1. Ecology Introduction to Ecology

2. Why are you here? Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives. --Thomas Berry

3. Global and Local Environmental Issues Human Population Growth Water Quality and Supply –Surface –Ground Degradation of Soils Air Quality Species Diversity Invasive Species Land Use Post-911 Ecology

4. Hierarchy of Biological Systems Krohne, D.T. General Ecology. 2 nd Edition.Pacific Grove, CA. Brooks/Cole. 2001. p. 8

5. What is ecology? Ecology – a study of the interaction between organisms and their environment. Branches: –Molecular –Physiological –Genetic –Autoecology –Population –Community –Ecosystem* –Systems / Landscape

6. Allied Sciences Natural Science (qualitative descriptions) Environmental Toxicology – chemistry and physiology of pollution Conservation biology – maintain biodiversity Environmental Science – ecological effects of human activities on the environment

7. Allied Sciences Environmental Science involves understanding: –Ecology –Chemistry –Geology –Physics –Meteorology –Cultural anthropology –Sociology –Psychology –Cartography –Economics

8. Objectives of Ecology Understand how the natural world works Understand how human systems are interacting with natural systems Accurately assess the status and model the trends of crucial natural systems Promote and follow a long-term, sustainable relationship with the natural world

9. Your WORLD vs. Your CHOICE

10. Conceptual Framework for Ecological Research Scientific Process (aka Scientific Method) –There are various ways to represent the scientific method, but all share these basic characteristics:

11. Conceptual Framework for Ecological Research 1.Garbage in—Garbage out 2.All Scientific Conclusions are tentative (no vs. maybe) 3.Understanding how to do science is far more important than memorizing ephemeral facts.

12. Conceptual Framework for Ecological Research Science proceeds by the falsification of alternate explanations of an observed effect. (Krohne, 2001) One of these alternative explanations (hypotheses) must be the Null Hypothesis (H 0 ) which states that the observed effect is the result of chance (No statistically significant difference between data).

13. Conceptual Framework for Ecological Research Example: Do bats prefer to munch on a certain size moth? vs. Moths

14. Conceptual Framework for Ecological Research Observations of the bats in the field show that they prey more on big moths than little moths. Conclusion?

15. Conceptual Framework for Ecological Research Now let’s gather some more data… Conclusion? H 1 = Bats prefer smaller moths H 2 = Bats prefer large moths H 0 = Bat do not demonstrate a moth size preference

16. Reductionism vs. Holism Reductionism – a process in which a system is reduced to its component parts for the purpose of study. Holism – a process in which a system is kept intact for the purpose of studying the interaction of its parts. The trick in ecological research is to be as holistic as possible while maintaining the reductionism needed to be quantitative and empirical.

17. Reductionism vs. Holism Example 1:

18. Reductionism vs. Holism Example 2:

19. Reductionism vs. Holism Most modern ecological research attempts to be as quantitative as possible. The higher up the hierarchy you go, the more difficult it is to make inferences. This is why comparative studies are so valuable to ecologists.

20. Reductionism vs. Holism Emergent Properties – Phenomena that are observable only in the complete, intact system.

21. Statistical Analysis Various statistical tools are useful to test the accuracy and validity of, and correlation between collected data. –Regression –T-tests –ANOVAs Lab: Stats and Data Sets. Discussion of Results

22. Mathematical Modeling Mathematical models are used in an attempt to formulate equations that reflect the operation of a system. These models are fueled by general assumptions about the basic operation of the system that affect the validity of the final mathematical model.