Ecosystems and the Scientific Method Flashcards
What is Ecology
is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment in a hierarchy of levels and organizations: individuals, populations, communities and ecosystem
Biosphere
all space occupied by living things on the earth
community
population of species that occur together in the same space and time
population
individuals of the same species that co-occur in space and time
individual
living entities that are genetically and physically discrete
What is Autoecology?
a subdiscipline of ecology that studies how an individual and/or individual species interacts with their environment
- encompasses both behavioural and physiological ecology
- takes place at the level of individuals, populations, or entire species and deal with environment variables including light, humidity, temp, pH,etc.
Examples of Autoecology
- studies targeting understanding what traints allow for species to adapt to harsh environments
- factors that control high altitude pulmonary edema in humans
- how does tree growth vary anually in response to elevated CO2 levels?
Population ecology
focuses on understanding processes that influence population structure and dynamics, such as birth and mortality rates
- population: defined as a group of individuals of a single species that inhabits a defined area
Examples of Population Ecology
- effects of hunting practices on the survival rate of brown bear offspring in Norway
- what are the factors that influence the spread of chronic wasting disease in wild ungulates?
Community Ecology
-focuses on understanding interactions between species or factors that influence the structure of entire communities (e.g., diversity, productivity)
-species do not live in isolation, but instead interact with other species to form ecological communities that can change over space and time
community ecology examples
- exploring of vegetation complexity increases bird diversity in forest
- food webs summarize feeding relationships in a community
Ecosystem Ecology
- focuses on understanding how organisms and chemical and physical processes interact
- energy flow and nutrient cycling are key study areas of this discipline
Ecosystem ecology examples
- how do wildfires affect soil nutrient cycling in forests?
- how does grazing affect soil nutrient flow and carbon sequestration in prairie grasslands?
Landscape ecology
- study on how landscape patterns influence ecological processes, and how ecological processes in turn modify the landscape
-key study area: how human-altered landscapes influence organismal movement (urban ecology)
landscape ecology example
-effects of roads on animal movement and plant dispersal
- wildfire crossing bridges
Macroecology
-study of processes at large spatial scales
-e.g., a region, continent, several continents
- often focuses on organismal abundance, distribution and diversity
Macroecology examples
-global biodiversity hotspots
Global Ecology
-study of processes at the global scale, with relevance for all life on our planet
- global climate change is a key study area
Global ecology examples
- effect of different CO2 emission scenarios and associated warming on the global species extinction rates
What is an Ecosystem
an arbitrarily defined geographic volume containing interacting biotic and abiotic factors, connected to other ecosystems by a series of inputs and outputs. Additionally, they have a time dimension and humans may or may not be a part of the system
Abiotic Factors
- non-living part of ecosystems
- examples: water, light, temp, air, salinity, heavy metals
Biotic Factors
- living part of ecosystems
examples: plants, animals, fungi, bacteria
The Scientific Method
- observation
- question
- hypothesis
- experiment
- conclusion
What is a Null Hypothesis
H0
- there is no effect/ difference in the population
