Today: Reminders on the Take-home Final Intro to Ecological Principles Thinking About Wolves…,...
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Transcript of Today: Reminders on the Take-home Final Intro to Ecological Principles Thinking About Wolves…,...
Today:
•Reminders on the Take-home Final
•Intro to Ecological Principles
•Thinking About Wolves…, Group Quiz 6If you finish early, work with me or your colleagues on your final draft.
Due Thursday!
Next: Thinking About Next: Thinking About EcologyEcology
What is “ecology”?What sorts of
questions does ecology seek to
answer?
Thinking About EcologyThinking About Ecology
Ecology encompasses a wide-range of inquiries, including:
Organismal Ecology
Population Ecology
Community Ecology
Ecosystem Ecology
Landscape Ecology
The Biosphere!
Thinking About EcologyThinking About Ecology
Ecology is not Environmental Science! (Although Environmental Science pulls
heavily from Ecology!)
“To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution to intelligent tinkering.”
- Aldo Leopold
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
Competing Principles in Community Ecology:
The Rivet Modelvs
The Redundancy Model
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
How do we know?
We need to understand a
species’ ecological niche: the total use of biotic and
abiotic resources in its environment.
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
A species’ ecological niche is often heavily influenced by competition (the competitive
exclusion principle)
Thinking About Thinking About Ecology: Ecology:
Community Community EcologyEcology
An organism’s role in a community
can also be described by its trophic level.
Thinking About Thinking About Ecology: Ecology:
Community Community EcologyEcology
The trophic relationships in a
community can be visualized in a food
web
Are there any limits the length of a food
web? If so, why??
A Typical Biomass Pyramid:A Typical Biomass Pyramid:
Thinking About Ecology: Community Ecology
Energy Transfer in an Ecosystem:Energy Transfer in an Ecosystem:
Thinking About Ecology: Community Ecology
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
Possible Limitations:
1. The Energetic Hypothesis
2. The Dynamic Stability
Hypothesis
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
Key Players in Community Dynamics:
1. Dominant species (high abundance or biomass)
2. Keystone species (pivotal role in community)
3. Foundation species (alter the structure or dynamics of their environment; facilitators)
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
Other Useful Ideas:
Biotic Potential
and
Environmental Resistance
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
Keystone species exert influence on a
community’s structure by virtue of their ecological niches.
How do we figure out who the keystone
species are??
Analyzing the Analyzing the Impact of Impact of
Keystone SpecieKeystone Speciess
Thinking About Ecology: Thinking About Ecology: Community EcologyCommunity Ecology
Thinking About the Gray Wolf
Reintroduction in Yellowstone