Diploma of Environmental Monitoring & Technology
Study module 1
Introduction
MSS024003A
Environmental
principles (Ecology)
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
INTRODUCTION
Why do environmental technicians study ecology?
Ecology, society and law
How do we study ecology?
Environmental Philosophy
ASSESSMENT & SUBMISSION
Knowledge questions
Assessment & submission rules
References & resources
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
Introduction
Ecology is a branch of the science of biology that focuses on the larger scale biological
interactions found on Earth. The term ‘ecology’ is derived from the Greek word oikos, which
means ‘family’, and logy (or –ology), to mean ‘study of’.
The history of ecology is vague, with only a handful of significant events actually brining the
stricter science of ecology into being. The Greeks could clearly observe that a variety of
natural phenomena were linked together somehow, but it wasn’t until Charles Darwin
proposed the theory of evolution that scientists started to understand the subtle complexity
involved in nature.
Up until the 19th century, ecology was loosely termed ‘natural history’, and covered a much
wider range of subject material than it does today.
Conceptually speaking, the study of ecology is very simple, and can be defined as;
“The study of the distribution and abundance of organisms interacting with their
environment”
The term distribution refers to the geographic spread of organisms, whilst the term
abundance refers to the numbers of organisms found. Interaction refers to both organismorganism and organism-environment relationships.
If only it was so simple. It turns out that studying ecology properly involves considerable
observation and experimentation, followed by the application of a good dose of
mathematics and statistics. Luckily for us, we will not go there, but we will do the former
(with a little bit of the latter!).
Figure 1.1 – The ‘scale of ecology’. Modified after Krohne
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
Essentially, the study of ecology involves asking questions about the interactions and
associations between organisms and their environment. But where does the study of
ecology fit in with everything else we will learn? The figure below attempts to position
ecology.
Class Exercise 1.1
Use the internet to source three definitions of the term ‘ecology’. What key words did each
definition use? Which key words were used in all three definitions? Write your answers
below.
Click here to enter text.
Why do environmental technicians study ecology?
There are several reasons, yet the main reason that you are studying ecology is because you
need to understand how pollutants interact with our environment. This cannot be done
without a basic understanding of how the environment works, hence the learning of
ecology. Other reasons for learning ecology include;
◗
Curiosity
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Responsibility
(should your recreation change the environment)
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Sustainability
(global warming, finite resource depletion)
(what causes the natural phenomena you observe)
So what will your role be when you graduate from the course? And how does ecology fit
into that role? You should note that, using colloquial expressions, you will be a ‘brownie’
when you graduate, and not a ‘greenie’.
The difference is that you will be the monitor of the environment, not the protector. Use
will use analytical techniques and report the results in a scientifically appropriate manner;
you will not scream blue bloody murder of the environment (although you might do in your
spare time).
Ecology is used throughout the environmental process. In fact, the ecology is one of only a
handful of parts in a development process that is monitored before, during and after a
development has been approved (along with human health issues such as noise).
As a technician, your duties could include a variety of tasks, from identifying endangered
species, to sampling plants and animals, to the measurement and monitoring of the impact
of developments over time. The point is that the study of basic ecology will form an
essential part of your study to become an environmental technician.
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
Our goal in this course is to establish a baseline of theoretical and practical knowledge as
needed by environmental technicians in order to understand how pollutants affect the
environment, as well as how and where to measure and monitor those pollutants.
Ecology, society and law
In your everyday experience of life, it is unlikely that you would be aware of how ecology
interacts with you personally on a daily basis. Ecology (and associated sciences) is prevalent
in society today (unlike in previous decades where it was purely academic), but if this is a
true statement, where do you find it?
The most likely source of contact is with community ‘landcare’ groups, which use ecological
knowledge to repair areas of land that have been damaged by human activity. Local councils
also use ecological knowledge in a similar way when doing parks and gardens so that they
keep a ‘native’ theme throughout their municipality, and to protect the natural heritage of
the area.
On a larger scale, ecology is one tool used to work out whether a large development (such
as a mine, industrial complex or block of units) will impact on the environment. The
following exercise is designed to make you think about how and where you have seen
ecology in everyday life.
Exercise 1.2
Outlined below are some sources of information where you might have been exposed to
ecology (or environmental science). Provide examples in the table below.
(a)
Ecological stories from the news (TV or newspaper) in
recent years
Click here to enter text.
(b)
Endangered plants animals in the Hunter Valley and
Australia in general.
Click here to enter text.
(c)
Development application in your local council (which
you may read about in the local papers).
Click here to enter text.
