1. Bright blue marble floating in space
Ecology
We are, for all intents and purposes, on a spaceship. We get inputs of energy from the sun and some donation of material from asteroids, but most material needs to be recycled w/ in our planet.
Chapter 50

2. What is ecology? Ecology These interactions
Is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment
These interactions
Determine both the distribution of organisms and their abundance
Where organisms are found and how many of them there are.
Study of interactions between organisms - interdependence of nature and energy transfer. Other themes we can think of?

3. What is ecology? Ecology Ecological time
Both observational/descriptive and experimental
Observing what’s there and seeing how it changes.
Rigorous - mathematical modeling of populations and ecosystems.
Ecological time
Minute-to-minute interactions.
Compare to evolutionary time.

4. Environmental factors
Abiotic factors
non-living chemical & physical factors
Temperature
Light
Water, including salinity
Nutrients, including soil and rocks
Dissolved oxygen!
Biotic factors
living components
Abiotic factors - also includes pH, soil quality (though this is biotic and abiotic), seasonal changes, etc.

5. Environmental Factors
Affect the distribution and abundance of organisms
Kangaroos/km2
> 20
10–20
5–10
1–5
0.1–1
< 0.1
Limits of distribution
Climate in northern Australia
is hot and wet, with seasonal
drought.
Red kangaroos
occur in most
semiarid and arid
regions of the
interior, where
precipitation is
relatively low and
variable from
year to year.
Southeastern Australia
has a wet, cool climate.
Southern Australia has
cool, moist winters and
warm, dry summers.
Tasmania

6. prefer a hot dry climate. don’t like saltwater.
The figure below (Figure 52.5 in the textbook) shows the distribution of red kangaroos in Australia. From this figure, you can predict that kangaroos:
eat plants.
prefer a hot dry climate.
don’t like saltwater.
prefer to live in areas where people don’t live.
are more abundant in some years than in other years.
Kangaroos/km2
> 20
10–20
5–10
1–5
0.1–1
< 0.1
Limits of distribution
Climate in northern Australia
is hot and wet, with seasonal
drought.
Red kangaroos
occur in most
semiarid and arid
regions of the
interior, where
precipitation is
relatively low and
variable from
year to year.
Southeastern Australia
has a wet, cool climate.
Southern Australia has
cool, moist winters and
warm, dry summers.
Tasmania

7. Dispersal
Dispersal - the movement of individuals away from their area of origin or from centers of high population density.
Natural range expansion
Early humans “out of Africa”
Different from migration.
Species transplants
Potential vs. actual ranges
Where organisms could be versus where they are.
Invasive/introduced species.

8. Earth’s biomes
Terrestrial biomes - we’ll be looking at marine and aquatic biomes later.

9. Environmental factors
Climate - Long-term prevailing weather in a particular area.
Macroclimate - Patterns on a global, regional and local level.
Microclimate - Patterns on a smaller scale.
Eg. A community living under a log.
Abiotic factors - also includes pH, soil quality (though this is biotic and abiotic), seasonal changes, etc.
Lichen
Rotting Logs
Tide Pools