ECOLOGY STUDY GUIDE: What is Ecology?

Define Ecology (what is it the study of?)

> Ecology is the scientific discipline that is concerned with the relationships between organisms and their past, present, and future environments. These relationships include physiological responses of individuals, structure and dynamics of populations, interactions among species, organization of biological communities, and processing of energy and matter in ecosystems.

Adaptation

> An evolutionary response *at the population level* that involves changes in gene frequencies. > May be morphological, physiological, or behavioral.

Hierarchical Levels of Ecological Organization: Ecosystem

> Community of organisms and their physical environment interacting as a ecological unit

Who are the Pioneers of Ecology (14) (don't really need to know details)

> E.P. and H.T. Odum - The fathers of modern ecology > John J. Bartram - America's first naturalist who described the ecosystems he encountered here > Alex Von Humbolt - As an explorer in the 1800's first noticed there were zones of vegetation in South America due to temperature > Ellen Swallow - Noted ecologist, recognized that technology and development were affecting the environment > Pehr Kalm - First person to characterize plant succession > F.E. Clements - Father of plant ecology in U.S. wrote the first book on researching methods in ecology > E.A. Birge and C. Juday - Fathers of American limnology, studied small lakes > Charles Adams - Taught the first course at the University of Chicago in 1903 > Arthor Tansley - Couned the term "ecosystem" in 1935 > Henry Cowles - First person to pioneer ecosystem studies concerning community concepts > Victor Shelford - After writing a book on beetles and insects, became known as the father of animal ecology > G.E. Hutchinson - Introduced statistics to ecology and changed the way we view our world around us

Hierarchical Levels of Ecological Organization: Landscape

> Energy flow, nutrient exchange and movement of organisms *across* ecosystems

What makes Industrial Ecology different and similar to the other 5 disciplines?

> Integrates chemistry, physics, engineering and ecology to quantify the impacts on nature of manmade things Although it is talking about the impacts on the environment and animals it only focuses on the effects man has on the world.

Niche Theory

> Its basically a theory explaining how a high number of species exist in one community by ignoring the presence of the ecological niche (different organisms competing for the same role/food). > MacARTHUR STUDY IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS

What are the *3* major sciences that make up Ecology?

> Plant Ecology (Geography + Ecology) > Animal Ecology (Natural History + Ecology) > Biology (simply Biology + Ecology) LECTURE 8-25-17, SLIDE 4

Hierarchical Levels of Ecological Organization: Biosphere

> The portion of the earth and atmosphere capable of supporting life

Acclimation

A reversible change in morphology and/or physiology *withing an individual* in response to a change in the environment

5 Sub-Disciplines of Ecology How does size of the study differ from each of these?

The size of each is basically in their names. For physiological its basically on the the ecosystem level. Ans Biogeochemical, Systems evology, and Industrial ecology, doesn't really have any limits to scale. Their scales (although usually big) can vary.

Who was it that studied this Appalachian Lake example?

Margaret Davis

5 Sub-Disciplines of Ecology 5. Systems Ecology

Math, modeling.

What are the *EIGHT* hierarchical levels of Ecology?

1-BIOSPHERE 2-REGION 3-LANDSCAPE 4-ECOSYSTEMS 5-COMMUNITIES 6-INTERACTIONS 7-POPULATIONS 8-ORGANISMS (LECTURE 8-28-17, SLIDE 7)

5 Sub-Disciplines of Ecology

1. Physiological Ecology 2. Population Ecology 3. Community Ecology 4. Biogeochemical Ecology 5. Systems Ecology

What is the difference between Ecology, Environmental Science, and Environmentalism?

Ecology - a true science Environmental Science - a true science - significant overlap with Ecology - human impact on nature Environmentalism - NOT a true science - incorporates aesthetics - incorporates values

Define the difference between Ecosystem, Communities, and Populations. (Give examples of how one would study each of these differently)

Ecosystem is a community interacting with their environment. A community is the interaction of different species while a population deals with one species and how they interact with the environment. Ecosystem: How does the fire effect nutrient availability in grassland ecosystems? Community: What factors influence the number of large mammal species living together in African grasslands? Population: What factors control zebra population LECTURE 8-25, SLIDE 7

physiological filtering? and Example

It is when a certain group gets filtered out in a species. The example was the Ryan Norris and Colleagues: American Redstart migration and feeding. They basically found out that some of the birds were feeding down south, instead of north. Basically the males eating down south were getting better food through fruits and seeds so they were attracting more of the females than the ones going up north to their usual place.

Palynology: What was the example/slide given in class? (Explain how the figure 1.8 shows palynology)

LECTURE 8-28 SLIDE 5 / 8-30 SLIDE 3 Margaret Davis did a study on the Appalachian mountain lake; forest composition over time. In the example it shows a lake and surrounding the lake is obviously different layers of soil. In the different layers you could tell what trees/plants were alive when due to the seeds/spores in the soil. Spruce was at 12,000 years, Beech was at 8,000 years, and Chestnut started around 2,000 years ago. It focuses on how chestnut trees have been reduced in the present day due to blight.

How does the MacArthur's study of Warblers show the relationship between structural complexity and diversity? (explain the feeding habits)

MacArthur basically focused on 1 tree in the forest and analyzed the behavior of different warbler species. He say that different types eat on different sections of the tree. Structural Complexity/Diversity -> Diversity Its basically through years of evolution the same warbler has evolved into different types to bead competition. LECTURE 8-28, SLIDE 9

5 Sub-Disciplines of Ecology 4. Biogeochemical Ecology

Nutrient cycling, primary productivity, decomposition

5 Sub-Disciplines of Ecology 2. Population Ecology

Population size, speciation, evolution, competition, energy allocation

How did Nalini Nadkarni show the nutrient budge scale differs from forest to forest?

She did rainforest canopy studies, basically studying epiphytes She found out: Tropical rainforests of Coasta Rica: Epiphyte mat contains ~1/2 nutrient content of foliage Temperate rainforests of Washington state: epophyte mass ~4x that of foliage Trees send roots up from branches to access these nutrient stores LECTURE 8-30, SLIDE 2

5 Sub-Disciplines of Ecology 3. Community Ecology

Species diversity, competition, succession

5 Sub-Disciplines of Ecology 1. Physiological Ecology

Species responses to the environment, answers the "why questions"

What is the difference between adaptation and acclimation?

THE ABILITY OF ACCLIMATE *IS* AN ADAPTATION

What is VCU's study of the Prothonotary Warbler trying to do?

They set of bird boxes everywhere and basically monitor the population rate of the warblers.

Define Palynology

the study of pollen grains and spores