Rick Relyea Robert Ricklefs

The Economy of Nature

7th edition

Lecture PowerPoint
Chapter 1

Introduction: Ecology,
Evolution, and the
Scientific Method
2014 by W. H. Freeman and Company

What is ecology?
Ecology is the scientific study of the abundance and
distribution of organisms in relation to other organisms
and environmental conditions.

Chapter 1 concepts

1
2

Ecological systems exist in a hierarchical

organization.
Ecological systems are governed by physical
and biological principles.

Different organisms play diverse roles in

ecological systems.

Scientists use several approaches to studying

ecology.

Humans influence ecological systems.

Chapter 1 concepts

1
2

Ecological systems exist in a hierarchical

organization.
Ecological systems are governed by physical
and biological principles.

Different organisms play diverse roles in

ecological systems.

Scientists use several approaches to studying

ecology.

Humans influence ecological systems.

Ecological systems

Biological entities that have their own internal

processes and interact with their external surroundings
Ecosystem
Community

Population

Individual

Biosphere

Individuals

Individual: the most fundamental unit of

ecology.
Individuals acquire nutrients and energy,
and produce waste.

Species: individuals that are capable of interbreeding

or share genetic similarity.
This definition is not universal; there are many
definitions of species.

Populations

Population: individuals of the same

species living in a particular area.
Boundaries can be natural (e.g., forest
edges) or political (e.g., state lines).
Abundance is the total number of individuals.
Density is the number of individuals per unit area.
Composition is the makeup in terms of age, gender, or
genetics.

Communities

Community: Populations of species

living together in a particular area.
Boundaries are not always rigid, and may
cover small or large areas.

Includes many types of

interactions, such as
predation and competition.

Ecosystems

Ecosystem: communities of lorganisms

interacting with their nonliving physical
and chemical environments.
Research is focused on movement of
energy and matter between physical and
biological components.
This includes the flow of material from pools of
elements, such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen,
nitrogen, and phosphorus.
Boundaries are often not distinct.

The biosphere

Biosphere: all ecosystems on Earth.

Distant ecosystems are linked together
by exchanges of wind and water and by
the
movement of organisms.

Studying ecology at different

levels
Individual approach: Understands how
adaptations, or characteristics of an individuals
morphology, physiology, and behavior enable it to
survive in an environment.
Population approach: Examines variation in the
number, density, and composition of individuals over
time and space.
Community approach: Understands the diversity
and interactions of organisms living together in the
same place.
Ecosystem approach: Describes the storage and
transfer of energy and matter.

Chapter 1 concepts
1
2

Ecological systems exist in a hierarchical

organization.
Ecological systems are governed by physical
and biological principles.

Different organisms play diverse roles in

ecological systems.

Scientists use several approaches to studying

ecology.

Humans influence ecological systems.

Governing principles of ecology

Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed,

but can change form (i.e., law of conservation of
matter; first law of thermodynamics).
Ecological systems gain and lose matter and energy.
A dynamic steady state occurs when gains and
losses are in balance.

Gains

Losses

Evolution

Phenotype: an attribute of an organism (e.g.,

behavior, morphology).
Genotype: the set of genes an organism carries;
determines an organisms phenotype.
Evolution: a change in the genetic composition of a
population over time.

Evolution

Natural selection:
A change in the frequency of genes in a population
through differential survival and reproduction of
individuals that possess certain phenotypes.
Three requirements
1. Individuals vary in their traits.
2. Traits are heritable.
3. Variation in traits causes some individuals to experience
higher fitness (survival and reproduction).

Individuals with better fitness will pass more copies of

their genes to the next generation, and that
phenotype will come to dominate.

Evolution
Natural selection: Example

Caterpillars with body

color that better matches
the twig are less likely to
be eaten.
If color is heritable,
subsequent generations of
caterpillars will have more
and more individuals
better matched to twig
color.

Chapter 1 concepts
1
2

Ecological systems exist in a hierarchical

organization.
Ecological systems are governed by physical
and biological principles.

Different organisms play diverse roles in

ecological systems.

Scientists use several approaches to studying

ecology.

Humans influence ecological systems.

Evolutionary patterns

First organisms were

prokaryotes,
or single-celled bacteria and
archaea
without
distinct
Prokaryotes
can utilize
organelles.
sources of energy that most
other organisms cannot, such
as N2 and H2S gas.
Cyanobacteria can
photosynthesize.

