulating the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions among them, and the study of how these organisms in turn mediate the transport and transformation of energy and matter in the biosphere (i.e., the study of the design of ecosystem structure and function). Our succinct denition

The interrelationships of organisms and their environment

2.2 Importance of Ecology
Ecology has important impacts on everyones daily lives Globally Ecosystems provide important services. Also, human populations have grown to the size that we can alter the natural environment over large geographical areas Locally What will happen to mountain forests in the trans-Pecos under a warming climate? How can we manage agricultural practices on the southern plains and deal with drought and changing hydrology? Ecosystem services examples Direct Water supply, oxygen supply, food supply (oceanic sheries, pollination, natural pest predators), extractive renewable commodities (wood, some fuels, some fertilizers), genes (increasingly important as our ability to manipulate genes increases), recreation Indirect Nutrient cycling, atmospheric regulation (CO2 , SO2 , O3 , NO3 levels), climatic buffering (heat dissipation, wind amelioration, erosion control), waste elimination (sewage, agricultural pollution) Solving mysteries

Why was giant sequoia regeneration failing during the 20th century?

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3.1

How do we study ecology?

Change

Ecology is a changing body of knowledge Conclusions are reached on the basis of data. Ecology deals with systems that are inherently variable. Ecological data are often difcult and expensive to collect and interpret Statistical analysis is especially important in ecology! What kinds of studies do ecologists perform? Controlled experiments Isolate a portion, limit factors, manipulate conditions Observations Go into the eld and see whats happening. We may use statistical controls. We may use forensic techniques. Mathematical models Describe population/community/ecosystems through equations or through computer simulation

3.2

Levels of organization in biology

Studies described by level of organization Ecological studies may be differentiated by level of organization, taxon, and habitat. Example A population study of coyotes in a Mojave desert valley.

Divisions of ecology Organism (physiological ecology, older term: autecology) Study of adaptations: food, heat conservation, periodicity, etc. Population ecology [=autecology] Interbreeding groups of the same species Community ecology [=synecology] All populations in a given area Often study of relationships to environmental factors Ecosystem ecology Community plus the non-living environment Energy ow, mineral cycling Largest level: Biosphere: Not commonly considered a division of ecology Global air and energy budgets Studies described by taxon Ecological studies may concentrate on any taxonomic level. Taxa: Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, variety Family ends in -idae (animals) or -aceae (plants) Scientic name = genus and specic epithet. Italicized Examples: Plants in a marsh (kingdom) Fishes in a pond (class Osteichthyes) Woodpeckers in a forest (family Picidae) Giant sequoias (Sequioadendron giganteum) in a forest (species) Binomial nomenclature The scientic name for a species is made up of two parts: 1. The genus name (also called the generic name). Capitalized. 2. A second word identifying the species within that genus: specic descriptor In botany, the word identifying the species is called the specic epithet In zoology, the word identifying the species is called the specic name

Denitions and Study Questions

Some useful denitions Well cover these terms later in the course: Adaptation A feature of an organisms that improves its ability to survive and reproduce in the environment Natural selection An evolutionary process in which individuals that possess particular characteristics survive or reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals Consumer An organisms that obtains its energy by eating other organisms or their remains Producer An organism that obtains its energy from an external source such as the sun and produces its own food Net primary productivity NPP: The amount of energy per unit of time that produces x by photosynthesis minus the amount used in cellular respiration Nutrient cycle The cyclic movement of a nutrient between an organisms and the physical environment Study questions 1. Dene ecology. Why is the term interrelationships part of the denition? Who coined the term ecology? 2. What is the relationship between ecology and environmentalism? 3. List all of the levels from the biosphere to the smallest subatomic particle. 4. Dene and give an example of a study of each of the main four divisions studied in ecology. 5. List three important services provided by natural ecosystems. 6. List the taxa between kingdom and species. 7. What divisions are used in a scientic name? How is a scientic name differentiated from the rest of the text in a paragraph? 8. Explain how this quotation from Darwins On the Origin of Species relates to our denition of ecology: Look at a plant in the midst of its range. Why does it not double in numbers? . . . To give the plant increasing numbers, we should have to give it some advantage over its competitors or the animals that prey upon it.