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Introduction to Ecology

Introduction to Ecology. Session 1 – Introduction to the Study of Ecology. The Science of Ecology. Goals for the day. Differentiate Between Ecology and Environmentalism and Conservation Biology Trace History of Ecological Thought Define Ecology Scientifically Learn the Scientific Method

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Introduction to Ecology

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  1. Introduction to Ecology Session 1 – Introduction to the Study of Ecology

  2. The Science of Ecology Goals for the day • Differentiate Between Ecology and Environmentalism and Conservation Biology • Trace History of Ecological Thought • Define Ecology Scientifically • Learn the Scientific Method • Organization of Ecology

  3. The Science of Ecology Goals for the day • Differentiate Between Ecology and Environmentalism and Conservation Biology • Trace History of Ecological Thought • Define Ecology Scientifically • Learn the Scientific Method • Organization of Ecology

  4. Ecology vs Environmentalism • Scientific societies and activist groups – often in conflict with each other • Earth First, Greenpeace, and WWF • Industry – e.g., GMO’s: Pandora’s box or chicken little? • Individuals vs populations • Hawaii: PETA vs Nature Conservancy or

  5. Hawaii: PETA vs Nature Conservancy • Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) • Integral part of native Hawaiian Luau culture • Introduced by both Polynesians and Europeans (2 spp) • Rooting destroys many plants • Create wallows, water collects, and encourages mosquitoes to breed

  6. Hawaii: PETA vs Nature Conservancy • Nature Conservancy • Attempting to eradicate the pig from their lands • Uses ecological impact of pigs as justification for their removal • Capture through noose snare-trapping, as this is the easiest way to capture the animals

  7. Hawaii: PETA vs Nature Conservancy • PETA • Recognizes the impact that these pigs have on the ecology • Snare-trapping is protracted, inhumane, and a painful way to kill them • Advocates for humane trapping and then quick kills • Ignores financial cost

  8. Hawaii: PETA vs Nature Conservancy • Resolution? • Still to be found • Nature Conservancy continues to trap • A few write-ups of the controversy are available from the Honolulu Advertiser • A more general discussion of invasives in Hawaii is availble from USGS

  9. Key Distinctions • Ecology is a science • Our focus in this course • Environmentalism is a cause • With our without scientific backing • Conservation Biology is the integration of these two • Using science to support a political cause

  10. The Science of Ecology Goals for the day • Differentiate Between Ecology and Environmentalism and Conservation Biology • Trace History of Ecological Thought • Define Ecology Scientifically • Learn the Scientific Method • Organization of Ecology

  11. History of Ecological Thought • From Thoreau to modern times • Historically has been literature-based appreciation of nature • Subsequently became more of a descriptive science

  12. Darwinian References • “…how infinitely complex and close-fitting are the mutual relations of all organic beings to each other and to their physical conditions of life.” • Origin of Species

  13. The Science of Ecology Goals for the day • Differentiate Between Ecology and Environmentalism and Conservation Biology • Trace History of Ecological Thought • Define Ecology Scientifically • Learn the Scientific Method • Organization of Ecology

  14. Definition of Ecology • “To determine the factors that have produced the present distribution and abundance of organisms” • (Jonathan Krebs, 1972)

  15. Factors Influencing Organismal Distribution and Abundance • Abiotic • Climate • Topography • Latitude • Altitude • Biotic • Intraspecific Interactions • Interspecific Interactions

  16. The Science of Ecology Goals for the day • Differentiate Between Ecology and Environmentalism and Conservation Biology • Trace History of Ecological Thought • Define Ecology Scientifically • Learn the Scientific Method • Organization of Ecology

  17. Scientific Method and Hypothesis Testing • Goals: • Judge good science • Hudson River PCB dredging • Electromagnetic radiation and cancer • Sea otters, killer whales and overfishing • Do good science

