1、Ecology is the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment The environment is a combination of the physical environment (temperature, water availability, etc.) and any influences on an organism exerted by other organisms (the biotic environment)Five warbler species feed in diff
2、erent zones in spruce treeMacArthurs work stimulated numerous studies of competition among many groups of organisms, including warblers. Some of these studies produced results that supported his work and others produced different results.All added to our knowledge of competition between species and
3、of warbler ecology.Douglass Morsewhether warblers use the same feeding zones in the absence of one or more of the other specie?The studies of MacArthur and Morse show how field studies can be used to address important ecological questionField studies can also be combined with laboratory studies to y
4、ield even more detailed information about ecological systemsBumblebee-Live in most of the cool regions of the earth. But how they maintain a warm body temperature in a cool environment?Ecologist Heinrich realized that in order to understand the ecology of bumblebees, he needed to quantify their gain
5、s and losses of energyHe used the Field and Laboratory StudiesFor ecologists who study the budgets of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or calcium, one of the first steps is to inventory their distribution within an ecosystemNalini Nadkarni-inventories by her changed our ideas of how tropical
6、and temperate rain forests are structured and how they functionThe earth and its life are always changingHowever, many of the most important changes occur over such a long period of time or at such large spatial scales that they are difficult to studyTwo approaches that provide insights into long-te
7、rm and large-scale processes are studies of pollen preserved in lake sediments and theoretical modelingIndividuals populationsCommunities ecosystemsThere are maily four identifiable subdivisions of scale which ecologists investigate:(i) Considering the response of individuals to their environments(i
8、i) Examining the response of populations of a single species to the environment, and considering processes such as abundance and fluctuations(iii) The composition, structure and function of communities (the populations occurring in a defined area), and their dynamics(iv) The processes occurring with
9、in ecosystems (the combination of a community and the abiotic components of the environment), such as energy flow, food webs and the cycling of nutrientsRule 1: Ecology is a scienceEcology is a purely scientific discipline which aims to understand the relationships between organisms and their wider
10、environment. It is important to segregate political and social impacts of ecological understanding from the scientific viewpointRule 2: Ecology is only understandable in the light of evolutionThe huge diversity of organisms, and the wealth of variety in their morphologies, physiologies and behavior
11、are all the results of many millions of years of evolution. Thus evolutionary history has left an indelible（难以磨灭的）impression on each and every individual It is only possible to make sense of the patterns we find today in the light of this evolutionary legacyRule 3: Nothing happens for the good of th
12、e speciesA very common misconception is the idea that patterns of behavior in organisms which appear to be costly to an individual occur for the good of the species. This is absolutely and completely wrongNatural selection will favor those genes which are passed on to the most offspring, even if the
13、se genes may cause a reduction in the species population sizeRule 4: Genes and environment are both importantThe environment that an organism finds itself in plays an important role in determining the options open to that individual. The genes which define an organisms makeup are also of fundamental
14、 importance To understand ecology, it is important to appreciate the fundamental nature of both of these factors and the fact that they interactRule 5: Understanding complexity requires modelsEcology is a complex subject, with huge variation at almost every scale-millions of species, each with consi
15、derable genetic variation, varying numbers and ever-changing behaviors in a complex and dynamic environmentTo understand it, it is necessary to clearly identify specific questions and then formulate hypotheses which can be testedIt is often very useful to frame the hypothesis in mathematical terms t
16、o avoid ambiguity and confusion which are often inevitable in a verbal modelMathematical models are widely used in ecologyRule 6: Story-telling is dangerousIn attempting to explain ecological patterns or relationships, it is easy to slip into a make-believe world where every observation is readily e
17、xplained by some ad hoc (特别的) assertion story-tellingThe temptation to advance hypotheses as facts should be avoided at all costsRule 7: here are hierarchies of explanationsFor any observation there is often an immediate cause that can be diagnosed. Often this causal explanation is insufficiently in
18、formative and we need to probe deeper to reach a fuller grasp of the situationEven if a phenomenon is explained, there may well be further and deeper explanations which allow us to see the fuller pictureRule 8: There are multiple constraints on organismsWhilst the total diversity of form, function a
19、nd environmental resilience exhibited by organisms is awe-inspiring, each individual (and, to a slightly lesser extent, each species) operates within a relatively narrow range of constraintsConstraints fundamentally take two forms, (i) physical and (ii) evolutionary. Evolution cab never reach perfec
20、tion because of these constraints and organisms are essentially hotchpotches (杂烩) of numerous compromises (妥协) Rule 9: Chance is importantChance events play a critical role in ecology. The opening of a gap in a forest canopy or the breaching of a sand dune after a storm will have a major impact on t
