5/6/2009 1 Ecology SCBI 113 Essential Biology Nuttaphon Onparn, PhD. 7 May 2009 1 Outline • Ecology – Introduction • Ecology and ecosystem – Ecosystem • Structure • Function • Interactions – Biomes 2 Introduction • Ecology – Greek oikos + logos (home + study) • Distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with their environment. – Ecosystem • Unit of nature consists of living organisms that interact and function together in the environment. 3 Ecology and Human • Why do we need to know about ecology? – To find food (hunter gatherers) – To grow food (cultivation, agriculture) – To understand nature (biologists, ecologists) – Values • Intrinsic values (scientific, pleasure) • Extrinsic values (food, cloths, shelter, medicine; money) 4 Ecology and Evolution • Ecology and evolution are closely related. – Darwin • Interactions between organisms and environment lead to evolution. – Natural selection – Timeframe • Ecological timescale (e.g. seasons, years) • Evolutionary timescale (e.g. 10 6 years) – Example of cats and mice 5 Ecology and Environment • Ecology raises public awareness – Silent Spring • Rachel Carson (1962) • Overuse of DDT affected birds (non- target species) – Public awareness • Scientific discoveries • Scientific communication • Politicians/policy makers 6
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.