Chapter 1: The Nature of Ecology Flashcards
What is ecology?
-scientific study of the relationship between organisms and their environment
Ecology is a broad discipline that includes studies at ?
- various levels from individual organisms to biosphere.
Basic problem of ecology?
- to determine the causes of the distribution and abundance of organisms
Ecology involves looking at both ___ and ___
- abiotic: nonliving
- biotic (living
Organisms interact with the ___ and ___ components of their surrounding environment (___).
- physical (abiotic) and living (biotic)
- ecosystem
EX: physical: pH, acidity of soil, sunlight, air temp
biotic: predator and prey interaction or how they interact with plants…etc
fitness??
- survival and reproductive success
* *organisms need to feed themselves while keeping their risk of death as low as possible
What is an ecosystem?
- an ecological system that consists of both living (biotic) and physical (abiotic) components
- *Ex: forest….
Organisms not only respond to the physical environment but they also?
modify it
- ex: lots of species of animals and plants interacting with one another…relying on each other…with animals their presence in their ecosystem can modify it which is not always bad and not always good
Define an individual!
- smallest unit we are interested in/ concerned with not really organisms etc.
define population!
- group of individuals
define community?
- group of different populations
Define ecosystem?
- group of communities
An individual interacts with ?
its surrounding environment
A population is a group of (potentially) interbreeding individuals of ?
- the same species occurring together in space and time
In a community - all populations within an ecosystem?
- are interconnected to one another
Ecosystem: made up of?
- the community and physical environment . May have several leaves of interaction between individuals of the same species with the environment
What is the order of biological levels.
- individual- what specific characteristics of the individual allow it to live where it does
- population- is the pop increasing, decreasing, constant?
- community- how does one group of spices interact with another etc
- ecosystem - how do variations in weather etc affect communities in an area
- landscape- variations in topography and soil…affecting species composition and diversity
- biome- what features of geology and regional climate determine transitions between different ecosystems.
- biosphere - the role of a certain biome in a global aspect
Field and laboratory studies are used to test?
hypothesis
What is a hypothesis?
- a statement that will be tested by investigation
Development of a what while testing a hypothesis?
- model
L> conceptual, mathematical, computer): an abstract, simplified representation of a real system…..helps us try and answer our question
Describe scientific method…steps
- observations
- questions given rise from observations that seek to explain an observed phenomenon
- hypothesis: an answer to the question is proposed ….cause and effect
- predictions: follow from H..must be identified…predictions are testable…not general description of the interaction it is more specific to what may occur…
- Hypothesis testing : test prediction via observations and experiments…..data will be analyzed and interpreted to determine if they support or reject H
* *If results support H than more work must be done ….further hypothesis and predictions will be developed to expand on the problem
- if the results did not support…then the conceptual model of how the system works must be reconsidered and new H constructed.
Can there be a lot of confounding variables in a natural system?
YEP
L> lab exp can be good since we can control for a lot more BUT field ones give us there ealism
Advantages of experiments?
- you can do the manipulating so you know what is changing…helps us determine causation vs correlation
Disadvantages of experiments?
- there are still things we cannot control…bug out breaks…weather … still a lot of variability and factors we cannot control …..
- ALSO WHEN REPORTING RESULTS ITS IN SUPPORT NOT PROVING
Quantitative model vs qualitative?
- qualitative model= not as robust
- quantitative model= what we want - support with statistics
L>ANOVA, chi square etc
Scientific method is a continuous ?
- process of testing and correcting concepts
Whats the goal of a hypothesis?
- to eliminate incorrect ideas
Is there permanency to scientific concepts?
- no/.. they are only our current best interpretations of natural phenomena
**debate is a very important activity in science…
L> we tend to change our scientific concepts but not drastically usually only a little here and there
Origins of ecology is in?
- natural history
- which has been important for humans from the start…we have needed to know where to find food..how tog row it..how to deal with pests
When did the term ecology appear?
- mid 19 century but roots are in many disciplines
When was ecology really considered an important science in society?
1960s
Ecology has evolved into many different fields or areas of expertise such as?
- population, community, physiological, behavioural, conservation, global etc
The fact that ecology has evolved into many different fields means what?
IT IS NOT AN ISOLATED SCIENCE
- spread out into physical environment (geology, hydrology, atmospheric sciences )and response of organism (genetics, physiology , biochemistry behaviour
Is ecology interdisciplinary?
- YEPPERS
- overlaps with other fields of science such as biochemistry, physiology, genetics, geology, hydrology , meteorology
Ecology and humans?
- understanding the role of humans in nature is also important
Ecology is interdisciplinary ex with geology?
geology of an area influences availability of nutrients and water for plant growth