(d)
Being actively involved in (or at least knowing about)
Landcare or other non-profit organisations in your
community.
Click here to enter text.
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
How do we study ecology?
Like most sciences, ecology is studied by experimentation. It is a science that explores the
concept of the scientific model very well, yet a science that doesn’t fit this modelling system
very well at all.
The scientific model involves four basic elements;
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Characterisation (observations)
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Hypotheses
(questions)
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Predictions
(logical deduction from the hypothesis)
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Experiments
(physical testing of all of the above)
The problem is that this scientific method tends to place things in boxes, and as many of you
may have heard, nature doesn’t like to fit neatly into boxes. A comparison can be made
between chemistry and ecology in this regard; chemistry fits quite well into boxes (just look
at the periodic table), but when we try to put nature into a similar ‘box’ design, there is
always something that doesn’t fit. We will study ecology by using this exact methodology.
We will;
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Characterise and observe what happens in the natural world
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Propose questions about the nature of things
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Predict what the outcomes of our questions could be, and
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Perform experiments to prove whether we are right or wrong
Environmental Philosophy
Philosophy can be simply defined as the rational questioning of existence, and the seeking
of knowledge. Environmental philosophy is therefore the questioning and seeking of
knowledge about the relationship between you and your environment.
Realistically, it is unlikely that you have sat down and thought intensely to yourself “how do
I feel about my relationship with the environment of the Earth”, and rightly so (somewhat),
as you have been too busy simply surviving in a difficult world. Well, now that you have
been given some idea of what ecology and environmental science is, now is a good time to
probe your mind to find out what you believe your environmental philosophy might be.
Without going to deeply into this topic, there exists a scale or spectrum of philosophies
concerning the environment, and your relationship with it. This spectrum is outlined below.
Eco-centric
Eco
Feminism
Deep
Ecology
Anthro-centric
Land Ethic
Stewardship
(sustainability)
Shallow
Ecology
Environmental
Despotism
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
So what are the different ideas in this spectrum? Well, they are extremely varied and
complex, so only a brief description will be applied here.
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Eco Feminism can be (poorly) defined as being the view from a female who believes
that females are better suited to environmental issues as they are the mothers
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Deep ecology was developed in the 1970’s and states that we should not view the
environment from our human perspective (but from natures view), and that we should
include all aspects of nature in our living.
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The land ethic is a watered down version of the Deep Ecology concept.
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Stewardship (sustainability) is the belief that we should aim to minimise the impact on
the environment so that we maintain bio-diversity
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Shallow ecology is the ideal that we should reduce the human impact on the
environment so that we don’t hurt ourselves.
◗
Environmental despotism is simply not caring at all for the environment, and turning
everything into a dollar.
Class Exercise 1.3
Identify the environmental philosophy of the following individuals, groups or governments.
(a)
The Australian Government
Click here to enter text.
(b)
The Australian Conservation
Foundation
Click here to enter text.
(c)
A typical, run of the mill
‘greenie’ (chained to a tree)
Click here to enter text.
(d)
Greenpeace
Click here to enter text.
(e)
Newcastle City Council
Click here to enter text.
(f)
A land development
corporation
Click here to enter text.
(f)
Yourself!
Click here to enter text.
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
Assessment & Submission
This section provides formative assessment of the theory. Answer all questions by typing
the answer in the boxes provided. Speak to your teacher if you are having technical
problems with this document.
Knowledge questions
◗
Type brief answers to each of the questions posed below.
◗
All answers should come from the theory found in this document only unless the
question specifies other.
◗
Marks shown next to the question should act as a guide as to the relative length or
complexity of your answer.
There are no separate questions for this, just complete the in-text exercises for this Study
module.
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 1 - Introduction
Assessment & submission rules
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Attempt all questions and tasks
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Write answers in the text-fields provided
Submission
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Use the documents ‘Save As…’ function to save the document to your computer using
the file name format of;
Yourname-EP-Ecology-SM-1
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email the document back to your teacher
Penalties
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If this assessment task is received greater than seven (7) days after the due date, it may
not be considered for marking without justification.
Results
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Your submitted work will be returned to you within 3 weeks of submission by email fully
graded with feedback.
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You have the right to appeal your results within 3 weeks of receipt of the marked work.
Problems
If you are having study related or technical problems with this document, make sure you
contact your assessor at the earliest convenience to get the problem resolved. The contact
details can be found at;
◗
www.cffet.net/env/contacts
References & resources
Resources
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Ecology video (available from your teacher)
References
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Krohne.D.T. 2001. General Ecology 2nd Ed. Brooks Cole Publishing. USA.
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