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Framework
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Topic outline
Click the linked topics below for additional
resources
| Ecological Principles |
| 1. Commoner's laws of ecology |
a.
"Everything is connected to
everything else"
b. "Everything must go somewhere"
c. "Nature knows best"
d. "There is no such thing as a free lunch" |
| 2. Energy primer |
a. Definition
b. Laws of energy
c. Types of energy |
| 3. Evolution |
a.
Natural selection
b. Environmental adaptations and ecological
niche
c. Speciation, biodiversity, co-evolution,
extinction
d. Rates of evolution - gradualism vs.
punctuated equilibrium |
| 4. Organismal ecology |
a.
Unit of natural selection –
survival and
reproduction
b. Kingdoms of life and requirements for life
c. Habitat, environmental adaptations, and
ecological niche
d. Homeostasis and feedback regulation –
thermoregulation, osmoregulation, gas
exchange, energetics
e. Cellular metabolism – photosynthesis,
cellular respiration,
chemosynthesis
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| 5.
Population ecology |
a. Population dynamics – exponential vs.
logistic growth
b. Carrying capacity and limiting factors
c. Population structure –
age, gender,
survivorship
d. Population genetics and genetic diversity |
| 6. Community ecology |
a.
Species interactions – resource
competition, predation,
symbiosis
b. Competitive exclusion principle
c. Niche partitioning and keystone species
d. Species biodiversity
e. Ecological succession – primary vs.
secondary
f. Disturbance |
| 7. Ecosystem ecology |
a.
Matter/Biogeochemical cycles
(biotic/abiotic) – water,
carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorous, sulfur
b. Energy flow – trophic levels, food
pyramids, food webs
c. Thermodynamics – 1st law (conservation
of energy) and 2nd law
(entropy)
d. Biomes – environmental factors influencing
distribution
e. Value of ecosystem services |
| 8.
Biosphere ecology |
a. Global energy flow – solar input,
ocean
currents, air mass circulation
b. Global matter cycling – global
biogeochemical cycles
c. Global biodiversity – species distribution
and abundance
d. Plate tectonics – theory of continental drift
e. Global environmental issues – extinction
crisis, climate
change, etc. |
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RESOURCES
| Community Ecology - Species biodiversity |
| |
Ecology in Your Backyard (activity)
Source: unknown
Activity (PDF)
Students learn how to calculate the
Shannon diversity index and species richness using cars in a
parking lot. These types of inter-community comparisons are done
by ecologists attempting to assess the impacts of human
development or pollution. |
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