Download Lecture1 - translated - College of Forestry, University of Guangxi

Lecture 1
An introduction
Principles of Ecology
Eben Goodale
College of Forestry, Guangxi University
Today’s class
• A mystery story: frogs with many feet!
• Science is providing explanations for
mysteries.
• What is ecology? Some big picture ideas of
ecology.
• Information about our course
• My background
• Why do you want to study ecology?
A mystery!（一个谜）
In 1995, a school trip in
Minnesota, USA found that
11 of 22 frogs they examined had
major deformities.（畸形）
News captured public attention:
What was happening?
More generally, why were
Amphibian（两栖动物) populations declining?
Early observations
• Scientists started finding abnormalities back in the 1980’s.
• Found that many frogs contained Ribeiroia ondatrae（寄
生虫）, a trematode flatworm parasite（一种变形性吸血
寄生虫）.
• Produce cysts（生产囊肿） near developing limb buds…
• An early paper suggests that making such cysts (inserting
beads) leads to limb deformities.
Observations and Experiment
Pinpoint Ribeiroia（寄生性吸虫）
• Johnson et al. 1999:
– Surveyed 35 ponds,
found only 4 with
deformities, all those
had the snail Helisoma
tenuis, a host of
Riberoira.
– Controlled experiment
in lab with different
levels of Riberoira.
Dashed line: frog deformities
Full line: frog survival
Field experiment shows that causes of
deformities may be complex（复杂）
• Could pesticides（农药）
be playing a role?
• Kiesecker et al. 2002 do
experiment where frogs
are measured for their
susceptibility to
Ribeiroia depending on
pesticide levels in pond
%
Limb
Deform
3 ponds
Mass with pesticide,
Of
3 ponds
without.
Frog
In each
pond, frogs
Exposed or unexposed.
ponds
3 ponds with
without
pesticide
pesticide
Black bars represent condition in
which frogs exposed to Riberiroia
And even more complexity…
• Johnson et al. 2007
show that excess
fertilizer leads to
more algae 
more snails 
more Ribeiroia 
more frog
deformities
A case study to introduce our
study of ecology
• Science is about explaining
mysteries.
• Ecology is the science
probing connections (or
interactions（交互作用）)
between organisms and their
abiotic and biotic
environment.
Today’s class
• A mystery story: frogs with many feet!
• Science is providing explanations for
mysteries.
• What is ecology? Some big picture ideas of
ecology.
• Information about our course
• My background
• Why do you want to study ecology?
The scientific method
What’s wrong
with this picture?
Image from:
http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov/.
Scientific method
• Identify question
– Why is this important to science / conservation / society / me
• Make hypothesis（假设）
– Hypothesis leads to specific predictions  Methods（研究方法）
• Gather data (experiment or observation)
• Make conclusion
• Communicate conclusion
– Community involved in review process
– Science progresses through individual researchers contributing to
overall pool of knowledge (why do we want to do something novel?)
Kinds of Studies
• Descriptive.
• Observational. Looking for correlation
between different variables.
• Experimental. Can more strongly suggest
cause-and-effect.
• Modeling.
Which are scientific questions?
•
•
•
•
Are patterns of evolution consistent with the presence of God?
Do babies prefer Coco Puff cereal to Fruit Loops?
Are the fulvettas (a type of bird) a good taxonomic category?
How many days do baby Orange-bellied Quetzals spend in the
nest before fledging?
Take-aways:
-Is the question testable?
-Scientific questions not always very “heavy-weight”!
-Some part of science is similar to other disciplines in
that you need to make a reasonable argument (what is a
good category? – it’s better than others)
-Description is also part of science.
Experiments:
Some Important Components
• Control Treatments
（控制处理）
• Assign Treatments at
Random（随机分配）
• Replication
• Statistical Analysis
%
Limb
Deform
Mass
Of
Frog
“X2 = 88.16, df = 3, P <ponds
0.001”
3 ponds with
The chance of this result
without
pesticide
occurring randomlypesticide
is less
in 1000 condition in
Blackthan
bars1represent
which frogs exposed to Riberiroia
Today’s class
• A mystery story: frogs with many feet!
