Welcome to Ecology 101

Premise of course:

Ecosystems approach
a. Physical attributes
b. Energy flow
c. Productivity

Readings:
Required:

The Diversity of Life, Edward O. Wilson
 
Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold

Ecology: A Bridge Between Science and Society,
Eugene P. Odum

Highly Recommended:

Science Times

Science

Nature

Grading

1. Midterm: 50%

2. Final: 50%

Examination format:

Multiple choice, true/false, short answer, essay

Slide 5

Websites:
Required:
www.http://ci.columbia.edu/ci/eseminars/1111s_detail.html
www.http://streamecology.org
www.http://IES.org (Institute for Ecosystems Study)

Recommended:

www.medicalecology.org

www.http://NASA.gov
, then go to Earthwatch
www.http://NOAA.gov

Slide 7

Is That All There Is?

Slide 9

The Diversity Of Life

Slide 11

“Drifting Apart”

Slide 13

Life Without The Sun’s Help

Extremophiles Rule!

GAIA Hypothesis

Slide 17

Some General Ecological Principles

Ecosystem Ecology

Describing Ecosystems

1. Identify a definable geographic region (e.g. grassland prairie)
2. Identify all plants and animals within that region (i.e., the  biodiversity index)
3. Study how these disparate groups form associations of food chains and food webs (i.e. form ecosystems).
4. Study the flow of energy through these associations (i.e., measure productivity)

Levels of Complexity

Slide 22

Slide 23

Slide 24

Slide 25

Slide 26

Slide 27

Slide 28

Slide 29

"Why is this man sleeping"

Slide 31

Slide 32

Slide 33

Slide 34

Lymphocyte

Nuclear Envelope

Chromosomal DNA

We have come a  long way in just 20 years