Biology 2483A Lecture Notes - Trematoda, Tenuis Consonant, Ribeiroia Ondatrae
27 Sep 2013
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Lecture 1: ecology introduction: the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment, the scientific study of interactions that determine the distribution (geographic location) and abundance of organisms. Differs from environmental activism and environmental science (solutions to environmental problems) Balance of nature return to original preferred state after disturbance. Each species has a distinct role to play in maintaining that balance. Ecological maxims (guiding principles: organisms interact and are interconnected, everything goes somewhere, no population can increase in size forever, finite energy and resources result in tradeoffs. Tradeoffs can be thought of as an investment of energy by species: organisms evolve, communities and ecosystems change over time. Change can happen either very rapidly or very slowly, depending on the species; biased/limited by our own perception because of our own lifespan so we overlook changes: spatial scale matters. Organism population community ecosystem biosphere. Population: group of individuals of a species that are living and interacting in a particular area.
