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General Ecology EEOB 404 Grant Gentry Tulane University Preliminaries: student information desired Fill out 3X5 card Information desired: Name, class or status (e.g., Junior) e-mail address, phone number Past classes--relevant to ecology Classes this semester Why taking class? Course requirements See lecture syllabus Lectures –Information comes FAST –read the book –download and print the lecture outline for notes. Supplementary materials –read them learn fast or suffer Preparation Electronic communications Website tulane.edu/ggentry/ Electronic Reserve (Eres)--password “ecodocs” Lecture course requirements Exams Grading Questions? Classroom discussions Value of actually attending lectures (considering that notes will be posted electronically) Preparation for classes (& labs) Introduction to instructors Instructor research interests Insect Plant Interactions Effects of plant chemistry on multitrophic interactions Parasitoids as invasive species For more information see personal web pages: http://www.tulane.edu/~ggentry and caterpillars.org Dyer lab--- Instructor teaching interests General Ecology Entomology Tropical Biology Instructor personal information Teaching assistants LAB in Stern 2002 –the fun part + sci-writing, some stats Labs will be Groovy AND Hot- Hat Scratchy- Long sleeves, long pants, sturdy shoes. Buggy- DEET (goes on the clothes What is Ecology? The study of living systems, at and above the level of organization of the individual (“whole organism biology”) Definition (text): “Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms [including humans] and between organisms and their environments” It’s about what controls abundance of species, and the diversity and functions of species Mathmatical Evolutionary Population (metapopulations) Behaviour Chemical Community (Ecosystems) What is Ecology NOT? Environmental Science Environmentalism Conservation Biology/Science Resource management Wildlife Fisheries Soil Resources Forestry Why study Ecology? Because it’s there--intellectual curiosity as to how our world works Value of ecological systems to humans Ecosystem services (Table 1, Stiling text) Valuation of global ecosystem services (Table 2, Stiling) Huge (often detrimental) impact of humans on global ecosystems--ecology holds key to predicting our future (informs political and societal choices) How do Ecologists go about their science? Scientific method = hypothetico-deductive method Verification versus falsification of hypotheses (Popper) Search for unifying principles Inductive logic Observations, experiments, patterns Deductive logic Models, hypotheses as to how systems function; i.e., processes “black box” Other aspects of ecological method Diverse activities Hypothesis testing (experimental, observational; proximate versus ultimate, pattern vs mechanism) Kinds (& merits) of experiments (lab, field, natural) Use of statistics & models (e.g., meta-analysis) Induction/synthesis of hypotheses Advances in observation, measurement precision Review of literature (e.g., meta-analysis) Use of null models, null hypotheses (H0)--e.g., “idiosyncratic hypothesis” for relationship between ecosystem process and species richness (Hubbell etc.) Statistical analysis Is the difference between population means (averages) large enough to be meaningful, i.e., “statistically significant” (e.g., t-test) Association among variables Correlation and regression Contingency tables (e.g., chi-squared test) Meta-analysis = combination of the effects of multiple experiments (treatment effect size, “d”, averaged by study, weighted by number of replicates) Range of questions asked Levels of organization important to ecology Behavior (& physiological ecology..I./e. individuals) Population (example of Centauria diffusa-- Stiling text, ch. 1) Community Ecosystem Biosphere [global change] Scale of ecological phenomena, in space and time--depends on nature of question Spatial scale related to level of organization Temporal scale (e.g., Jackson et al., 2001, Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 629-638.)