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An Introduction to Ecology and Evolution Definitions Ecology • The word first came into use in 1869 by Ernest Haeckel • He based ecology on the Greek word oikos, meaning home or house • Ecology is the study of the relationships of organisms to their environment and to one another Evolution • Genetic change in a population of organisms over time The Interaction of Ecology and Evolution • Ecology and evolution are intimately related because and organism’s ecological situation directs its evolution, and the organism’s response to its ecological situation may be evolutionary • Many of the evolutionary solutions to ecological problems can be viewed as adaptations, genetically determined features that become or are becoming prevalent in a population because they improves an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment • “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” (Th. Dobzhansky); this is particularly true for ecology, since our current ecological explanations of nature are predicted on the concept of evolution Proximate and Ultimate Explanations of the Natural World • Proximate explanations offer immediate causes for a particular phenomenon • Ultimate explanations provide historical reasons for observed ecological phenomena • Thus, the difference between them is in outlook: between thinking over a relatively recent time scale (the time scale over which individuals live and die) versus an historical time scale (geological time) The Nature of Science Its Essence, Power, and Limitations • It’s a fallible enterprise • Gives only tentative results • Provides us with methods by which we can arrive at justified beliefs • Theories are often confirmed is by making successful predictions • It has tremendous explanatory potential • Hypotheses can be invalidated or gain credibility based on inference rather than observation