1. Introduction

Question 1

What is ecology? 4

Answer 1

1. Oikos = home, therefore the study of the home life of organisms ie, what they do
2. derived from same root as economics - management of the household
3. it was first propsed by Ernest Haekel in 1869 as relationship between organisms and environment
4. in 1972, Krebs, the foremost ecologist of the 20thc, defined as study of interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms

Question 2

What does ecology involve? 4

Answer 2

1. the study of the structure and function of nature
2. characterising patterns in nature
3. studying complex interactions among organisms and their environments
4. understanding the mechanisms involved in biological diversity

Question 3

What are the roots of ecology? 4

Answer 3

1. natural history
2. human demography
3. biometry/statistical analysis
4. applied problems of agriculture and medicine

Question 4

What are the applications of ecology? 6

Answer 4

1. broad range
2. conservation and maintenance of biodiversity
3. sustainable management of natural resources
4. production of food
5. pest and disease control
6. is an interdisciplinary subject and requires aspects of physiology, behaviour, evolution and genetics

Question 5

What is the ecological hierarchy? 6

Answer 5

1. ecosphere - all living organisms interacting with the physcial environment
2. biome - large regional or subcontinental system characterised by a major vegetation type eg. peatlands
3. landscape - heterogenous area of a cluster of interacting ecosystems, eg. the river trent catchment
4. ecosystem - community and non-living environment
5. community - all populations of all species in the same place
6. population - all individuals of one species in a given area

Question 6

Name and justify some important ecosystems and biomes. 9

Answer 6

1. Soil ecosystem
2. basis of terrestrial biomass
3. aquatic ecosystem
4. freshwater and marine
5. largest ecosystem on earth
6. temperate and broadleaf forest biome
7. most of northen hemisphere
8. grass savanna biome
9. most of s. hemisphere

Question 7

What different approaches are used in the study of ecology? 4

Answer 7

1. Theoretical
2. models used to predict species interactions
3. lab experiments
4. field experiments eg. FACE climate change studies.