1. You can never do just one thing. 2.Everything goes somewhere.

u Organisms interact with each other and with their physical environment. As a result,
u There is no “away” into which waste
Ecological maxims events in nature are connected and what affects one organism or place can affect
others as well.
materials disappear.

3. No population can increase in size 4. There is no free lunch. 5. Evolution matters.

forever. u Organisms evolve or change over time-it is a

u An organism’s energy and resources are
mistake to view them as static.
finite and increasing inputs into one
uThere are limits to the growth and u Evolution is an ongoing process because
function (such as reproduction) results in
resource use of every population organisms continually face new challenges from
a tradeoff in which there is a loss for
changes in both the living and nonliving
including our own. other functions (such as growth) components of their environment

6. Time matters. 7. Life would be impossible without

u Ecosystems change over time. When we species interactions.
look at the world as we know it, it is easy
uSpecies depend on one another for
to forget how past events may have
affected our present, and how our energy, nutrients, and habitat.
present actions may affect the future.