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The Nature of Ecology
The Nature of Ecology
Definitions:
• Ecology deals with the prediction of
biomass, productivity and diversity (Peters,
1980)
 restricts the interest to the prediction of
operational parameters (how much and how
many)
• Ecology deals with the description,
explanation and prediction of individuals,
populations, and communities in space and
time (Begon, Harper and Townsend, 1986)
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
ECOLOGY
THEOPHRASTUS
 a friend of Aristotle (founded natural history,
responsible for scala naturae history) who
wrote about the relations between organisms
and the environment
CARL LUDWIG WILLDENOW (1765-1812)
 One of the early plant geographers.
 He pointed out that similar climates
supported vegetation similar in form, even
though the species were different
Definitions:
• Ecology is the study of structure and
function of nature or the study of
ecosystems (Odum, 1972)
• Ecology is the scientific study of
interactions which determine distribution
and abundance of organisms (Krebs,
1792)
Ecology was originally coined in 1866 in General
Morphology, a book on biology and philosophy by
Prof. Ernst Haeckel.
Definition: The economy of nature – the
investigation of the total relations of the animal both
its inorganic and its organic environment; including,
above all, its friendly and inimical relations with those
animals and plants with which it comes directly or
indirectly into contact – in a word, ecology is the study
of all complex interrelations referred to by Darwin as
the conditions of the struggle for existence.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
ECOLOGY
FRIEDRICH HEINRICH ALEXANDER von
HUMBOLDT (1769-1859)
 Plant geographers
 He spent 5 years exploring Latin America, including
the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers.
 He correlated vegetation w/ environmental
characteristics and coined the term Plant Association.
JOHANNES WARMING (1841-1859)
 He wrote the first text on Plant Ecology,
Plantesamfund
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF

ECOLOGY
R. A LINDEMAN
 he traced “energy –available” relationship within a lake
community.
 His 1942 paper, “The Trophic- Dynamic Aspects of
Ecology”, marked the beginning of ecosystem
ecology, the study of whole living systems.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
 Darwin compared similarities and dissimilarities
among organisms with in and among continents.
He attributed differences to geological barriers.
 He noted how successive groups of plants and
animals, distinct yet obviously related, replaced
one another.
ECOLOGY
THOMAS MALTHUS (1766-1834)
 An economist
 Advanced the principle that populations grow
in a geometric fashion, doubling at regular
intervals until the outstrip the food supply.
 Ultimately, the population would be
restrained by a “strong, constantly operating
force such as sickness and pre mature
death”.
 From this concept Darwin developed the idea
of “ the survival of the fittest” as a
mechanism of natural selection and
evolution.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF

ECOLOGY
Malthusian Theory, stimulated the study of
population in two directions:
 Population Ecology- Concerned with population
growth (including birth rates and death rates),
fluctuation, spread, and interactions.
 Evolutionary Ecology- is concerned with the
natural selection and evolution of populations.
At the same, physiological ecology arose
 Concerned with the responses of individual
organisms to temperature moisture, light, and other
environmental ecology.
ECOLOGY
GREGOR MENDEL (1822-1884)
 an Augustinian Monk
 was studying the transmission of
characteristics from one generation of pea
plants to another in his garden.
 Mendel’s work on inheritance and Darwin
work on natural selection provided the
foundation for the study of evolution and
adaptation, the field of population genetics.

ECOSYSTEM COMPONENTS
FORM A HIERARCHY
ECOLOGY HAS STRONG TIES
TO OTHER SCIENCES

ECOLOGY AS A GROUP OF
SUBDISCIPLINES

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DIFFERENT WAYS OF APPROACHING DIFFERENT WAYS OF APPROACHING

THE STUDY OF ECOLOGY THE STUDY OF ECOLOGY
 KINDS OF ECOLOGY as defined by concept  KINDS OF ECOLOGY as defined by organism
and perspective Plant
Landscape Animal
Ecosystem Microbe
Physiological Zooplankton
Behavioral Human
Community Deer
Tree
Other kinds of ecology
Many other organism

DIFFERENT WAYS OF APPROACHING DIFFERENT WAYS OF APPROACHING

THE STUDY OF ECOLOGY THE STUDY OF ECOLOGY
 KINDS OF ECOLOGY as defined by habitat  KINDS OF ECOLOGY as defined by application
Terrestrial Theoretical
Lakes and streams (limnology) Conservation
Marine (oceanography) Agricultural
Arctic Public Policy
Rain Forest Academic
Benthic thermal vents Management
Urban Restoration

Many other locations Many other applications

Ecological Concepts: The Kinds of Ecological Concepts: The Kinds of

Ecology Defined Ecology Defined
Short definitions of Ecology, People and Nature, and Six Ecological Perspectives Short definitions of Ecology, People and Nature, and Six Ecological Perspectives

 Ecology – the study of the relationships, distribution,  Landscape – The landscape can be thought of
and abundance of organisms, or groups of organisms, in
an environment. as being made up of different patches,
 People and Nature – All environments change, and characterized by different organisms and
people have been important forces shaping these changes environments.
for only a tiny fraction of Earth’s history.  Landscape ecology examines the interaction between
 In the last ten thousand years, however, human effects on ecosystems have this pattern of patches and ecological process – that is,
often overwhelmed the ability of these ecosystems to respond change. the biological causes and consequences of a patchy
 Historical ecology examines these environmental changes by focusing on
questions about how humans have affected the environment, how our environment.
cultural attitudes affect how we do ecology, and the history of how humans
have attempted to manage the environment.