• Science is providing explanations for
mysteries.
• What is ecology? Some big picture ideas of
ecology.
• Information about our course
• My background
• Why do you want to study ecology?
A case study to introduce our
study of ecology
• Science is about explaining
mysteries.
• Ecology is the science
probing connections (or
interactions) between
organisms and their abiotic
and biotic environment.
Why “ecology”?
• Eco
– from οίκος, oikos, "household"
• Logy
– λόγος, logos, "knowledge"
Leafcutter Ants Nest
And these homes, too…
Big picture ideas
(1) It is a science about
many different levels
of organization（生
态水平的组织）
From Molles (2008)
The Layers of Organization
• What’s not ecology?
Inside the individual:
molecules
organelles
cells
tissues
organs
The Layers of Organization
• What’s not ecology?
BUT ecology is
related to these
layers …
Endosymbiotic theory
Of eukaryote cell
Lynn Margulis
The Layers of Organization
• What’s not ecology?
BUT ecology is
related to these
layers …
The ‘superorganism’
E. O. Wilson
Individual Organism（个体生物）
How is this organism’s behavior, morphology（形态
学）, physiology adaptive to its environment?
Deals with traits that the individual has, or behaviours it makes
Population（种群）
A population is a group of individuals of one species living
together at the same time and place. How is the number and
reproductive status of the population effected by the
environment?
Deals with the population … how large is it? How healthy is it?
Species（物种）
.
All the individuals of all populations of a
species. For our purposes, a species is a group
of animals that is capable of breeding and
producing fertile offspring
Ernst Mayr,
the “biological species act”
Species interactions
Specific interactions between species:
Predator-prey interactions – food
webs
Competition among species
Parasitism (one positively affected,
one negatively affected)
Commensalism (one positively
affected, one not affected)
Mutualism (both positively affected)
Community ecology（群落生态
学）
Now more interested in the diversity
of species in any one place … why is
it low in some places/times, higher at
others?
Now we’re beginning to compare different places (habitats or ecosystems) in the kinds of species present
Ecosystem ecology（生态系统
生态学）
Comparing places in overall function of the
ecosystem (biomass made, nutrient cycling etc., fire
resistance).
Landscape ecology（景观生态
学）
How different ecosystems interact on the landscape
Global ecology
Evaluating world-wide problems such as global warming
Big picture ideas
(2) It is a science that
spans a huge range of
spatial and temporal
scales.（跨越时间和
空间的尺度）
The Sahel
A hive
Big picture ideas
(2) It is a science that
spans a huge range of
spatial and temporal
scales.
Diurnal vertical migration
occurs in ocean every day
Some ecologists are paleobiologists
Big picture ideas
(3) It is an
applied
science
（这是一
门应用科
学）, and
it must be
applied,
NOW
A restoration ecology class
Our class
Our learning objectives
• To understand the principles of how organisms respond to
your environments, populations grow and go extinct（灭
绝）, species interact through food webs and mutualisms,
communities are structured, and ecosystems work as
systems, cycling nutrients and energy.
• To learn about the environmental challenges that we will
encounter in the coming century, and how ecological
principles inform our solutions to mitigate and adapt to
them.
• To be able to describe the ideas behind mathematical
ecological theories using graphs, and to appreciate their
predictions and assumptions.
• To sharpen listening skills, and interact in a classroom
setting in English.
Evaluation
• Comprehension test: no score but let’s you
and me assess better how well you’re
comprehending lectures.
