Topic 2:

What is Ecology?

 

Ecology in the News:

Colorado Black Forest fire burn scar

 
http://earthsky.org/earth/colorado-black-forest-fire-burn-scar
The June 2013 Black Forest fire was the most destructive in Colorado’s history.
 

The fire charred more than 14,000 acres, killed two people, destroyed 509 homes, and devastated a wooded suburb of Colorado Springs.

Astronaut’s view of Colorado fires

This image of the Black Forest fire’s burn scar was acquired by NASA’s Terra satellite on June 21, 2013. Vegetation-covered land is red in the false-color image, which includes both visible and infrared light. Patches of unburned forest are bright red. Unburned grasslands are pink. The darkest gray and black areas are the most severely burned. Buildings, roads, and other developed areas appear light gray and white.

See larger images Image credit: NASA

See larger image Image credit: NASA

The most severe damage occurred north of Shoup Road, but the severity varied widely by neighborhood. Cathedral Pines, for instance, escaped largely unscathed. Many residents of that neighborhood put rocks around their homes, removed vegetation and dead trees from their yards, avoided using mulch, and followed other fire prevention strategies that helped keep flames back long enough for fighters to save homes, the Denver Post reported.

Photo credit: Great Basin National Incident Management Team

Photo credit: Great Basin National Incident Management Team

This photograph, taken on June 20, shows a charred section of Black Forest.

 

 

 

 

 

Announcements:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning Goals for Day  (...some of these could make good exam questions...):

Ø      Define ecology & role of science

Ø      What do ecologists do?

Ø      What are the different levels or scales at which ecologists study nature?

Ø      Major groups of questions ecologists ask:

o       Distributions of organisms (space & time)

o       Nature of species interactions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 1:

Ø        What is  ecology?

 

    Brainstorm and discuss

 

 

 

Ø      In a broad sense, Ecology is the study of Nature.  How do we books define "nature"?  Quote -   Do you agree?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                    Tall-grass prairie ecosystem with

                                                    Silphium, or Compass Plant.  (see Leopold's essay "July - Prairie Birthday")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecology as science.  DEFINITION?  ---------------->  Links among important Terms!

 

Here is the definition we came up with:  "Understanding pattern & relationships/interactions between living organisms and their environments."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 2:

 

Ø      What do ecologists do?

 

Make observations & ask questions about them.  THEN - make predictions (or "Hypotheses")

 

What do you see here?  What might have happened to create this pattern?

 

 

 

 

What happened here?  What do you see?  What could have caused it?

 

 

 

What do you see here?  What might have happened to create this pattern?

 

 

 

 

Question 3:

What are the 4 main levels or scales ecologists use to study nature?

Brainstorm definitions for these four different approaches.

 

What is an example of a question relating to each level you can see in this illustration?

 

 

 

 

 

Question 4: 

Major questions ecologists address:

What is the nature of species interactions?  Go back to the image above, and look for examples of potential species interactions...

 

 

Community Ecology -  Worksheet

Species Interactions

 

 

 

 

                                  Effect on Organism 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effect on Organism 1

 

Harm

Benefit

No Effect

 

Harm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benefit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Effect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 5:

Major questions ecologists address:

How do the distributions of organisms change over space & over time?

In your groups, interpret this figure:  how do the data presented here address this major ecological question?

 
  
Images of Species Distribution in the Boreal Forest over Time
Light blue indicates position of continental glaciers in North America during the last ice age.  Other colors represent abundance of   pollen for given species in a given location - more intense colors = more pollen.

 

 

 

How do the distributions of organisms change over space & over time?

What factor(s) may have driven these changes?

 

 

read more:   http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BorealMigration/boreal_migration3.html

other related links:
http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/biology/pastclim/
http://biology.usgs.gov/luhna/chap9.html
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 6:

A major topic for our semester together:

Developing a "sense of place" & a sense of wonder for this region we live in.

"Miss Rumphius" - the Lupine Lady - a parable for our class