Chapter 5 Introduction to Ecology(1)(1) (5).pptx

Chapter 5 Introduction to Ecology 5.1 What is ecology????????????? Ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and the environment. Ecologists may study individual organisms, entire forests or lake, or even the whole earth. Ecologists? Ecologists can count organisms, rates o...

Chapter 5 Introduction to Ecology 5.1 What is ecology????????????? Ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and the environment. Ecologists may study individual organisms, entire forests or lake, or even the whole earth. Ecologists? Ecologists can count organisms, rates of reproduction, or rates of processes such as photosynthesis and decomposition. 5.2 Ecology vs. Environmental Science Ecology The study of relationships between organisms and the environment. Environmental Science The scientific study of the interaction between physical, chemical, and biological components within the environment. Aims to understand life process, adaptation, distribution, and biodiversity. Aims to identify the internal and external factors that affect the environment and the organisms living in it to look for solutions for environmental problems. Key issues include interaction between organisms, adaptation, changes in the ecosystem, and external factors that affect the population of specific organisms. Key issues include the effect of human activities on the ecosystem, global warming, and sustainability measures. 5.3 Ecological Organization This broad range of subjects can be organized by arranging them as level in a hierarchy of ecological organization. Ecological Organization The Biosphere: includes most regions of land, water, and the atmosphere to an altitude of several Kilometers. Ecosystem: All living things in a particular area, along with all nonlivin components of the environment. Community: The entire array of populations of organisms inhabiting a particular ecosystem. Ecological Organization Populations: A population consists of all the individuals of a species living in a specific area. Organisms: are individual living things. Organs: an organ is a body part consisting of two o more tissues and carries out a particular function. Tissues: A tissue is a group of similar cells Ecological Organization Cells: the fundamental unit of structure and function. Organelles; specialized structures inside the cell with specific functions. Molecules: A union of two or more atoms of the same or different atoms 5.4 Major Roles of Organisms in Ecosystems  Ecologists have divided organisms’ roles in ecosystems into three broad categories: ◦ Producers: Organisms that are able to use sources of energy to make complex organic molecules from simple inorganic substances in their environment. ◦ Glucose. ◦ Consumers are organisms Major Roles of Organisms in Ecosystems ◦ Decomposers: (Bacteria, Fungi & Earth Worm) are organisms that use nonliving organic matter as a source of energy and raw materials to build their bodies. 11 Major Roles of Organisms in Ecosystems Consumers can be further divided into: ◦ Primary consumers, or herbivores, eat plants as a source of food. ◦ Secondary consumers, or carnivores, are animals that eat other animals. ◦ Omnivores consume both plants and animal 12 5.5 Sampling Ecological Research The Ecology of Forest Birds: We will start with this story…… Robert MacArthur gazed intently, He was watching a small bird called a warbler in the top of a spruce tree. Why? A warbler in the top of a spruce tree Testing Ecological Theory Why ..two species with identical ecological requirements would compete with each other and as a consequence they couldn’t live in the same environment? MacArthur wanted to understand how several warbler species with similar ecological requirements could live together in the same forest. Testing Ecological Theory When 1955 Where in the spruce forests of northeastern North America. The five warbler species were: (1) Cape May, (2) Yellow-rumped, (3) Black-throated green, (4)Blackburnian, and (5) Baybreasted. All have the same size and shape and all feed on insects…… Warbler Species Cape May WarblerYellow Rumped Warbler Black-Throated Warbler Blackburnian warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Warbler Species Spruce tree and cones Testing Ecological Theory Predication????? Warblers might be able to coexist and not compete with each other if they fed on the insects living in different zones within trees…. What did he do??? Testing Ecological Theory He subdivided trees into vertical and horizontal zones. 2. He then carefully recorded the amount of time warblers spent feeding in each. Results 1. Cape May warbler fed mainly among new needles and buds at the tops of trees.  Testing Ecological Theory The feeding zone of the blackburnian warbler overlapped broadly with that of Cape May but extended further down the tree. Black-throated green warbler fed toward the trees interiors (new and some older needles). Bay-breasted warbler concentrated its feeding in the interior of trees ( Old needles and lichen covered middle branches) Testing Ecological Theory Finally, the yellow-rumped warbler fed mostly on the ground and low in the trees. Mac Arthur’s observations showed that: 1. These warblers live in the same forest, they extract food from different parts of that forest. 2. He concluded that feeding in different zones may reduce competition among the warblers of spruce forests. Forest Canopy Research Many ecosystem studies have focused on nutrients, the raw materials that an organism must acquire from the environment to survive. Forest Canopy Research For example Nalini Nadkarni (1981 to 1985) Stood on the rain forest floor and wondered about the diversity of organisms and ecological relationships that might be hidden in the canopy high above. Forest Canopy Research 1. Low availability of nutrients in forest soils….. 2. How can the life of rain forests be maintained on such nutrientpoor soils? 3. The nutrient stores in the rain forest canopy are associated with epiphytes. Forest Canopy Research Epiphytes are plants, such as many orchids and ferns, that live on the branches and trunks of other plants. Epiphytes are not parasitic ( they don’t derive their nutrients from the plant they grow on). Epiphyte traps organic matter, which eventually forms a mat.  Epiphyte mats increase in thickness up to 30 cm, providing a complex structure that supports a diverse community of plants and animals.  Epiphyte mats contain significant quantities of nutrients. Forest Canopy Research Nadkarni’s research showed that in both temperate and tropical rain forests, trees access these nutrient stores by sending out roots from their trunks and branches high above the ground. These roots grow into the epiphyte mats and extract 5.6 Types of Data  Data are recorded observations or items of  information. Data fall into two categories: ◦1) Qualitative, or descriptions rather than measurements.  ◦2) Quantitative, or recorded measurements, which are sometimes organized into tables and graphs. Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings 5.7 Scientific Enquiry The word Science is derived from Latin and means “to know” Inquiry is the search for information and explanation There are two main types of scientific inquiry: Discovery Science and Hypothesis-Based Science Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Discovery Science Discovery science A scientific methodology which focuses on the analysis of large volumes of experimental data to find patterns and correlations. Observations can lead us to ask questions and propose hypothetical explanations called hypotheses. Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings The Role of Hypotheses in Inquiry A hypothesis is an idea or explanation that you are able to test through study and experimentation. A hypothesis must be: 1) Testable 2) Falsifiable Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings A Research Question A research question is a question that a research intends to address. Good research questions must be: Clear and easy to understand. Specific, with a definite focus. Answerable – it must be possible to collect the necessary data. Relevant to the area of study. The Scientific Method A process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions. Steps: a. Make an observation. b. Ask a question. c. Form a hypothesis. d. Make a prediction based on the hypothesis. e. Experiment. f. Results