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Course Description
Ecology is the science of relationships between organisms and their environment. On the one hand, organisms are influenced by their environment, such as temperature, soil conditions, food plants, competitors, or predators. On the other hand, organisms have an effect on their environment by out competing other species or killing their prey, and also by influencing their abiotic environment. Organisms are an integral part of carbon and nutrient cycles of the ecosystems. The composition of the atmosphere and large parts of the lithosphere are products of life on earth. |
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Understanding ecological relationships is essential in today's society. Climate change, contaminated soils, loss of biodiversity, alien species, and animal-spread diseases such as West-Nile virus are examples of current issues the understanding of which requires knowledge of the underlying ecological processes.
In the course "Principles of Ecology" emphasis is laid on the interrelationships between organisms and their environment, and the ways that these interactions influence processes which shape communities, ecosystems, or the whole biosphere. Human influence on ecological processes is extensively discussed.
Lectures 3, labs 3, credits 3
Outline
Introduction to what is ecology. Relationship between environmental issues and ecology as a science. Relationship between evolution and ecology. Adaptive radiation.
Introduction to different fields of ecology: physiological ecology, population ecology, community ecology, ecosystems ecology, landscape ecology, biomes, biosphere.
Different approaches in ecological research.
Ecosystems Components of an ecosystem. Trophic levels. Relationship between ecological behaviour of organisms, and ecosystem characteristics, with the example of bird migration.
Autotrophs Photosynthesis and growth. Influence of environmental conditions on photosynthesis: light availability, mineral nutrient availability, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Adaptation of green plants to different environmental conditions: drought, extreme temperatures, anoxic soils. CAM plants. C4 plants.
Primary production. Net primary production, ecosystem productivity, factors influencing NPP (temperature, precipitation, nutrients). Allocation of biomass.
Biomes: Biomes of Canada and climatic factors determining their distribution. Biomes of the world.
Heterotrophic organisms. Food requirements of heterotrophs. Elementar and molecular composition of food of heterotrophs at different trophic levels. Types of nutrition. Energy balance and metabolism.
Secondary production. Factors determining secondary production. Food chains. Trophic levels.
Decomposition. Decomposing organisms. Mineralization. Immobilization. Decomposition and litter quality. Environmental factors influencing decomposition rates.
Nutrient cycling Types of nutrient cycles. Import, export and cycles within an ecosystem.
Soils Factors determining soil development. Soil structure. Soil–water relations. Cation exchange capacity. Organic matter. Soil pH. The Canadian soil classification system. Environmental problems associated with soils: erosion, contamination, covering with asphalt, acidification, salinization.
Biosphere Definition. Feedbacks between organisms and global environment. Gaia hypothesis.
Biogeochemistry Carbon (including climate change), oxygen (including stratospheric ozone), water, nitrogen (including N-fixation, nitrification, denitrification, assimilatory nitrogen reduction, ammonification), phosphorus, sulphur, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants.
Community Community concept. Assembly rules. Discrete communities vs. a continuum? Zonation. Community dynamics. Succession.
Types of interactions Competition. Niche. Character displacement. Allelopathy.
Strategies: Guilds, r-K strategies, C-S-R strategies, functional types, indicator values, Raunkiaer growth forms.
Herbivory. Plant defenses. Effect of herbivory on diversity. Effect of diversity on herbivory. Herbivore regulation. Case study: Effect of snow geese on Hudson Bay coastal wetlands.
Predation. Regulation of predator-prey relationships. Multitrophic interactions. Food selection.
Parasitism. Effect of parasites on populations. Effect of environmental conditions on parasitism. Parasitoids.
Mutualisms. Mycorrhiza. Types of mycorrhizal symbioses. Different types of energy and nutrient exchange between mycorrhizal partners. Other types of mutualisms. Gradient from parasitism to mutualism. Endosymbiontic theory. Multitrophic relationships involving different kinds of interactions.
Textbook and Suggested Readings
Smith & Smith
Elements of Ecology. 7th edition.
Pearson.
Pechenik
A short guide to writing about Biology (4th ed.)
Pearson
Lab work
The weekly lab forms an important part of the course. The labs include descriptive field work, experimental investigations, methodology and investigations using computer models. An important part of the labs is also to learn to write scientific lab reports.
3 Labs:
Plant competition
Population census using capture-recapture.
Litter decomposition in different habitats on campus, and organisms and factors influencing it.