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Ecological Concepts: The Kinds of
Ecology Defined
Short definitions of Ecology, People and Nature, and Six Ecological Perspectives
 Ecosystem – Ecosystem ecology is the study
of the interactions of organisms with the
transport and flow of energy and matter.
 Ecosystem size and shape depends on the specific
questions being asked about energy flow or
chemical cycling. The “system” part of an
ecosystem is a description of how energy or
matter moves among organisms and parts of the
environment.
Ecological Concepts: The Kinds of
Ecology Defined
Short definitions of Ecology, People and Nature, and Six Ecological Perspectives
 Behavioral – The goal of behavioral ecology is
to understand how a plant or animal’s
behavior is adapted to its environment. That
is, behavior is understood to be the result of
an evolutionary process.
Ecological Concepts: The Kinds of
Ecology Defined
Short definitions of Ecology, People and Nature, and Six Ecological Perspectives
 Community – Community ecologists
examine the patterns and interactions seen in
groups, or aggregations, of different species.
The distribution of species are influenced both
by biological interactions (such as predation
and competition) and by environmental
factors (such as tempt., water and nutrient
availability)
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Ecological Concepts: The Kinds of
Ecology Defined
Short definitions of Ecology, People and Nature, and Six Ecological Perspectives
 Physiological – Physiological ecology is the
study of how individual organisms interact
with their environment to carry out the
biochemical processes and express the
behavioral adaptations that accomplish
homeostasis and survival. Homeostasis
involves the maintenance of time, matter and
energy budgets that allow for growth and
reproduction by the individual.
Ecological Concepts: The Kinds of
Ecology Defined
Short definitions of Ecology, People and Nature, and Six Ecological Perspectives
 Population – A population is a collection of
individuals from the same species that occupy
some defined area. Population ecology
focuses on how and why populations change
in size and location over time.
Evolutionary Ecology -
 examines the environmental factors that drive species
adaptation. Studies of the evolution of species might
seek to answer the question of how populations have
changed genetically over several generations but might
not necessarily attempt to learn what the underlying
mechanisms might be.
 Evolution is defines as the change that occurs in the
characteristics of the living things over time.
 It may be change in the form and behavior of organisms
between generations.
 It may be genetic changes in a population of organisms
over time.
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Techniques Specific to Different Kinds

of Ecology
 Landscape – Satellites, photos, maps, and
computers are essential, especially for geographic
information system (GIS)
 Ecosystem – Calorimeter pressure bomb,
quantitative chemical analysis
 Physiological – Respirometer, treadmill, infrared
gas analyzer (IRGA), stable isotope chemistry, light
sensors, thermocouples
 Population – Sampling traps, computers

Techniques Specific to Different Kinds

of Ecology
 Behavioral – Video equipment, event recorder,
binoculars, radiotags, geographic position satellites,
computer, DNA fingerprinting
 Community – Quadrat sampling, species
identification book, enclosures

Importance of ECOLOGY Levels of Organization

 Ecology is important because of the insights it

provides about the ways in which people and
nature depend on one another.
 Understanding the workings of ecological
systems more completely allows for predictions
about the ways human activities affect the
health of the earth over time.
…is a hierarchy of organization in
the environment

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How to Study Ecology?
1. The technology does not exist to recreate ecosystems or even
individual species.
2. Having convinced governments of the value of biodiversity, we
now have to determine just how far ecosystems can be altered
before they cease to function in an acceptable way.
3. Good arguments can be made against ecological mismanagement
and loss of biotic diversity on moral and ethical grounds.
We simply have no right to destroy
species and the environment
around us.
Presented by: FERNANDEZ-GAMALINDA, Eve V., 2017
28/03/2023
Moral and ethical grounds
Tom Regan - A Philosopher, argue that animals are to be
treated with respect because they have a life of their
worn and therefore have value apart form anyone else’s
interests.
 Can animals (or plants ‘count’ in their own right?
 Can wildlife count for more than humans in some cases?
Perhaps one of the soundest arguments for conservation
of biodiversity is that, at the least, it keeps our options
open for the future.
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The scientific method is the accepted

guide for conducting research.
 For many years scientists have tried to correct the idea that the
scientific method is the only correct way to do science.
 This “a method of science” has a strong hold in science teaching but is
not science.
 Posters are still hang in science classrooms listing the steps of the
scientific method and are still used to judged students’ procedures in
science fair competitions.
 There is no logical or procedural method by which the pattern is
suggested because if there is then it goes against the creative nature
and element of science.
 Scientific papers seem to follow the scientific method but are
reconstructed to account for key elements of the study.
 The actual events for any investigations varies considerably and may
take many wrong turnsCHED-ADMU
and dead ends.
Training, Januray 4-21, 2017.