1. Ecology Marie Černá

2. Ecology from the Greek words:oikos – home logos – to study the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment These interactions occur at a hierarchy of scales that ecologists study, from organismal to global.

3. The biological hierarchy Organismal ecology – physiology + behavior Population ecology – the same species Community ecology – different species Ecosystem ecology - Land(sea)scape ecology – joint ecosystems Global ecology = biosphere

4. Ecosystem the community of organisms in an area the physical factors with which those organisms interact Ecosystem ecology emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling between organisms and the environment.

5. Products of ecosystem processes Resources critical to human survival + welfare - the food we eat - the oxygen we breathe

7. Energy flow and Chemical cycling

8. Energy cannot be recycled - external source Energy flows through ecosystems. Matter cycles within and through them.

9. Human activities now dominate most chemical cycles on Earth Nutrient Enrichment (agriculture: fertilizer in groundwater + surface-water → algal growth) Acid Precipitation (burning of fossil fuels, coal- oil-peat: nitric or sulfuric acids in rain + snow) Toxins in the Environment (↑ concentration in successive trophic levels of food webs) Greenhouse Gases + Global Warming (↑CO 2 ) Depletion of Atmospheric Ozone (chlorine- containing pollutants → the penetration of UV)

10. Literature Biology, eighth edition, Campbell, Reece Unit eight: Ecology Chapter 55: Ecosystems Pages 1222 – 1244