Evolutionary patterns

At some point, one bacterium

engulfed another bacterium.
The engulfed bacterium
became a mitochondria, and
this ancestor
gave rise to all eukaryotes, or
organisms with distinct cell
organelles.
Mitochondria evolved into
photosynthetic chloroplasts.
These organisms increased the
abundance of
oxygen in the atmosphere,
allowing

Evolutionary patterns

Protists are eukaryotes that

include protozoa, some algae,
and slime molds.
Some protists can grow very
large
and look like large plants
(e.g., kelp).

Evolutionary patterns

Plants convert CO2 and water

into organic molecules.
Many have roots to extract
water from soil or air.
Some have evolved
alternative ways
of obtaining nutrients, such as
the
carnivorous Venus flytrap and
the
parasitic dodder.

Evolutionary patterns

Most fungi have hyphae that

extract nutrients from dead or
living tissues.
They secrete acids, and
enzymes digest food
externally.
Many are decomposers and
many
are plant mutualists.

Evolutionary patterns

Animals play a wide range of

roles
in ecological systems.
They rely on the consumption
of other organisms for
resources.

3 Categorizing species based on energy

source
Producersor autotrophs
convert
chemical energy into resources.

Consumersor heterotrophs
obtain their energy from other
organisms.
Mixotrophs can switch between
being producers and consumers.
Scavengers consume dead
animals.
Detritivores break down dead
organic

Types of species interactions

Predation: when an organism kills and consumes an

individual.
Parasitism: when one organisms lives in or on
Herbivory:
when one organism consumes producers.
another organism.
Competition: when two organisms that depend on
the same resource have a negative effect on each
other.
Mutualism: when two species
benefit from each other.
Commensalism: when two
species live in close
association and one receives a
benefit, whereas the other is

Habitats and niches

Habitat: the place, or physical setting, where an

organism lives.
Distinguished by physical features, such as dominant
plant type.
Examples: Freshwater, marine, coastal, streams, forests,
deserts, grasslands.

Habitat types overlap and absolute distinctions rarely

exist.

Stream

Rain forest

Tropical grassland

Habitats and niches

Niche: the range of

abiotic and biotic
conditions an organism
can tolerate.
No two species have
the same niche
because each has
unique phenotypes that
determine the
conditions it can
tolerate.
Example: Different insects
prefer to feed on different

Chapter 1 concepts
1
2

Ecological systems exist in a hierarchical

organization.
Ecological systems are governed by physical
and biological principles.

Different organisms play diverse roles in

ecological systems.

Scientists use several approaches to studying

ecology.

Humans influence ecological systems.

The scientific method

The scientific method

Hypotheses: ideas that potentially explain a

repeated observation.
A particular hypothesis can rarely be confirmed
beyond a doubt.
Predictions: statements that arise logically from
hypotheses.

Manipulative experiments

Manipulative experiments: where a hypothesis is

tested by altering a factor hypothesized to be the
cause of a phenomenon.
Treatment: the factor that we want to manipulate in
a study.
Control: a treatment that includes all aspects of an
Example: Researchers
want
to test
experiment
except the
factor
ofifinterest.
birds are an important factor in
determining the number of insects on
oak trees.

They manipulate the presence of birds

by placing cages around oak trees.
Some trees were left uncaged as

Manipulative experiments

Experimental unit: the object to which we apply a

manipulation.
Replication: being able to produce a similar
outcome multiple times (i.e., the number of
experimental units per treatment).
Randomization: a requirement for manipulation
experiments; every experimental unit must have an
Experimental
may
equal chance units
of being
assigned to a particular
be
natural (e.g., lakes)
treatment.
or artificial (e.g.,
microcosms), and may
vary in size by several
orders of magnitude.

Alternative types of experiments

Natural experiments: an approach to hypothesis

testing that relies on natural variation in the
environment to test a hypothesis.
Mathematical models: representations of a system
with a set of equations that correspond to
hypothesized relationships among the systems
components.

Chapter 1 concepts
1
2

Ecological systems exist in a hierarchical

organization.
Ecological systems are governed by physical
and biological principles.

Different organisms play diverse roles in

ecological systems.

Scientists use several approaches to studying

ecology.

Humans influence ecological systems.

Human influence on ecological

systems

Human influence on ecological

systems
Environments dominated by humans (e.g., cities,
farms) are also ecological systems; humans depend
on the proper functioning of these systems.
Humans consume massive amounts of energy and
resources, and produce large amounts of waste.
Greenhouse gases: compounds in the atmosphere
that absorb infrared heat energy emitted by Earth
and then emit some of the energy back toward Earth.
High amounts of these gases can increase average
Earth temperatures.
Thanks to ecological studies, there are many success
stories of ecosystem improvement and conservation