BIOL 4120 Principles of Ecology

Dafeng Hui Office: Harned Hall 320 Phone: 963-5777 Email: dhui@tnstate.edu

Introduction of instructor

Education Background
Ph.D. in Botany (Ecology), University of Oklahoma MS in Biostatistics and Quantitative Genetics, Yangzhou University, PR China BS in Agronomy, Yangzhou University, PR China

Post-doc research experience

University of Oklahoma Duke University (Field experiment) Auburn University (Modeling)

Introduction (cont.)

My research interests
Global change ecology (e.g., how elevated CO2 and temperature influence plants and soils) Ecosystem ecology (carbon, water and nutrient cycling in grasslands, forests etc.) Biostatistical applications in biological sciences (data analysis, synthesis) Web pages: http://faculty.tnstate.edu/dhui

My teaching interests
Biostatistics (or Biometry) Ecological modeling Ecology

Student information

Please introduce yourself:

Your name Junior or senior? Major Courses youve taken that are relevant to ecology Courses you have this semester Any other thing else you want to share

Course information
Office hours: MWF 11:30 am - 2:30 pm; T Th 12:00-2:30 pm; or by appointment
Textbook: Elements of Ecology, 6th ed., Smith, T. H. and Smith, R. L. 2006. Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, Inc. ISBN10: 0805348301, ISBN13: 9780805348309 Lab manual: Ecology on Campus, 1st ed., Kingsolver, Robert. 2006. Person/Benjamin Cummings, Inc. ISBN10: 0805382143, ISBN13: 9780805382143

Lectures
1.Preparation read the textbook 2.Download and print the lecture outline for notes at http://faculty.tnstate. edu/dhui/biol4120 3.Supplementary materials Dr. Ganter built a web site for this course: http://www.tnstate.e du/ganter/Ecology

Attendance
Required for both lecture and laboratory 0.5 point for each absence (lecture)

Grading policy

The overall grade for the course will be based on the standard TSU pointto-grade scale.

The distribution of points is:

Exams: 50% Final: 10% Laboratory: 25% Presentation: 10% Attendance: 5%

Homework, Lab report, Exam, Paper and summary

Introduction
0.1 What is ecology?

0.2 Why do we need to study Ecology?

0.3 How to study ecology?

0.1 What is Ecology ?

Ecology: ~ Greek word oikos (family household) +logy (study of) The scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environments.

Ernst Haeckel, 1866

The study of the relationships, distribution, and abundance of organisms, or groups of organisms, in an environment. S.I. Dodson, 1998

What is Ecology NOT?

Environmental Science (i.e., the study of man's effect on natural systems) Environmentalism (activism, aim to improving the environment). Resource management
Wildlife Fisheries Soil Resources Forestry

0.2 Why study Ecology?

Intellectual curiosity (explain phenomena) Ecology has important impacts on everyone's daily lives Ecosystem services and goods Huge impact of humans on global ecosystems--ecology holds key to predicting our future. to understand some of the natural laws that impose limitations on the interaction of organisms (including humans) with their living and nonliving environment.

0.3 How to study ecology?

Ecology employs the scientific method. scientific method is a system of observation that is "formalized", which means that it is done is such a way that one can reproduce the observations under the same conditions.

Scientific Method
1. 2. 3.

Make observations. Generate a question (s) Generate a hypothesis (tentative answer)

- formulate a testable prediction

4.

5.

6.

Design an experiment to test the prediction Accept or reject hypothesis. (Not prove) Start again

Scientific Method

For Example: Productivity and nutrient (N) in prairie grasslands of North America Observation and Hypothesis Data collection, Test

(observational, laboratory and field experiments, modeling)

Field experiment
experiments have some elements in common:
Treatment Groups: nitrogen, irrigation; number of species etc Control Groups: no N applied Randomization: randomly assign a treatment to a plot Replication: several plots for same treatment.

Cedar Creek LTER site, Uni. Of Minnesota (Fig. 1.3)

Estimation and prediction

Models:
Abstract, simplified representations of real systems.
Conceptual model and mathematical model Use mathematical model to estimate and predict.

Are there any limitations to science?

Science is Self-Correcting
Science is limited by the ability of the scientists to collect and interpret data. New technology makes it possible for science to correct misinterpreted data. Uncertainty is an inherent feature of science

Chapter 1. The nature of Ecology

1.1 Ecology is organized into a hierarchical group of subdisciplines (branches) 1.2 Hierarchical Organization and emergent Properties 1.3 Ecology is especially interdisciplinary.

1.1 Ecology is organized into a hierarchical group of subdisciplines

Individuals
- living organisms, fundamental units of populations and communities

Populations
- group of individuals of a species

Communities
- an assemblages of species populations occurring together in space and time

Ecosystems
- a collection of two related components (biotic and abiotic) that function as a unit.

Ecosystem

Consists of two basic interacting components:

The living, or biotic The Physical, or abiotic

An example
A forest ecosystem

Biotic: plants, animals, microbes that inhabit the forest Abiotic: atmosphere, climate, soil, and water Interaction: tree growths modify physical environment. Birds foraging on insects reduce insects and species abundance and composition.

Ecology of individuals
Individual organism forms the basic unit in ecology. It is the individual that responds to the environment. Behavioral ecology is the study of how behavior of individuals affects their ability to survive and reproduce. Since a population is composed of individuals behavior directly impacts population level phenomena, such as population growth rate Physiological Ecology (or Autecology) is the study of how physical factors, such at temperature, moisture, and light, affect the survival and reproduction of individual organisms Evolution Ecology is the study of environment influence on the evolution of organisms. Natural selection, evolution of populations.

Ecology of group of individuals

Population ecology is the study of how groups of individuals (belonging to the same species) grow (or shrink) and reproduce. Depending on the nature of the species, many factors (food availability, competition, predation etc.) may affect population growth. Community ecology is the study of how populations from different species interact to mutually affect each population's growth and survival. Community structure and dynamics. Landscape ecology study spatial patterns and underlying mechanisms (patches in landscape, fragmented landscape, corridors). Ecosystem ecology is the study of whole living systems, with focus on the flow of energy and biomass in large scale living systems. Conservation ecology, restoration ecology, and global ecology.

1.2 Hierarchical Organization and Emergent Properties

Emergent Properties:
the set of phenomena that can be explained only by looking at a particular hierarchical level e.g.: is the growth of an individual the same as that in a group of many (population)?
The principle is a more formal statement of the whole is more (or less) than the sum of the parts. Scaling

1.3 Ecology is especially interdisciplinary

An example, Ecology of Forest Birds: Using field study to test theory (what allows them to co-exist?)

Robert MacArthur: competition (1958)

Douglass Morse (1980, 1989):

The End