  18. Goals of science • Describe the patterns that are found in the natural world • Purely descriptive in nature • Historically this was “ecology”, a.k.a. naturalism • Make up explanations and then stop there • Test Explanation of Patterns • This is the major emphasis of most of what we usually call “science” • Key component: TEST these explanations! • How to test these explanations? • The Scientific Method

  19. Methods of Explanation • Include those of descriptive science • Approximately 11 Steps • Process is repeated many times • Can NEVER prove a hypothesis • Can only reject many, leaving one as best supported by the data • “Proof” is a common fallacy • Centerpiece of this method are Hypotheses

  20. Types of Hypotheses • Null hypothesis • The hypothesis of no change • Often abbreviated as Ho • Alternative hypotheses • Often abbreviated as Ha, Hb, etc. • All must be mutually exclusive (including the null) • We accept an Ha if Ho is first statistically rejected • Which Ha to accept is determined by trends in data

  21. Scientific Method - Steps 1-5 • Observe or suspect pattern • Posit cause or significance of observed difference • Create answerable question to explain pattern • Create testable hypotheses • Null (Ho ) and alternate hypotheses (Ha) • Design experiment

  22. Scientific Method - Steps 6-11 • Collect data (descriptive stage) • Analyze data, primarily using statistics • Evaluate hypotheses, reject Ho? • Make conclusions based on data • Note problems in current work • Predict future directions for research

  23. An Exercise… • Come up with an observation that you’ve seen recently and work through how you would implement the above 11 steps

  24. Parts of a scientific report • Title • Abstract - an overall summary • Introduction - background, question, Has • Methods - what we did • Results - what we found, analyses results • Discussion - interpretations, predictions • Acknowledgements - who helped us • References - who we cited

  25. Transmission Methods in Science • Written report (articles, chapters, books) • Traditional • Oral presentation • Commonly used for preliminary presentation of work to get feedback before writing it up • Poster • Visual summary of work - used at conferences • Web page • Can use a written report & make it interactive

  26. How to Evaluate Science? • Do the data address the question? • Is there enough data to support the claim? • Has the study been replicated elsewhere? • Are alternative interpretations considered? • Is it peer-reviewed? • Is it presented objectively? • Are there real controls?

  27. The Science of Ecology Goals for the day • Differentiate Between Ecology and Environmentalism and Conservation Biology • Trace History of Ecological Thought • Define Ecology Scientifically • Learn the Scientific Method • Organization of Ecology

  28. What is the Organization of Ecology? • Ranges widely from individual to biosphere studies • Most of ecology happens in the current time • Proximate Explanations • Only a few fields (e.g., evolutionary ecology and paleoecology) are concerned with past environments and historical time • Ultimate Explanations

  29. Proximate Fields • Emphasis of this course • Examples, by scale • Population • Growth rates, PVA, Population genetics, Metapopulation analyses, etc. • Community • Interspecific interactions, Environmental impact statements, etc. • Ecosystem • Energy, Matter, Nutrient flow, Pollution,

  30. Ultimate Fields • Evolutionary Ecology • Using trees of relationship (phylogenies) to address ecological questions • E.g., evolution of swordtail length and preference in platys • Behavioral Ecology • Comparing a few closely related species to address ecological questions • Paleoecology • Attempting to recreate the ecology of ancient times • One of the goals is to recreate the ancient environment in which the lineages may have evolved

  31. Population Community Ecosystem Proximate Fields Revisited • Trends down pyramid: • Increase in geographicscale • From single species to multiple species • Increasing number of ecological factors that may be influential • Decreasing certainty in results

  32. Assignment for Next week: • Establish your Ecological Footprint • How much of an impact you have on the planet • Instructions are all online, and available here • Turn in at beginning of class • We will discuss it then

  33. Next Week: The Tour of the Basic Fields of Ecology Begins • Population ecology • Next week’s emphasis • Community ecology • Ecosystem ecology • Conservation Issues • Application of above to real world problems

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