21、he ecology of the local fauna and flora, but both are unpredictable in either time or locationThe importance of chance events in ecology does not mean ecological patterns are wholly unpredictable, but it necessarily places boundaries on the potential level of predictive detail “Edge-effect”Rule 10:
22、The boundaries of ecology are in the mind of the ecologistEcology is a broad science, covering both organisms and physical environments and hence excludes little as potentially relevantMathematics, chemistry and physics，system biology are tools essential to the understanding of ecologyThe changes of
23、 ecosystem response to the jamming of human being, the ecological effects of pollution, disturbance and other stresses on the ecosystem, and the solutions to remedy, reconstruct and protect the ruinate environment In a word, Environmental Ecology is to interpret the interactions between human beings
24、 and their environment using the theory of ecology, and to create solutions to rescue the environmental problems Silent Spring, Rachel Carson (USA), 1962What is Ecology? 2Individual level 4Distribution and abundance, population dynamics, population growth, interaction among populations (competition,
25、 exploitation, mutualism) 8Species abundance and diversity; community structure and function; community dynamics; succession and stability 8Production and energy flow; nutrient cycling and retention; Landscape Ecology; global ecology 6 of Ecology in Environmental Studies: Environmental monitoring an
26、d environmental pollution control 8The environment elements that could have a direct or indirect impact on organisms growth, development, reproduction, behavior, distribution, and etc. Environmental factors vs. Ecological factors Ecological environment vs. Habitat Ecological environment: all the eco
27、logical factors Habitat：target individuals A variety of ecological factors in the environment are not isolated, but interrelated, mutual promotion and mutual restraint. One single factor changes, other factors are bound to cause varying degrees ofe.g. Wastewater treatment plant For any individual, a
28、mong all the ecological factors, there is an ecological factor that plays a decisive role for its life, known as the leading factor/dominant factor. The variety of dominant factors will cause changes in other factorse.g. anaerobic wastewater treat reactor is actually a constructed ecosystem. Among a
29、ll the operating parameters (ecological factors), like influent concentration, loading rate, pH value, temperature, anaerobic condition is the dominant factor for the microbial communities in the systeme.g. photo-synthesis for plantAt different growth and development stage, one organism might have v
30、arious needs for the ecological factorsTherefore, the impact of one ecological factor on the organism is variable under different stagee.g. salmons migrationIrreplaceable: The role of ecological factors on the organism can not be replaced. e.g. photo for plants Compensate: A combination of several e
31、cological factors, because of a factor in the amount of the deficiency could be compensated by other factors in some extent so that to obtain a similar ecological effect. e.g. CO2 could compensate the photo deficiency partially for the plant growth Limiting factors: The environment factors that play
32、 restrictive role for biological growth, development, reproduction, behavior and distribution.Dominant factor vs. limiting factore.g. Trend analysis over the past 20 years have occurred in the Bohai Sea nutrient salts with varying degrees of changes in trophic structure have undergone significant ch
33、anges, expressed as N/P ratio increases, Si/N ratio decreasedNitrogen status of the waters of the Bohai Sea is gradually restricted to the phosphorus limit the direction of evolution, if the trend of evolution here, will inevitably lead to restrictions on phosphorus and silicon. For the analysis of
34、variation of restrictive factor, we proposed the program of controlling the outbreak of red tideTwo classical laws- Plant growth depends on the situation in the smallest amount of food Two complementary law of the smallest factor: Applies only to material and energy inputs and outputs in a stable st
35、ate Need to consider the interaction between ecological factorsCannikin regulation Biological tolerance can change with the change of seasons, environmental conditions Each species adapt to the size of the scope of environmental factors, depending on the kinds of genetic traitsEco-width expression:
36、steno- or steno- Ecological amplitude has an important influence on their distributionBiological tolerance to temperature: In wastewater bio-treatment process, frequent fluctuations in water quality and quantity. While in the design and operation of the processes, we should ensure the scope of such
37、volatility to so as to increase the performance of the treatment system K=N (T - T0) K：Effective temperature N：days T ：average local temperature T0：biological zero (or critical) temperature for growth of this organism The significance of Effective Temperature Rule in agriculture productionInfluence
38、of temperature on organisms Areas of high temperature multi-species, and vice versa less Plant: the waxy leaves of tropical plants Animal: Bergman Law; Allen Law Biological adaption to the temperature e.g. Bergman Law: temperature affects not only the the growth rate of animals, also affect their sh
39、apes, i.e. the same species growing in cold areas are usually in large individuals than that in tropical areas Water is an important condition for biological survival Water is an important component of organisms Water is a good solvent, is the carrier of nutrients absorbedInfluence of water on organismsAffect the division of aquatic and metabolic activityBiological adaption to water