• Midterm, final exam
• Attendance（到场）
• Participation（参与讨论）
Schedule
Lecture times:
Date
March 17
March 21
MAY
APRIL
March 24
Topic
Introduction
The Physical Environment and the World’s Biomes
Will Include Comprehension Exam
Readi
ng
1
2, 3
Coping with Water, Temperature and Energy
4, 5
March 28
March 31
April 4
Evolution and Ecology; Life Histories
Behavioral Ecology
6, 7
8
Population Distribution, Abundance, Growth and Regulation
9, 10
April 7
April 11
April 14
April 18
April 21
April 25
April 28
May2
Population Dynamics and Competition
Midterm Exam
Predation and Herbivory
Other Species Interactions
Holiday
The Nature and Change in Communities
Biogeography
Species Diversity; Ecosystem Productivity
11, 12
13
14, 15
16, 17
18
19, 20
May 5
Energy Flow, Food Webs and Nutrient Cycling
21, 22
May 9
May 12
Conservation Biology
Landscape and Global Ecology
23
24, 25
May 16
Final Exam
Readings
• Textbook
(recommended)
• Lecture Notes (required)
• Primary readings or
homework assignments
(required)
Cain, Bowman, Hacker
Ecology
2014 (3rd Edition)
Sinaeur Associates
Most test questions will come from material covered in lecture
and lecture notes. But there will be a few questions about
primary readings, allowing you a choice in which you read.
My background
My teachers of ecology
(your ‘grand-teachers’!)
Bill Bossert
Peter Ashton
Sri Lanka
Sinharaja World Heritage Reserve
A lowland rainforest
Image from Uromi Goodale
Mixed-species flocks of birds
Primary leader
Secondary leader
Following species
Experiments on Alarm Calls
Who Talks to Who?
A twist to the story: drongo mimicry
Image from
Harsha Sathischandra
Mimicry attracts other birds
towards drongos; reforms flocks
Drongos are multilingual
The Crested Drongo:
A vocal mimic
Then turned to what mixedspecies flocking means to
conservation
Forest
Buffer
Behavior (communication)
influences flock structure,
flock structure influences
community.
Agriculture
How do flocks
respond to different
levels of land-use?
In China now for 2.5 yrs
At Xishuangbanna Tropical
Botanical Garden,
Chinese Academy of
Sciences, until October 2014.
Continuing work on behavior,
communities and conservation
biology of birds.
Why do I consider myself an
ecologist
Animal behavior.
Behavioral ecology: the roles of behavior in adapting an animal to its
environment
Animal behavior
Behavioral Ecology
Why do you want to study
ecology?
What can we do with ecology?
• Ecologists can be of many types, usually on
one level of organization (“behavioral
ecologist”, “community ecologist”,
“ecosystem ecologist”).
• They can be academic or engage in
governmental or nongovernmental
organizations.
What can we do with ecology?
• For example, ecologists work as:
– In the park service, managing nature reserves.
– In a public health institution, managing animalbourne diseases.
What can we do with ecology?
• For example, ecologists work as:
– As a forester, assessing（评估） how best to
manage succession after logging.
– In fisheries, figuring out how many fish to take in
order to have more the next year.
What can we do with ecology?
• For example, ecologists work as:
– In private companies, providing reports about the
ecological impact of proposed developments
(“consulting”).
– In schools and universities, teaching and research.
There are many kinds of
applications of ecology
• Environmental science（环境科学）. Ecology is
a key component, of the interdisciplinary area of
environmental science (along with chemistry,
geology, engineering, geography and law) that
strives to understand and correct human impacts
on the biosphere.
There are many kinds of
applications of ecology
• Conservation ecology. To preserve what we have.
• Restoration ecology. To restore ecosystem
function and biodiversity in highly disturbed areas
• Resource economics. The study of efficient uses
of natural resources.
So why do you want to study
ecology?
Homework
• Read through Syllabus and bring questions to
class.
• Review: Lecture 1 notes.
• Primary literature: Scan through Kiesecker et al.
(2002), particularly Figure 1. Be able to explain
what experiment was done. What are the controls
of this experiment (for pesticide, for Ribeiroia)?
Key Concepts
• Ecology is about
connections among living
organisms, and between
them and their physical
environment.
• We use the scientific
method to identify a
question, test a hypothesis,
gather data and
communicate results.
• Ecology as a science spans
many levels of
organization and scales in
time and space.
• Ecologists work in many
sectors of the economy
and ecology as a subject
can prepare you for
different careers.