BIOL208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Behavioral Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Limnology

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Biology (Biological Sciences)
• Course: BIOL208
• Professor: Arthur Whiting

Document Summary

Includes all organisms living in an area and the physical environment with which they interact: biosphere, highest level of ecological organization, cab be viewed as the global ecosystem. Why are we studying ecology: since the mid 1980s, there has been a rapid rate of loss of species, a decrease in wildlife habitat. Increase in environmental contamination: a rise in parasites and diseases, climate change. Early contributors to plant ecology: carl ludwig wildenow (1765-1812, early plant ecology, spatial distribution of plants, mappi(cid:374)g the (cid:449)orld"s (cid:448)egetatio(cid:374, eugenius warming (1841-1924, first text book on plant ecology (1895) Nature and scope of ecology: ecology = study of relationships between organisms and the environment, wide variety of approaches, large temporal and spatial scales, field, lab observational, manipulative. Interrelationships: organism effects on environment, environment effects on the organism, organisms, all organisms are treated equally, relationships of all organisms, environment, biotic and abiotic factors.