Ecology
Introduction and contents ............................................................................................. 2
Ecology .................................................................................................................... 2
About this course ................................................................................................. 2
Course materials....................................................................................................... 3
Book 1: Interactions ............................................................................................ 3
Book 2: Population ecology................................................................................. 3
Book 3: Communities ........................................................................................... 4
Book 4: Ecosystems ............................................................................................. 4
Book 5: Humans and ecology .............................................................................. 4
Do this .................................................................................................................. 5
Try this ................................................................................................................. 5
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 5
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Introduction and contents
The materials listed below are presented on the following pages of this unit in pdf
format.
Book 1: Interactions
Book 2: Population Ecology
Book 3: Communities
Book 4: Ecosystems
Book 5: Humans and Ecosystems
 This material is taken from a discontinued Open University course. It is intended
for re-purposing and re-use by educators rather than for use directly by learners.
Learning outcomes appropriate to the original course may be provided within the
material, but it is intended that educators will construct new learning outcomes
appropriate to the re-use they make of this material.
Ecology
About this course
Course description
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their
environment – a truly vast area of biology. The original course examined the
biological principles that are the basis for analysing and understanding ecological
situations, and should give you some of the skills and knowledge needed by
professional ecologists.
There were five books, each taking an experimental and investigative approach,
included in the original course materials which are presented here:

Book 1 Interactions introduces a wide-ranging survey of the diversity
of ecological interactions among animals, plants and microbes. We
emphasise the ecological consequences of these interactions and investigate
the roles of physical and chemical factors in air, soil and water.

Book 2 Population ecology considers how and why the abundance of
wild animals and plants changes, including how competition and predation
may either drive or limit population fluctuations.

Book 3 Community ecology looks at what determines the species
diversity of communities and examines the role of history and dispersal in the
distribution patterns of species.

Book 4 Ecosystems examines the role of primary producers,
consumers and decomposers in ecosystems, and how they are linked by
energy flow and mineral cycles.
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
Book 5 Humans and ecology discusses the conflicts of interest
amongst conservation, food production and increase in human population in
the light of the ecological principles developed earlier in the course.
This course was last presented in 2006.
Suggested study hours 250
Format pdf for 5 books
Course materials
Book 1: Interactions
Below is each of the sessions that make up book 1 of Ecology, Interactions. To see
the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
Click 'View document' below to open file.
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Book 2: Population ecology
Below are each of the sessions that make up book 2 of Ecology, Population
Ecology. To see the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
Click 'View document' below to open file.
View document
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View document
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View document
3
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Book 3: Communities
Below are each of the sessions that make up book 3 of Ecology, Communities. To
see the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
Click 'View document' below to open file.
View document
Click 'View document' below to open file.
View document
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View document
Book 4: Ecosystems
Below are each of the sessions that make up book 4 of Ecology, Ecosystems. To see
the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
Click 'View document' below to open file.
View document
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View document
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View document
Book 5: Humans and ecology
Below are each of the sessions that make up book 5 of Ecology, Humans and
ecology. To see the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
Click 'View document' below to open file.
4
View document
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View document
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Acknowledgements
This material is taken from The Open University's OpenLearn website. OpenLearn
provides free open educational resources for learners and educators around the
world under a Creative Commons licence. Third party materials have been removed
but for ease of use the original acknowledgements copy has been included. For the
online version of this unit and for other free educational resources across a range of
topics, please go to http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/home.php.
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